Painting the keezer.... in the cold?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

fleetmack

Active Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2013
Messages
25
Reaction score
3
I have a GE 7.0 chest freezer that I'm converting. Want to get it painted ASAP as it is sitting in my garage, and I have to park on the street until I can move the freezer to the house (which is after I'm done painting).

I've settled on black Rustoleum Epoxy spray paint. I plan on sanding the freezer down with 200 grit sandpaper, cleaning it off, then applying 2 coats of black paint to everything except the gasket.

Problem being - I'm in Denver. High temp of 51 today, and 44 tomorrow. So my question:

In my garage, if I use space heaters to heat up the garage for awhile, then open the garage door while I actually paint, then close the door to let it dry (again, with space heaters turned on)... will this work? Does the temp need to be above 50 degrees for the PAINTING portion or the DRYING portion? (or both?)

Thanks for the tips in advance, and for all the info you've all provided me in designing this thing thusfar!
 
I'm no fabricator or painter, but I think it needs to be both. Now maybe if you have the garage at 50° and the keezer in there long enough to be at that temp. Move it outside to paint, then bring it back inside, it may not drop in temp enough.

I have tried to spray paint indoors with doors open and it didn't help enough. YMMV :)
 
I see you are a Cyclone fan. That immediately gives your words massive credibility. I too, am a Cyclone... originally from Iowa (Carroll)
 
Warm it up where you are painting, ( freezer too), take your spray cans, fill up the kitchen sink with the hottest water your water hear will make, (at it's normal use settings, mind you!!!), and float your cans in there.
Shake them about every 10 minutes, and you'll feel the contents start to come up to the water temp.
You may have to change the water, depending on the number of cans you float.

DON'T try to warm them any other way!

I consider myself an expert with a spray bomb, :)o), and I do this to my cans no matter what the weather, as they spray and atomize better.
 
My experience with Rustoleum in cold temperatures didn't go well.
I found that the first coat went on well enough, second coat developed this cracked sort of look to it - didn't look good at all.

I'd recommend having proper temperature range if your after a nice finish.
 
I agree with cramar. I also had a bad experience with pushing the temp limit, and the second coat cracked and bubbled. This wasn't for a keezer and was a much smaller project, but I had to sand all the way down and start again. That would really suck to have to do that on a freezer.
 
I hate to suggest extra work, but you will need to have the freezer itself warmed up to have success, not just the air around it. Personally, I would move it to the house as is and finish the construction knowing that it will have to be moved back outside and disassembled next spring when the temperature and HUMIDITY are good for proper painting. A lot of extra work, but for me it would keep me from kicking myself every time I looked at something not exactly right.
 
Thanks for all the tips, I've held off on this for now. However, it looks like a high temperature of 57 tomorrow. I brought the freezer inside the house and have it disassembled (lid removed, hinges removed, etc.) and have it all the important stuff taped off for painting. I figure it will be in the warm house all day, then tomorrow night I can bring it out to the garage, with space heaters running, and paint it. Assuming the freezer is at room-temperature from being inside the house night tonight and all day tomorrow, and it is still 50ish degrees outside when I get off work, I have my fingers crossed that this will work. Thoughts?
 
It will be 100% fine at 57 degrees. The best advise is put on a bunch of light coats as opposed to one or two heavy coats. Spray paint is mostly solvent, and if you try to go to heavy it WILL sag and run. The lower the temp the more likely it will run/sag but at 57 you will be fine. Don't put it on too heavy. Make sure it takes at least three coats (I would go four or five light coats). Spray paints can usualy be recoated in 30-60 minutes and are dry to the touch within a few hours. If you force it to cover in one or two coats it will sag and take hours to dry. If you put on a bunch of light coats it will not sag and take a total of hours to dry (same time better results with more coats). I would also sand with VERY fine grit paper (400+) before the last coat. This will get rid of most small imperfections without damaging the paint. By no means is this critical but im picky as I paint for a living.

The substrate (metal on freezer) temp is more important than the ambient air temp. Look on the paint manufactures website or even the back of the can. You would be amazed how much info is on there as far as optimal temps, dry time, time to recoat, ect if you just look.

I am a painter and would use HVLP and (probably) automotive paint because I have the equipment. As a DIY you could get great results with cans of spray paint. Just be patient and dont force the paint to cover. I will probably forget to check this post tomorrow as im fairly intoxicated, but don't hesitate to PM me any questions if need be.
 
... fill up the kitchen sink with the hottest water your water heater will make,...and float your cans in there.
Shake them about every 10 minutes, and you'll feel the contents start to come up to the water temp.
You may have to change the water, depending on the number of cans you float.

DON'T try to warm them any other way!

I consider myself an expert with a spray bomb, :)o), and I do this to my cans no matter what the weather, as they spray and atomize better.

Great idea , thank you!
That makes a lot of sense. The less viscous paint will flow much better.

Safety: I could not find much info on the maximum safe temp for aerosol paint cans. This link states the pressure was 150psi at 130F, well within the required burst pressure of 270psi. Since 130F is much hotter than the usual hot water heater delivers, the cans should be safe.
 
