Removing paint from Rad cover?

jim_14

paint from a rad cover???

Last year I removed paint from similar rads the hard way,, paint remover, scraper, steel wool.. The vent openings were the most time consuming and required constant scraping- a few hours..

this is the smallest cover, i have 2 more to do that are twice the size..

Are their places that can "dip" the entire cover in something (acid?) to remove all the paint in one shot?

BTW... there is about 50 years of paint on these and when I stripped the rad covers last year down to the steel and repainted it came out really nice as well as fitting back on properly

Joel_18

sandblast

Al Roethlisberger

Agree ... sandblast


You could possibly find someone to "dip" them, but that still requires scraping all the old goo off once the paint is softened.

We have about 20 stamped steel radiator covers we are slowly but surely having blasted and repainted. We've had a quote for about $110 per cover(varying sizes, some 8ft long) so it's not too bad really. It especially isn't too bad when one considers the time to try to manually get 80yrs of paint off myself.

Al

Jack_44

a slight amendment ...

Sandblast ... and prime immediately.

jim_14

wouldnt sandblasting leave them "pitted"?? I was told it might

Al Roethlisberger

It shouldn't, but it could


Also second on the "prime immediately". I have one little spot of rust coming through on one of our covers that was a test subject, and I think that is the cause. I had some overhead garage door trolleys blasted and even though I primed them "pretty soon" after, they developed surface rust very quickly... overnight in fact.

Anyway, on our test cover, the sandblasting did not leave any pits or scarring. I would have to assume it depends on the expertise of the operator, or maybe in combination with the severity of existing corrosion. If it is just old paint and not much rust, it really ought to come off smooth.

I'd suggest sending one cover as a test run with your chosen contractor to see how it turns out.

Al

Jack_44

pitting

Assuming the metal is in good shape, you shouldn't have problems with pitting. A test run is a great idea.

Without a doubt, there are talented sandblasters & clueless ones. After a bit of search (talking with various sandblasters), I found a commercial painter who has (thus far) done a great job every time. Plus, he'll prime with anything I ask him to. I bring the rads/covers/lawn furniture to him & tell him to do it at HIS convenience.

Another issue to investigate is the blasting medium - sand isn't the only choice.

I am now over my head. I think I'll dog paddle back to shore.