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coating steam radiators with oil?

Nina_2
Nina_2 Member Posts: 5
in THE MAIN WALL
We are having our steam radiators re-sandblasted following painting them and not being able to tolerate the offgassing from the paint. We ran them for several days with the windows open and fans blowing with no improvement. We are now considering coating them with cooking oil and having covers made. We can't find very much information about doing this versus painting them. Any thoughts? Anyone who has been there, done that???
Thanks.

Comments

  • Brad White
    Brad White Member Posts: 2,399
    Mike T?

    Mike T. is the resident guru of radiator finishing and will probably chime in, not to commit him of course!

    Vegetable oil? I do not know, never heard of that but it may well be common in some circles. Has the ring of folk-lore too, not as good as the Doberman in the closet urban legend, but close.

    While I do like the idea of polyunsaturating my entire family, I am all ears....

    Absent any direct knowledge, to me it seems kind of tacky to me, literally and figuratively. As any natural oil oxidizes it would become an adhesive for dust and things. Sort of a thermal Chia Pet (R).

    Tung oil and other polymerizing oils do dry to a harder finish but I am not sure how well they stand up to heat.

    Again, Mike T. may well have the right solution for you. Check out the Hot Tech Topics on the subject. Mike wrote some of the best on the subject in my opinion.

    But the outgassing? Does not last forever but that depends on your sensitivity. So many radiators have been painted over so many years.
    "If you do not know the answer, say, "I do not know the answer", and you will be correct!"



    -Ernie White, my Dad
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    What kind of paint?

    Cooking oil doesn't strike me as the best solution either.
  • Mike T., Swampeast MO
    Mike T., Swampeast MO Member Posts: 6,928


    Nina: What type of paint did you use? I sure hope you didn't use latex on bare iron.
  • Nina_2
    Nina_2 Member Posts: 5


    We used rustolieum semi gloss enamel.
  • al r
    al r Member Posts: 6
    no oil

    I've used a spray paint i got at home depot call HIGH HEAT,
    its about $6 and i needed 2 cans, drys quickly, no odors after is dry but LOTS while spraying
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0
    MMMMMmmmmm, French Fries (in the voice of Homer Simpson)

    Nah, I wouldn't spray them with ANY kind of oil. Especialy if you have environmental sensitivites.

    ME
  • Dave Stroman
    Dave Stroman Member Posts: 766


    Have your sandblaster powder coat them. You will get no outgassing and you will never have to paint them again.

    Dave Stroman, Denver

    To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

    There was an error rendering this rich post.

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    yep,

    I was going to suggest powder coat but I wasn't sure if it outgassed. Rustoleum is not made for the heat. If not powder coat try any hi heat type paint. Auot parts store will have engine block paint, that should be ok.
  • Roland_4
    Roland_4 Member Posts: 84
    radiator Paint

    As others have suggested, you can't beat powder coat for durability and low stench. I find the aroma of heating paint somewhat comforting like hot chocolate and autumn leaves. Anyway, another method would be Aluma-cote(sp?). This process involves spraying a thin coating of vaporized aluminum on the bare,clean metal. No smell and durable as all get out. Only one choice of color-silver/gray. Or failing all of the above, find an auto body paint shop which has a curing oven. Then it doesn't much matter if you use oil-based paint, the curing oven will bake out the VOC's. Roland
  • Nina_2
    Nina_2 Member Posts: 5
    powder coating/aluma-coat??

    The radiators are being blasted as I type. The place where they are being sandblasted doesn't powder coat.

    We're a little freaked out about painting them again because this is the second time they've been blasted in the last few weeks and both the old paint (who knows what was on them) and the new were both pretty toxic and strong smelling. My husband is very sensitive to smell and we have a two year old and one due any minute...so we're very nervous about creating more outgassing given the small children and sensitivities in our house.

    Is Aluma-coat something we can do ourselves? The radiators will be back in our house this afternoon. Obviously we need to put something on them to prevent rust.

    My husband is leaning towards tung oil...I haven't ever heard of anyone doing this.
  • Nina_2
    Nina_2 Member Posts: 5
    heat resistant enamel?

    The sandblasting place does a heat resistant enamel. My husband is concerned that this will also have formaldehyde and other toxins in it. Any thoughts on this either?
    Thanks again for all your responses.
  • Roland_4
    Roland_4 Member Posts: 84
    Radiator Painting

    Hi Nina, Aluma-coat must be applied at a shop with the proper equipment. It is vaporized aluminum sprayed at a high temperature. You are correct to be concerned about the ingredients in a product that you and your family will have to live in close quarters with. I would not use Tung Oil in this instance. It is probably less dangerous than other types of oil-based products but the intense odor will become irritating when the radiators heat up. I would still recommend finding a shop where the radiators can be baked to dry/cure the paint. ALL oil-based paints will out-gas. Look for websites that deal with GREEN products. Alternatively, contact paint manufacturers and inquire about Low V.O.C. paints. Good luck. Roland
  • JJ_4
    JJ_4 Member Posts: 146
    \"metallic\" spray paint

    Over 10 years ago I used a "metallic" spray paint, which I think was Rustoleum. It goes on very very thin...you can hardly tell it's there; only for the color (we used a brassy gold). I've read that metallic is not the best for radiators, but this has stayed on very well with just a scrub brush cleaning before application. I do not remember any significant off-gassing, but for the first month we weren't living in the place just working on it in the evenings.

    I think that any type of oil would be a fuzzy mess in no time (mine get fuzzy without oil) and covers are not very efficient or attactive in my opinion. I would suggest picking a test area on the back of one of the radiators against a wall and put a little of the paint there to see how bad it is (spray it in a cup and apply with a brush)...if it is bad, then you could sand off by hand and go the oil route.