I have been getting paid to paint houses for about 2 years now. Firstly I would say good call on scuffing up the metal. Now for my 'professional' opinion regarding temperatures. Both the surface of the object you are painting, and the air temp for the following 2-3 hours needs to be 50+. Once the paint tacks up you are pretty much all set in terms of curing, or not having it drip cause its too cold. The only thing is that it will take a bit longer to dry fully.

My boss extends his exterior season by doing odd jobs well into fall on the nice days. If the forecast is 55 he will bid a job and go paint it at like 1-2pm. He says the daylight hours and the sun shining on the house gives it time to warm up, and it has a few hours more before the temp drops below 45-50. He will always guarantee a repaint if it drips, and so far I haven't been called back to a job.

Carrying this over to painting your kegerator, I would say you should be fine with the space heaters. Keep them on while the garage door is open, and the time before you paint should keep the temp of the object warm. You will lose heat during painting but just try to get it back up quickly without putting the heaters too close to cause bubbling.

Another suggestion is to use fans, but only when the garage door is closed. The fans will both blow the hot air around, and also increase airflow across the kegerator, thereby increasing evaporation of the volatiles in the paint helping it to cure a bit faster.

*Edit* This works with HOUSE PAINT. I don't paint houses with spray paint, just trying to help with what I know. I hadn't thought about the increased ratio of solvents in spray cans YMMV.
 
Great idea , thank you!
That makes a lot of sense. The less viscous paint will flow much better.

Safety: I could not find much info on the maximum safe temp for aerosol paint cans. This link states the pressure was 150psi at 130F, well within the required burst pressure of 270psi. Since 130F is much hotter than the usual hot water heater delivers, the cans should be safe.



I wouldn't steer you wrong, Brother........Been using this method for years!:mug:
 
Got it painted! All is well. Kept it inside for a night then moved it outside when it was 60 degrees -- put on a few coats, and brought it back inside to dry (it got down to the 20's overnight). Seems fine -- but I will need another coat as there are some spots on the corners and other random places where you can tell it's needed. I apparently have to wait a week before I can do another coat (per the can's instructions), so will work on the collar in the meantime. Thanks for all your tips!
 
I used Rustoleum's Appliance Epoxy spray, with 150 grit to degloss the old finish. Worked great with no primer, two cans was enough for a 15cf model. The only thing I would recommend is to not paint the lid while it's on the unit. Painting the flat surface while it was facing up caused the suspended paint from the air to settle onto it making a rough finish. I did it inside a room in my basement because it had been consistenly around 30 degrees outside in my area. Just made sure to open some windows, create an outdraft with window fans, and cranked my heat to compensate. It was a little stinky for a day, but not too bad.
 
So I painted the freezer 6 days ago -- in the warm -- then brought it inside to dry. It was obvious I needed another coat as there were some spots that just needed it. The can said I have to wait a week, so I am almost ready to do so. Going to take the same approach, it's supposed to be in the 50's tomorrow, so I will keep it inside until ready to paint, then bring it outside, paint, let sit for an hour or so, then bring it back inside to keep it warm while drying.

2 questions:

1) Should I sand again before i re-coat? If so - what type of grit, 220?
2) I did get some (very white, very obvious) scratches in the freezer while it's been sitting in the kitchen this week. This leads me to believe that even with another coat - this stuff (rustoleum epoxy appliance spray paint) scratches easily. Thoughts?

Side note: got collar built this week, going to stain it today -- getting close!
 
I would do a few coats of clear also. I did this on my motorcycle gas tank, changed it from blue to cherry red. 4-5 coats of red and then 4-5 coats of clear. Unfortunately I hadn't thought about UV resistance so after only the first year my tank changed from cherry red to burnt orange on top :(. Also, you shouldn't get too eager to fill 'er up, and end up spilling gas all over your freshly painted erm, kegerator. The gas will eat away at the finish if its not fully cured :(.

The clear helps in 2 ways, not only does it protect the red coat from getting scratched, but if you do get a light scratch it should stay in the clear coat which is much easier to touch up than the color coat.

Plus it gives it that nice, wet, finished look.
 
2 questions:

1) Should I sand again before i re-coat? If so - what type of grit, 220?
2) I did get some (very white, very obvious) scratches in the freezer while it's been sitting in the kitchen this week. This leads me to believe that even with another coat - this stuff (rustoleum epoxy appliance spray paint) scratches easily. Thoughts?

I checked the can directions, it says you can apply a second coat within 15 minutes or after a week. I think i would give it a quick sand just to degloss, because I'd have a concern that it wouldn't stick and either pull up or chip later. The epoxy you used will eventually dry to a hard, shiny shell, just like a factory paint. It's almost impossible to scratch after that. You can't clear coat over this type of enamel, so I wouldn't try.
 
I would "scuff" the coat you have now, with a red Scotchbrite hand pad before you get ready to re-coat.........Just something to knock the gloss down......But, if you're set on sandpaper, use some 320 or 400 grit, and prepare to keep swapping out for fresh paper, as it will probably clog on ya'.........If you have an air compressor, you can blow the "clogs" from your paper while your are sanding, just stop frequently and give it a blast.
 
Back
Top