Primer in the cold

[Womack2005]

Does anyone have any experience shooting Veriprime in cold conditions?
I'm ready to prime the rudder and its forcast for below freeezing all weekend. I'm not set up to shoot paint inside. Anyone ever try priming outside and curing inside?

Thanks (from the frozen tundra)

[captain_john]

Will, nooooo... you don't wanna do that.

Lemme see if I can find some tech sheets on the stuff. I don't shoot until it gets up to at least 60 degrees, personally.

I put on some classical music, drop the plastic sheeting, turn up the heat, get out my potions and mix them up.

It's a Zen thing, ya know!

CJ

[captain_john]

OK, this Tech Manual doesn't say a thing about temperature! I find that hard to believe!

Anywhooo, it should be at least kinda warm. The stuff has to cure before it freezes or evaporates (flashes off).

If you were shooting in the cold, go with the 614S Slow Converter. This extends the flash time.

That is what I would do!

CJ

[Womack2005]

Thanks CJ, I'm gonna give it a try on a practice peice to see what happens. Prep everything inside, shoot outside, bring inside to cure.

I'll let ya know whta happens

[captain_john]

Cool!

Lemme know...

Re: prep... on small parts I wash them with dishwashing liquid in my sink or tub.

Rationale: The purpose of dishwashing liquid is to remove grease and float it away from the substrate. Unlike hand soap, it is normally devoid of odorants and skin conditioners, unnecessary for our needs. I use a grey scotchbrite pad in the process to provide an adhesion profile to the components and give the coating some "teeth".

The components are then towel dried. The amount of black oxide that ends up on the towel is remarkable!

I find it important to then prime within and hour or three. The aluminum is most susceptible to corrosion when new surfaces are exposed and it begins oxidizing immediately whenever these new surfaces are exposed to air.

I also try to keep my dog from licking the clean parts. He is a "licky" dog. I dunno why? Must be in the breed.



I sandblasted a pair of carbon steel exhaust manifolds a while back and the spot that he licked IMMEDIATELY turned color!

Note: Dog snot is corrosive!

Seriously, it is wise not to handle parts one they have been cleaned lest you get oils from your hands on the fresh surfaces. I don't wear gloves, but do keep handling to a minimum.

CJ

[mustang]

OK Guys,

Here is the way I will shoot primer next week and it's freezing here too. I'm gonna buy a cheap door this week that fits the outside door of my shop. I will fit it so that it will plug the hole perfectly when I open the shop door wide open. I will be cutting a hole in the bottom half of the door which will snugly fit a big 22 inch box-fan. The Box-Fan will slot into the hole and the spare door will plug into the doorframe of the open door. Then when I am ready to paint, I will plug in the fan and get to it.

This method works well by evacuating the shop of all fumes and overspray to the outside. The fan continues to suck warm air from the rest of the house into the shop so be ready to run your furnace for this.

The good part is, that the wife and kids will not smell a thing as long as you keep the fan running. I have used this method for years and it will work in an large opening type window also. Count on leaving the fan running for as long as the paint is giving off fumes, usually about 4 hours or so.

I know, the fan type is not explosion proof but I have sprayed gun wash right at these fans and never had a fire or explosion. I have worn out 3 fans using this method. The best thing is that it only costs 20 bucks for a 3-speed fan.

Cheers, Pete

[Womack2005]

OK,

I just finished priming all the rudder parts with Veriprime. I cleaned all parts (with soap and water and acetone) inside the heated garage. Mixed all the paint inside and got everything set up outside. I then just brought out a few pieces at a time, primed them, then brought them back inside to dry.

It worked very well

[captain_john]

You should be fine with this method, Will. That is so long as humidity is low outside.

The real test is time. Adhesion/detatchment and scuff resistance are always a concern. You should be fine, though.

CJ

[Womack2005]

CJ,

I thought about doing just a practice piece first but just decided to go for it. I did prime an extra scrap piece though and it passed the destructive testing I put it through

[captain_john]

Will, NICE!

No guts, no GLORY!!!

It's just a big experiment anyways!

CJ

[bmurrish]

I just shot a batch of primer outside. It was such a nice day (almost 70) in Colorado Springs, I couldn't resist. The prep work lasted a lot longer than I expected. By the time I was ready to shoot it was cold (39 degrees) and dark. I had everything layed out on a piece of cardboard so I could carry it. I took it outside and shot and carried it back inside to the heat. I waited for it to dry to where it wasn't tacky, carried it back outside and shot the other sides. Carried it back in for the night. Seems to work great. I just want to let you know. My wife could smell the primer coming off the parts which are in our walkout basement. I do have the cold air returns closed down there so it don't suck into the heat system. She'll get over it.

[N446PH]

I find myself in the same boat. I have a good paintbooth set-up in my unheated garage and I'm in New Hampshire.

In the back of my mind I'm thinking I could get lucky over the winter and get a week of mild weather. But I'm not holding my breath.
So I've pretty much given up on priming until spring. For me, it's way too much work and too big a gamble to try to prime in the cold and not have a good job.

Assuming I can't prime until spring, as nice as it would be to complete each part in sequence, I'm just doing everything I can to my empennage parts. That means that other than stiffeners riveted to skins, I won't be able to do any final riveting/assembly of any components that include a part I want to prime. But that's a lot of work and plenty of progress.

My -8 QB wings and fuselage are coming in December. I seriously doubt I will run out of things to do before priming temperatures return (50 degrees or so) ! So I'm OK with not being able to prime and final assemble my empennage until spring and don't expect it will affect my progress at all (building 10 - 15 hours/week).

Just my .02.

[Womack2005]

P. Happ,

What primer are you using? If it is Veriprime - go for it. The parts I just did turned out EXACTLY like the ones I did over the summer. The temp was 23F the day I shot 'em.

[N446PH]

Will,

Thanks for the update. That will make a lot of people who chose Veriprime happy if they live in the north and want to prime before spring.

I'm going with Sherwin Williams Acryglo system. The primer is a 2 part epoxy and actually needs to cook for 15 minutes after mixing. The advice I got (see my post in the Vendor section) suggested I might be able to get away with 40º but that would be pushing it (the specs say 55º).

Not to mention the fact that I haven't cleaned or practiced with the new gun yet, or put the dessicant in the dryer. And to be honest, it's a major hassle to prep, set-up, suit-up, and clean-up, so I'm looking to be ready to do big batches of parts at once. Hopefully I will be able to get all the empennage parts I want to do done in one session.

For those who might be in the same boat or will be next year, I'll be sure to post if I run out of things to do on the empennage, wings and fuse before I'm able to prime and actually have my build progress held up.

[Spike]

Im in this exact same boat. I have kept putting off priming for various reasons and now I have a whole boat of it to do. Hopefully I can get away with shooting it outdoors and them moving quickly inside.

And welcome to the group!