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Cooling A Black Plastic Tool Box

E

eastexan

Member
I have a large black plastic tool box that I keep tools, bars, gloves, etc.
I keep it outside on the tractor most of the time. It keeps me from having to go to the shop if I just need a hammer, screwdriver, come-a-long, etc.

The problem I'm having is that the box sets out in the sun and gets super hot inside and some of the more delicate items deteriorate in it. A pair of rubber gloves will get hard and brittle, electrical tape and other tapes will get bad, etc.

I'm sure most of the reason it gets so hot is because of the box being black.The ideal thing would be to coat the outside of the box with reflective paint or something. But, the outside of the plastic box has been weathered so bad that I don't think anything will stick to it.

So what I'm wondering is if I could coat the inside of the box with aluminum paint, or line it with aluminum foil, or some type of insulation, that would hopefully cool it down a little.

Would any of that work or any other ideas out there?
Thanks
 
Whatever you do will have to be on the outside. Can you move it to
a shady location? Weathered plastic often hold paint better than
new slick plastic. A little aluminum paint wouldn't hurt.
 
Doesn't work very well. Have a black truck tool box and it has the same problem. Get some silver or aluminum colored Krylon Fusion paint and give it a coat. Sticks well to plastic.
 
Attach a piece of sheet metal (or better yet, sheet copper) about an inch above the top, either with "stand-off" bolts through the top, or flanges on each end, bolted into the ends of the lid. This will leave an airspace above the plastic, and it will stay as cool a a cucumber.

I had sheet copper about an inch our from the brick alcove for my woodstove- before the copper, the brick would get so hot you couldn't put your hand on it, and I was afraid I was going to burn my house down. After the copper, I could put my hand on the back of the copper, and it was cool to the touch, even though the hot stove was less than a foot away!
 
Aluminum on the inside is not going to help one bit, it is the black on the outside that is soaking up the suns rays. Just compare the inside temp difference between a black car and a white car in the heat of the day.
They make paint for plastic, as most auto bumpers are now made out of different types of plastics. Paint the outside silver, aluminum or white.HTH

Keith & Shawn (Gold Medal Winner)
 
(quoted from post at 13:54:57 08/05/11)[color=red:475512695f] Aluminum on the inside is not going to help one bit, it is the black on the outside that is soaking up the suns rays. [/color:475512695f]Just compare the inside temp difference between a black car and a white car in the heat of the day.
They make paint for plastic, as most auto bumpers are now made out of different types of plastics. Paint the outside silver, aluminum or white.HTH

Keith & Shawn (Gold Medal Winner)
Click to expand...

I thought so too, except that the other day I was looking at some buildings at a Tuff Shed sales lot and inside their newest buildings, the sheathing was lined with a reflective foil.
They claimed they were using it on all their 2011 buildings, and was supposed to make the inside of the buildings ?% cooler.

Whether that's true or not, I don't know.
 
White reflects heat better than alum. Propane tanks used to be painted alum. now they are all painted white. I had to repaint mine white; it is much cooler now.
 
I was just at Menards last week talking to them about paint for a
faded plastic picnic table. They recommended a Dutch Boy
Maxbond paint.It claims it will adhere to chalky, dirty, or glossy
surfaces without any prepping or priming. You can mix any Dutch
Boy color.
 
Get some rattle cans of aluminum paint,give the box several coats of paint,It will stick,if it has a problem well give it some more spray time.It is after all just a knock around box to keep your tools out of the weather,right?
 
All hardware and bigbox stores have a paint for plastic that really works great. Just spray the box silver or white. End of problem
 
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