Radiator Painting

thfurnitureguy_4

I think the old school rustolum red primer is still the oil based stuff that works. It's the new "industrial" You know, "made it better stuff" that peal and stinks.

Scott Kuchta

Radiator Painting

I read Dan's book, "We Got Steam Heat!". A great book, I've learned a lot but I have a few questions. Dan mentions how painting steam radiators with metallic paint reduces their radiant capacity. He also says it's the last layer that affects the radiation. Does this mean I can simply wire brush the flaking metallic paint on my radiators and paint them with non-metallic paint to restore their radition potential or does ALL of the metallic paint need to be striped or sandblasted off first?

Mike T., Swampeast MO

The final coat is what affects emissivity (radiation). Doesn't matter what's underneath.

Phil_8

clear coated CI rads

What happens if the final coat is a "clear coat". A local shop removes all of the paint, wire brushes the rads and then applies a high temp. clear coat. The rads come out looking good (a chestnut brown/grey). Just wondering how the clear coat affects the radiation.

Dirk Wright

You'd have to look up the emissivity for any particular final coating, but there is another issue which is the thermal conductivity of any layers of paint between the cast iron and the final coat. The heat has to conduct through there before it is emitted off the outside.

My gut impression is that, if I had these things, I would want to blast them and get them metal plated, like a nice black nickel or something with a high emissivity.

JB_8

clear coat

Don't know about clear coat,but sandblasting and powdercoating is about $100 per radiator & looks nice.Get any color you want but remember the shut off valve that is not sent out. Now is not the time of the year to do it because you will not have radiators for about a week.

thfurnitureguy_4

Clear coat is not the answer. It will not handle the heat your options with clear are lacquers, they will craze and flake very quickly and polyurithane, plastic will smoke and melt off You could use the vehicle from oil paint (deep base for oil paint)but it is not real clear. Flat oil base house paint or latex works fine. NOT rustolum industrial it is a urithane. Check if there are any clears in powdercote. Powder is cured at 400F + -

D107

oil base, latex finish

just removed all the old wooden radiator covers (hot water system), wire-brushed the 1920s large tube US radiators and primed with rustoleum (non-metallic) white oil-based 'clean metal primer' then topcoated with white latex. They're putting out so much they overshoot the thermostat after the boiler shuts off. hope the rustoleum wasn't a bad move.

David