100 degrees, DONT PAINT!!

[bill2654]

It's 102 degrees today and I wanted to get some painting done so I thought "paint would dry faster in the heat"... it doesn't work that way. Now I'll have to sand it down and spay it again in the morning when it's only 80.

[SacEsq]

Been there done that. Either it is too hot or too cold ...

[GDJ]

Had that happen in the heat (over 30C in the garage)

Ironically some of my best paintjobs have happened when the garage is -15C. Warm can of paint, paint hits the rocket, and it won't freeze, but it slows down the curing process alot. Advantage of that is that it has plenty of time to smooth out and runs don't happen nearly as bad.

So, if you're patient, cooler is better.

[Daddyisabar]

Ya just gotta come up to the High Prairie. Sunny over 300 days a year. I was painting the other day at almost 100 but the humididitity was at about 10%. With the sun just right you could see that cheap Krylon paint cure over just after the spray landed and the glossy finish come right through. Another coat 30 seconds later for depth of color and even more shine. Left outside for another 30 minutes and a good sniff, even up close, and no Krylon out gassing smell. No bugs or flying bits of debris in paint cause they are all dead and dried up. Sure looks good and if I think she won't fly good at a mile high, just jump in the car and 8,000+ ft elevation and even drier, less dense air await in South Park. In the winter it is just terrible, I have to wait a whole 2 minutes between coats and paint with a daily high of 40-50 degrees at like 3:00 PM. So much gloss comes through I still have a bottle of Future that is full. Like the ole mountain man said "Don't see why the man is down on the low lands eatin' on the hog when he could be up here a eatin' on the Elk." Same goes for back yard shake and shoot!

[UPscaler]

We paint in the heat and in the cold (No cold here, but back in Idaho we had it)

We spray the paint on, then bring it inside to dry.


Braden

[Tarasdad]

With the heat and lack of humidity here the trick is keeping the paint from drying out before it hits the surface. Can't use rattle cans during the day, it's a waste of pain. I have to wait until well after the sun goes down for h garag to cool down enough.

OT, but is Larry's Hobbies still open in Spring, Braden? Spent a bunch of money with them way back when.

[JPVegh]

Don't paint over 100 degrees? When is not over 100 degrees? Might as well say don't breathe. lol

[Flhyr]

Yep, same here. Now I use a compressor & spray gun, and mix some penetrol into the paint. This has helped alot with keeping the paint wet enough to flow out even when its pretty hot. Spray cans? forget it...

[AfterBurners]

I have a love / hate relationship with paint.

[cwbullet]

Especially if it is really humid. I found the paint becomes hazy.

[hcmbanjo]

It's probably a humidity problem.

I visited Centuri in July back the mid 1970s. They had a bunch of sprayed body tubes drying over launch rods stuck in a planter in front of the building.
Larry Brown commented that they would be dry in no time.

100+ degrees, but no humidity. (That and old formula spray paints.)

[Barracuda]

Don't paint over 100 degrees? When is not over 100 degrees? Might as well say don't breathe. lol

Yep..no kidding

[Marc_G]

Especially if it is really humid. I found the paint becomes hazy.

Yep. The haze (also called blush or milking) is due to condensation onto the paint surface. Solvent evaporation cools the paint, and when humid air contacts it, water condenses out and either gets trapped in the paint or at least does weird surface effects which can sometimes be buffed out or eliminated by another coat (shot during a drier time).

I learned a bit about this last year after switching to lacquers which flash off fast and are prone to this in humid Indianapolis summers.

[Neuport]

Ya just gotta come up to the High Prairie. Sunny over 300 days a year. I was painting the other day at almost 100 but the humididitity was at about 10%. With the sun just right you could see that cheap Krylon paint cure over just after the spray landed and the glossy finish come right through. Another coat 30 seconds later for depth of color and even more shine. Left outside for another 30 minutes and a good sniff, even up close, and no Krylon out gassing smell. No bugs or flying bits of debris in paint cause they are all dead and dried up. Sure looks good and if I think she won't fly good at a mile high, just jump in the car and 8,000+ ft elevation and even drier, less dense air await in South Park. In the winter it is just terrible, I have to wait a whole 2 minutes between coats and paint with a daily high of 40-50 degrees at like 3:00 PM.

Shhh . . . don't you mean its always cold and snowy and miserable hear and no one in his right mind would want to live here .

I always laugh when my southern and eastern relatives/friends assume it is always cold here or fail to realize how clear the skys are. I remark to my wife 2-3 times a week, and think to myself everytime I walk out the door, "Imagine that, another beautiful day in Colorado!" anytime of the year. I've lived for extended periods in the Texas panhandle, Indiana, Tennessee, the Fort Worth area, and Denver. Denver has by far the mildest most comfortable climate I have experienced.

[MarkII]

We paint in the heat and in the cold (No cold here, but back in Idaho we had it)

We spray the paint on, then bring it inside to dry.


Braden

Just about every time that I have tried that in the cold the paint ran off the rocket like it was water before I could get it back inside. My only "success" was when I applied a real quick coat of primer to some tubes that I planned to sand down afterward. In that case runs (and I got a couple) didn't matter.

I have never tried painting in triple digit weather because it never gets that hot here, not even this year.

[UrbanKnight]

It's perfectly possible to paint in the heat like that. At least around here with moderate humidity, I just hold the can a little closer.

[Issus]

It can get to 55c in my garage in summer, but I still paint (in the evening when it's a chilly 37c with the doors open) - My trick so far has been to pre-heat the tube. Sounds crazy I know, but with the tube warmer than the air you dont get any issues. 5 minute epoxies on the other hand...keep them in the fridge and they still set before you finish mixing them!

[o1d_dude]

I'm pretty sure most rattlecans suggest that painting should be done during a temperature range of 60-90 degrees.

That probably means something.

[UrbanKnight]

I'm pretty sure most rattlecans suggest that painting should be done during a temperature range of 60-90 degrees.

That probably means something.

Probably, but then I'd have to save all my painting for late Winter.