Painting outdoor black iron gas piping

ChrisJ

I've been battling this since 2011, I originally cleaned it the best I could and then primed it and painted it. I then painted it again, and again.......

The biggest issue I had right off the bat was trying to clean the dope out of the threads. Obviously, less dope will mean less of a mess but even some oil that seeps out will cause an issue.

What is the best way to go about this and the best primer / paint to use on new piping outside?

mattmia2

I used paint thinner to clean all the grease off then used cold galvanizing compound spray. Still has a bit of an issue in the flat top of a union where it holds water but I don't know that there is a solution to that other than something like a radome.

Pughie1

Back in the old days Niagara Mohawk (National Grid) used a heavy duty green tape to cover their gas piping. haven't seen it in years though

GroundUp

We always hose it down with mineral spirits and wipe/dry it clean then paint over it with an oil base exterior paint, either with a Wagner sprayer or the regular old brush method. 2 coats. Touch up the unions, etc that get marred up. Looks about as good as painted pipe can look for decades

hot_rod

Black piping does have somewhat of a coating. Paint thinner, diesel, etc will strip it down to bare steel. I’ve used all sorts of paint over the years from Rustoleum  to basic hardware latex.
Basic latex seems to hold up to UV best, we used it to protect solar insulation on roof tops.

ced48

"Rust Bullet" works great, last longer than others.

rick in Alaska

That is why I only use galvanized pipe. I can't stand rusty looking pipe, and since I live in a salt water environment, it is a given.
Rick

ChrisJ

rick in Alaska said:

That is why I only use galvanized pipe. I can't stand rusty looking pipe, and since I live in a salt water environment, it is a given. Rick

Shouldn't that be stainless? 

rick in Alaska

It partially is. My suppliers don't want to stock galvanized, so I have to deal with stainless fittings at times. I don't like using stainless fittings, and they do cost more, so I have been pushing them to bring in more galvanized. I am slowly getting the other guys in town to start using it, so maybe I can get it easier in the future.
Rick

clammy

Try painting w Hercules black magic it’s a tar asphalt base . I haven’t seen much rust after painting w it for outdoor exposed black pipe . I ve used it for over 30 years and if it’s covered it’s not rusting as far as I ve seen . Peace and good luck clammy

ChrisJ

I lathered one of the pipes in this after cleaning all surface rust off and cleaning it good with lacquer thinner.

We'll see how it does.

BradHotNCold

Had a new generator installed, runs on propane, so here is what I got. Installed little over two weeks ago. Am I off base to think propane installer should come back and paint the rusted fittings?

HVACNUT

Should be galvanized pipe I think. 

GroundUp

Jeepers man, just go buy a $2 can of paint and do it yourself if it bothers you

EBEBRATT-Ed

Yes it should be painted.

As far as galvanized pipe goes som locations do or do not allow it....it's a local thing. Massachusetts does not allow galvanized on gas for instance.

The dirt leg (drip leg) on the tee is another issue.

They are usually not allowed outdoors in a location subject to freezing.

Was this inspected?

If it was most inspectors would have picked up on these two things

ratio

Commercial Code around here is painted, with various amounts of diligence expressed by the inspector. I know of one who will walk. every. foot. of. pipe. With a mirror. Others are happy to see it mostly bug bombed, along with anything within six inches of the pipe, including my equip!

I've had to do it in the past, it really isn't that hard. Just use a good quality exterior grade enamel, I'd just brush it on for the amount you've got to do. Don't get it on the flex line, or the valve, or the underground—just the steel pipe & fittings. If my OCD were acting up I'd open the cabinet & paint it up to the valve, but I've never seen that done IRL .

EBEBRATT-Ed

@ratio

This is what we get around here, has happened many times. The code calls for outside pipe to be painted.

We run the pipe pressure test and paint and call for inspection. The inspector shows up " why did you paint the pipe, don't you know that stuff can stop a leak"


So the next time we don't paint until after inspection. The inspector shows up " Why didn't you paint the pipe I don't want to make two trips"

ratio

Been there, done that, got the tee shirt! I spend quite a bit of my time, comparatively, chatting up inspectors to find out exactly what they want. It's saved any amount of time in the past to know exactly what they're looking for.

ChrisJ

ratio said:

Been there, done that, got the tee shirt! I spend quite a bit of my time, comparatively, chatting up inspectors to find out exactly what they want. It's saved any amount of time in the past to know exactly what they're looking for.

erm...
This is from Ubran Dictionary and it was also my understanding of the term, at least from British shows.

You really do go the extra mile to get jobs to pass, eh?

ratio

Heh, nah... Here in 'Murika that means something else.

I do get jobs passed off though, mainly from not acting like the inspector's a moron & never lying to them. And being somewhere above the curve WRT screwups in the first place.

EBEBRATT-Ed

The great majority of inspectors I have met both electrical & plumbing are for the most part pretty decent.

There are always exceptions of the ones with a chip on their shoulder.

Things they don't like:

Lying

Telling them your ready for inspection and your not.

Asking them how to do the job because you can't be bothered to figure it out yourself or don't want to read the code book.

They don't mind a few specific question but if they feel you don't know what your doing you will have problems

The trick is to know the code better than they do

One thing I found is if you do a job out of town go see the inspector before you start, it goes a long way toward smoothing things over

JUGHNE

Another Brit term, but not heard often, is "I think I shall 'knock up' my girlfriend this afternoon"....rather than "ring up"...on the phone.

Common people separated only by language.

mattmia2

ratio said:

Commercial Code around here is painted, with various amounts of diligence expressed by the inspector.

Pretty sure residential code requires it be painted outdoors as well, at least if your jurisdiction follows the model codes.

I would get a can of Rustoleum or Duplicolor cold galvanizing compound spray paint.

Paul Pollets

WA State requires gas piping to be painted grey. It's too easy to wipe the pipe with acetone and paint.