    Hope it works out.

    (P.S. Howdy Stroman!)
  • Daniel_3
    Daniel_3 Member Posts: 543


    The main ingredient at 750 ppm is acetone in all rust-oleum paints give or take a few toxic chemicals.

    It also contains :
    Liquefied petroleum gas
    Naphtha
    Xylene
    Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether
    Ethylbenzene
    Aluminum flake
    Propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate
    Stoddard solvents


    So basically you have a lot of very toxic cancer-causing things in there. I used the hammered on rustoleum with an N95 mask. My wife was concerned as the out-gassing of the hammered-on vs. the normal oil based variety was a big difference.

    I would venture to say that the normal oil based rustoleum will out-gas it's voc's with about 10 full steam cycles with one-pipe steam temperatures. With hot-water it may be longer than that.
  • ER
    ER Member Posts: 27


    About a year ago I stripped my rad's to bare metal and put a coat of rustoleum primer and two coats of hammered metal paint.

    Looked great.

    When the heat hit they stank pretty bad, but that only lasted maybe 3 days. I am not particularly sensitive.

    I had another one that sat for 4 months before installation. I was hoping that it had slowly outgassed in the basement. Wrong, apparently the outgassing is negligible until they get hot.

    If really sensitive I guess a radiator cover is the safest install.

    Good luck.
  • Mike T., Swampeast MO
    Mike T., Swampeast MO Member Posts: 6,928


    Brad: I can't comment as hysterics are involved.
  • Nina_2
    Nina_2 Member Posts: 5
    choices...

    So basically our choice is to repaint with something toxic but that could withstand high heat (which I am okay with, but my husband is not), try canola oil (my husband's latest idea...I hear everyone on the sticky dust!), leave them bare to rust, or use non-toxic paint which will have to be applied yearly (that's what the environmental place told us).

    How quickly will they rust if they're left bare for a while?

    Honestly, I'm at a loss myself. The original smell wasn't bothersome to me, but really irritated my husband. I am surprised that there are not more environmental options out there. The radiators are back home...still need something on them and to be reinstalled. Oy....it's a good thing they DO work well when they run...
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    The,,,

    only other thing I can think of is a product refered to as "cold galvanizing compound" which is a spray on zinc coating. I have no idea on the outgas story with it, you'd have to find some and try it to see. It will spray on a flat gray and will keep the radiators from rusting. I haven't used it in many years so I'm not sure where to look for it. Good luck!
  • Daniel_3
    Daniel_3 Member Posts: 543


    Too bad there's not a tank large enough to put the rad in for electroplating =)
  • Mike T., Swampeast MO
    Mike T., Swampeast MO Member Posts: 6,928


    To call 750 parts per million (0.075%) a "main ingredient" is really stretching things...

    One pound of spray paint would then have about 0.005 ounces of acetone. One manicure or pedicure--remember they have to get the old stuff off--would likely involve more acetone (or very similar) than nearly 100 typical cans of spray paint.
  • Daniel_3
    Daniel_3 Member Posts: 543


    I'm speaking strickly concerning the toxic chemicals located on an msds. Not concerning the fish oil and other "fillers".
  • al r
    al r Member Posts: 6
    HIGH HEAT SPRAY PAINT??

    whats everyone thought on the spray paint i use from home depot thats for rads.??? it smell when i first use it but then disappear. (i wrote it up there somewhere). very strong as i sprayed it but then not much??
    good luck either way
  • Roland_6
    Roland_6 Member Posts: 8
    Cold Zinc Galvanizing Compounds

    Hi Nina,
    As was suggested previously, Cold Zinc Galvanizing Compound looks to be a viable choice. It can be purchased as an aerosol or brush on paint. Keep in mind that all paint products have solvents that will evaporate, some quickly, some slowly. You can copy and Google the subject line to investigate what's available. Also look for something called the MSDS sheet. This is information provided to the Government as it applies to material safety. Please use the following address to to look up safety info on household products.

    http://hpd.nlm.nih.gov/index.htm
  • Charlie Taylor_2
    Charlie Taylor_2 Member Posts: 34


    Nina:

    This is what I suggest:

    1. Sand blast the radiators
    2. Do NOTHING until the spring when heating season ends.
    3. Spray paint your radiator with any color of Benjamin Moore Oil based enamel. (My experience)
    4. They will have the summer to cure.
    5. After a couple of months, open the windows and fire up the heating system for the afternoon.

    You will not smell a thing when the heating season starts.

    Steve in Boston
  • Jim Bennett
    Jim Bennett Member Posts: 607
    Good suggestion Steve...

    The rusting should be minimal in a warm dry house.

    There was an error rendering this rich post.

  • Chris Dooley
    Chris Dooley Member Posts: 1
    What about acid treatment?

    After some experimentation, the solution we worked out was to let the rads stand for a few days after blasting to develop a patina of rust. We then brush them with a tannic/phosphoric acid rust converter. This gives the rads a stable phosphate/tannate coating. A bit of tung oil over that gives a lustrous, non peeling, non-toxic and easily cleaned charcoal grey finish that will rust minimally and radiate very efficiently.

    If you use raw tung oil, there will be no off-gassing. Polymerized tung oil will off-gas a bit, but much less than paint.

    We liked to look well enough that we did the same with our claw-foot bathtub.
  • al r
    al r Member Posts: 6
    Chris Dooley

    was wondering if you have any pictures of that,

    also wondering if you are the Chris Dooley that used to bowl at Palace Lanes in Union City many moons ago...lol
    thanks
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