Painting outside

Alan8n · Jun 13, 2016

Going to try and paint this weekend, temps should be in the lo to mid 80's. I will be using a tent to cover everything but when the sun moves before I get everything done, some parts wind up in the sun before I get them painted.
As long as the air temp is in the 80's and I use the right reducer for the air temp is it ok to paint the parts that wind up in the sun. I have always avoided it but I have a lot of parts to do and I am sure my tent will not be big enough to cover everything until I am done. What would be the max surface temp that would be OK ?
Thanks
Alan

Stephen Newell · Jun 14, 2016

If the parts are heated in the sun the paint will set up too fast and cause adhesion problems. It might seem to work but the paint job will fail prematurely. Then unless the painted parts are pretty dry if they get in the sun the paint can skim over the surface and stay wet underneath which could create bubbles. It's not so much the ambient temperature and the parts being heated from direct exposure to the sun. You would be alright if you could keep what you are painting shaded.

CNKS · Jun 14, 2016

I agree with Stephen. I paint my parts inside--what I am doing now is about 120 parts. I can't do them all at once, so I do only the ones that fit--takes a lot of time but that is the way things go.

Duane WI · Jun 14, 2016

Be careful painting under trees. I painted some sheet metal under a shade tree outside my shop. After a year I noticed little random rust spots only on the top surface of some of the parts. I started looking at which parts and thought about it and realized it was the parts under the tree. I had items set up on saw horses and planks. The parts with the most rust spots where on the end under the shade tree. Pretty sure it was tree sap.

Painting outside

Alan8n

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Stephen Newell

Well-known Member

CNKS

Well-known Member

Duane WI

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