On 8/28/2010 12:07 AM, Mickey Baker wrote:
> You're going to want to sand off the flakes. If it flakes and you paint it,
> the paint will flake. Caution - if you sand fiberglass, take steps to avoid
> breathing the dust.
Not necessarily...but it depends on both the condition of the surface
and what you are going to coat it with. *Some* and I do mean some and
certainly not all, *low* *viscosity* resins such as Vinyl Ester Resin
(Dow Derakane ) is one such a resin. It will penetrate into fiber
reinforced resins that have deteriorated IF the deterioration is not too
deep. IOW it takes some experience to be able to judge what needs to be
removed and what doesn't. Also the Derakane will form a good base to paint.
OTOH if you can tolerate the loss of strength, just sand and paint with
a paint that is UV resistant. Epoxies and epoxy paint are notoriously
poor at resistance to UV.
On metal be it steel or aluminum I use a self etching primer sprayed
on. Last night I coated the ends of the 2" DOM by brushing on a
relatively thin coat. It was still tacky, or at least soft in many
areas. I spray painted the rest of the 24' lengths using the same, self
etching primer. It was dry to the touch in less than 15 minutes. You
could pick up the 120# masts without leaving marks in the primer. I may
have to strip the primer off the ends and redo them with the spray gun.
At-any-rate the guide was to use the paint un thinned but experience is
telling me about 10% Xylene would work better. Out-of-the-can was taking
60psi with the flow adjustments wide open when it should be 40 psi and
only about half throttle. OTOH they may have been thinking HVLP instead
of the conventional guns. I did do a good job of painting the grass to
the South of the shop. <:-))
Today I'm going to prime the base for the 25G and then paint both the
base and the masting later in the day. With the temp near 90 and bright
sun it should dry FAST. Then *maybe* Sunday we can plant the base and at
least put up the first three sections of 25G. Maybe all 5 sections, but
that might be a tad optimistic.
I've never used it, but ACE Hardware advertises a spray paint that is
designed for spraying plastics and resins. It bonds to the material so
that *might* be an alternative.
> Pettit Easypoxy is a one part polyurethane that goes on beautifully (with a
> good, fine brush)
I've never mastered a "good" coat of any paint using a brush. I can put
a mirror finish on with a sprayer, but not a brush.
> and will last for many years. It is made for marine use,
> including fiberglass boats. You can get it at your local marine store or
> mail order.
>
> Any really good paint for fiberglass isn't going to be cheap. Count on $25 -
> $40 for a pint of paint and a good brush - but it will look fantastic.
>
The self etching primer and paint cost me a tad over $100 total for 1
gallon of each.
I'd enjoy painting if the clean up wasn't so much work. <sigh>
73
Roger (K8RI)
> 73,
>
> Mickey N4MB
>
>
> On Fri, Aug 27, 2010 at 11:41 PM, K0DAN<k0dan@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>> I have an old motorized Tri-Ex LM470 tower. All is well, given periodic
>> maintenance.
>>
>> I replaced the control box (apparently some type of fiberglass compound)
>> about 12 years ago...the interior components are still in good shape but
>> the
>> exterior of the box is starting to "flake" due to solar radiation and or
>> exposure to the elements.
>>
>> Anyone know of a good paint, PVC, or other compound I can brush over it to
>> seal it, stop the deterioration, and buy another 10+ years?
>>
>> Thanks and 73
>>
>> Dan
>> K0DAN
>>
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