Repainting old lanterns

[dbuckley]

What sort of paint can one use to repaint lanterns?

[vl nick]

ideally get them sand blasted

[Mikey]

I used to re-paint with black spray paint for engine blocks, it withstands very high temperatures. Any good car shop will do the stuff.

Depending on the original paint work I'd either just clean it up or strip the old paint with lots of Nitromors stripper, which any DIY place will supply.

 

Cheers,

 

Mike.

[erik10_4]

What about Hammerite high heat paint ? It comes in matt black 400ml spray cans and withstands temperatures of up to 600 `C. Designed for stoves etc and I've found with some careful masking makes an excellent finish.

[dbuckley]

Thanks for the suggestions folks.

[Neil Hampson]

Plasticoat do a black high temp paint that I have always used, It's called BBQ paint I think, It is a bit more expensive at about £5.99 from B&Q and a bit cheaper at Wilkinsons but it does give a nice finish. It's not quite matt so it gives the same appearance as the OEM powder coating. the only drawback is the fact is can, in humid conditions take over 24 hours to cure fully. One can will easily give two coats to the inside and outside of two fully stripped down Patt743's but used sparingly will probably 'touch up' about 6 lanterns

 

I have used brush-on engine paint in the past with reasonable success but it was for a customer who wanted his newly re-furbed (ancient) lantern stock in the original silver rather than black. They did look quite good in the end though,

[Brian]

Going slightly OT but didn't there used to be a company who refurbished old lanterns (Ark Light?)?

[David A]

I renovate 100's of lights and use "chassis black" paint available from auto paint shops at under $100 aus for 20 litres.It dries in minutes in the sun.Being primarily for car chassis it sticks well to most surfaces without too much preparation and it seems to soak in to rusty surfaces.

[Brian]

...It dries in minutes in the sun...

Not much use in the UK then :)

[Neil Hampson]

I renovate 100's of lights and use "chassis black" paint available from auto paint shops at under $100 aus for 20 litres.It dries in minutes in the sun.Being primarily for car chassis it sticks well to most surfaces without too much preparation and it seems to soak in to rusty surfaces.

 

 

As it's a chassis paint, how does it stand up to high temp, i.e. the inside casing of a 2Kw fresnel? of the Plasticote range will survive on the outside of a lantern (500W) but as to the inside I'm sure a specific 'high temp' paint is required. The Trimite paints we used to use at work could be used on surfaces at 140degC. I'm not sure about the standard spray paints but the BBQ paint I mentioned before is good for at least 475deg

[Andrew C]

I've used whatever the black spray is that RS sell. Not high temp at all, and it seems fine.

 

Outside Only!

[Gerry]

I once bought some 2nd hand P23s that had been painted with emusion paint.

They were painted the same coplour as the walls of the hall the came out of. Even the colour frames had been painted.

I tried to remove the emuldsion paint. Nothing, short of sand blasting seemed to work.

They are still the same colour :)

Cheers

Gerry

[lamps galore]

I've always used halfords "satin black" - gives my Patt 743's a nice seductive look!

 

as for emulsion... :) :D

[David A]

No I don't paint the insides of 2K fresnels with black chassis or anything else for that matter and while lamps get hot to touch they don't get hot enough to burn off paint.So I suggest it is not necessary to waste money on high temperature paints unless you really want to paint the insides of your lights.

[dirkenstein]

A couple of 'micro spot' 500W fresnels I de-rusted and repainted did indeed need the use of high-temperature paint. I used Hammerite BBQ paint. Rather a matte black but it does seem to give good anti-rust coverage. The high-temperature resistance was definitely required to repaint the supports for the internal reflector, which I am sure do get hot enough to melt conventional paint. I have the impression that the reflector support was zinc coated and anodised black at one point before the corrosion kicked in. When BBQ paint gets properly hot the first time it tends to release rather unpleasant fumes, so 'running in' your newly repaired lights should very much be an outdoors, or wide-open windows affair.

 

I have noticed a similar degree of 'stink' the first time you fire up cheap Showtec parcans.

 

How would people suggest de-rusting old lanterns? I have found this a much more challenging task than slapping on some barbecue paint, provided aesthetics aren't the major consideration.

 

Unfortunately I don't have have access to a sandblasting/shotblasting rig. I suppose I could try to find a friendly local powdercoating place, but I suspect they'll charge more for the blast clean than the lights are worth.

 

My usual method of steel wire brush for coarse work and 'weird green rust remover' (Hammerite gel rust remover), although satisfyingly thorough, is rather slow and tedious. Especially the 10 or so reapplications of the rust remover needed to remove rust pitting are rather annoying.

 

The other problem is of course the degree of disassembly, earth strap fitting and even re-riveting required to achieve adequate levels of earth continuity on particularly old and rusty fixtures.