While repairing or installing, the battery loses its original luster. Chips, scratches and other defects appear on the surface. In addition, the owners sometimes decide to paint in accordance with the chosen style of the room.
Not every remedy is suitable for such procedures. It must be resistant to high temperatures and their differences, as well as have anti-corrosion protection. So how to paint the battery? Before you start work, you will have to prepare the surface. This will help extend the operating period. The first is to clean any contaminants from the surface. Any available tool will work for this. They need to walk around every corner.
Other nuances of preparation
It is also important to degrease the surface, even if the installation is new. Sandpaper helps a lot. There are metal brushes on the drill, such a process will be quick and efficient. If you skip this step, the ink will be uneven and will have a short life span.
When there is already a coating on the radiator, it is completely removed. Oftenrust is found, it is in these places that attentiveness will not hurt. Good solutions are sold in stores that quickly wash away paint and rust from the surface. They are applied with a special sprayer. After you need to create a protective layer in the form of any fabric. Leave for an hour and a half, then the paint becomes soft and easily removed.
What tools can you do without?
Before you paint the battery, you should prepare everything you need. It will take a considerable set of tools so that the process of coloring and preparation does not take much time:
- Drill with metal brush.
- Composition for washing off the old layer.
- Brushes of different sizes.
- Film or cloth for battery.
- Spatula or any other item to remove the old layer.
- Sandpaper.
- Acetone.
- Corrosion protection primer.
- Roller.
- Paint.
The main plus in the use of additional formulations is their safety for humans. The metal is not damaged. When the old paint is removed, it is worth going over all the batteries with sandpaper, and then with anti-corrosion agents. To degrease, acetone will do.
All this is the preparation of the battery for the main distribution of the coloring composition. On such a surface, the paint will be well distributed and remain unchanged for a long time. Such actions increase the level of adhesion.
How to choose paint?
Before you paint the battery, you need to choose the right composition. Because when the paint is bad,then its duration will be reduced even after careful preparation of the surface. There are special formulations on sale that must meet a number of requirements.
What should I pay attention to? The paint should respond normally to elevated temperatures and be free of toxins. It is good when the composition contains metallic powder. It acts as a coloring pigment. The most common are heat resistant and water based.
In order for color and gloss to remain for a long time, preference should be given to acrylic compositions. But there is also a minus - the appearance of a strong smell. We'll have to wait a day for everything to ventilate. Today there are modern developments - water-dispersed compositions, after application of which you can already be in the room.
Before you paint the battery, you should take the time to choose the paint. Another option is alkyd compounds. They give a smooth surface, protect well from scratches and chips. Oddly enough, but in the process of painting there is a strong smell. It does not go away even after drying and long airing. When the radiator heats up, the “aroma” reappears.
Which method should I choose?
There are several technologies, you should choose the most suitable one. How to paint radiators with your own hands? It is necessary not only to prepare the surface, choose the paint, but also correctly distribute it over the surface. To simplify the process, you will have to choose a good tool.
The most suitable option is a roller, but not with villi, but smooth. Don't have to chooselarge size, for hard-to-reach places use a narrow brush or spray. For the latter, more coloring composition is needed.
Convenient to work when the battery is not on the wall. In this case, it is easier to create maximum coloring. Seats that are not available are shrinking or missing. Not every radiator is quick and easy to dismantle. It is easier to cover in the position it is in.
Before you paint the radiator with your own hands, you need not only to remove the top, old layer of paint, but also drain the hot water or close the heat supply. But it is best to do the work during the period when the heating is turned off. On a warm battery, the paint will not lie evenly, it should also dry out.
The application layer affects the color. It is worth initially painting over places where it is difficult to get close. Then go over the rest of the surface. Paint is applied from top to bottom. When the radiator curve, it is better to apply two layers, a small thickness. When the first is dry, only after that the second is applied.
Why do I need to update the top layer of the radiator?
All apartment owners know that the battery is used not only to supply heat to the house. Elements may well become the decor of the room. It is in this situation that they choose the right color and implement the project. An old battery easily turns into a neat one and complements the design of the room. It is important to know what paint to paint the battery with. There are many different things on the market and it is not so easy to choose your option.
Whichsituations where painting is indispensable?
It often happens that applying paint to a radiator is not a desire to change the interior, but a necessity. When exactly will you have to do this?
- If a new cast iron structure is installed. Today, products made from this material are supplied without a finish coating. This is sometimes convenient, because everyone decides how to change it in the future. Do not leave unpainted.
- When a decision is made to radically change the design of the room, and without choosing a new color or shade, it will not be possible to achieve the desired result.
- After prolonged use, the battery may easily lose its original external data. The paint bursts, peels off and rust may appear. This especially happens in old apartments, where the heating is made of cast iron.
These are the main reasons why the appearance is updated. In this case, it is worth doing quality surface preparation. Only after that the paint is applied quickly and evenly, and it does not take much time to dry. Another nuance is that you will have to remove the old cover so that the radiator does not lose maximum heat transfer.
What do they do before the main work?
How to paint cast iron batteries? Many people ask this question. Before the main actions, surface treatment is performed, sanded. This applies not only to the old design, but also to the new one. Cleaning and degreasing are the main procedures. Not everyone will be able to immediately tell at first glance that the battery needs to be treated. But in order not to risk it, it is better to make a completepreparation process.
To do this, you need to pay attention to a few simple facts:
- The old layer does not have cracks, chips, holes on the surface. This indicates a quality coating. Therefore, such a coating can not be peeled off and a new composition can be applied immediately.
- Before you paint an old radiator, you should visually assess whether there are chips. When they are distributed over the surface in different areas, you can sand them, degrease them. And it is not always necessary to process the entire perimeter.
- When the paint peeled off around the entire perimeter, you will have to do full-fledged work to clean the entire surface. To do this, take a brush with iron bristles, a special tool for washing off paint.
Cope with rust with the help of special tools. The surface of the radiator is washed not only from old coatings, but also from dust and dirt.
Which paint is best?
What color to paint the battery? Hardware stores are overflowing with offers. Manufacturers are trying to create competitive products. But it is not so easy to choose the right one from all the variety. It is worth paying attention to many parameters and personal preference. Experts give their advice:
- Paint must be heat resistant. The battery can heat up to a temperature of ninety degrees. Not every composition will withstand this.
- During operation, it is important that the paint is wear-resistant. Only in this situation will the shelf life be long.
- It's good if the surface is preliminarilytreated with anti-corrosion agents. Then there will be no problems with rust.
Experts do not recommend the use of ordinary enamel, because it will not be of any use. The shelf life of such a battery is negligible. Acrylic compositions are in demand - the drying period is short, there is no strong smell. When answering the question of what paint to paint the radiators with, it is worth taking into account whether there is a solvent in the composition. In this case, acetone and soil mixture is not required. But the smell is unpleasant and persistent.
Applying dye
If you choose an odorless composition, then you need to apply a primer on the prepared surface, it will allow the paint to be easily distributed and adhere tightly. Such a composition should be correctly distributed so as not to harm the heat transfer process. It is especially worth being careful with cast iron, as they have a small heat transfer process.
The most suitable primer mixture - with anti-corrosion effect. This will create an additional protective barrier.
Sequence of work
How to paint an old battery? Here are a few important points:
- You cannot start the process with the heating on. Otherwise, the paint will dry out with cracks and the smell will be stronger.
- The application process is from top to bottom so that drops do not roll.
- Don't forget about personal protective equipment. But in order not to get very dirty, first we apply the composition to all hard-to-reach places and only after that from above.
- It is with a brush that it is easier and more accurate to distribute the paint.
- To make the surface smooth, experts recommend making two thin layers. In order not to take heat transfer, you should not perform one thick layer. Drying time, as a rule, is written on the package with paint. One layer is applied, completely dry, and only after that do the second.
- In order not to spoil the floor, plain paper or polyethylene is spread on it. This is especially true when the topcoat is done.
Difficulties in how to beautifully paint a radiator should not arise. Lack of haste, accuracy, the right tool - these are the main components. Many mistakenly believe that the process of painting is simple, and anyone who has held a brush in their hands at least once will cope with the task. But in fact it is not so. When everything is done wrong, the radiator will be no different from what it was before the repair.
Therefore, some owners rarely update the color of their radiators, while others every year. It is better to arm yourself with detailed useful information than to do the work at random.
Which compounds are easier to work with?
How to properly paint a battery? It is worth choosing the right composition from the entire range on the market. The simplest and most common option is enamel. In two main versions - acrylic, alkyd. The latter have many positive characteristics and, most importantly, a long service life. But there is also a minus - the presence in the composition of a substance that creates a strong odor. But after drying, it goes away.
Today, paints and varnishes, which contain any impurities withharmful effect on human he alth, are being withdrawn from circulation due to low demand for them. Although they make the surface smooth, even, they serve for a long time. Their cost is low.
Water soluble formulations
They take the lead because they are completely safe. They have many positives:
- Distributes well and quickly over any surface.
- Completely safe for humans.
- Short period of complete drying.
But before you buy a composition for a metal surface, you should refer to the instructions, because not all products are good. Since water is corrosive, acrylic-based formulations are suitable. They are not resistant to surface washout.
Spray paint
To choose the best, you should give preference to enamels in cans. Create a perfectly smooth durable surface in a matter of minutes. But in any case, you will have to prepare the radiators for such an update. Among the advantages of such compositions is the rapid drying time. The layer becomes solid in just 10 minutes. In addition, paint under pressure is distributed evenly over the entire surface of the heating radiator. It will be quite difficult to get stains using a spray can.
Conclusion
So, we figured out how to paint radiators with our own hands. Everyone can do quality work. But do not rush, especially for people with no experience.
