Painting during the winter months.

Toolin

Toolin

Promoted Users
Hello all,

Now that it's getting cool here in Wisconsin it's time to start thinking about what I can work on painting my Sprint project through the cold months. I have a part-time business and got swamped with jobs so I lost over a month of good weather. Probably another month going forward. Anyhow I have a pretty good setup to keep the booth warm to a point but have not proven its limits as of yet. I understand minimum temperature is 70 degrees for all stages. So, my question is how long after each application of epoxy, filler, poly primer, 2K and single stage must I maintain a minimum of 70 degrees. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to complete the body/tub until next spring. Once the fans are off it won't be a problem maintaining temperature.
 
70 degrees for epoxy. With urethane primer, poly primer, body filler, base and clear you can get away with 65 degrees. Give the base more time to flash though.
 
its actually 50deg where everything goes basically dormant. you can spray epoxy at 50-55 deg surface temp but its going to take a super long time to cure out. you might be waiting a week to work on it. i prefer to shoot epoxy no lower than 60 but you can certainly spray urethanes at the 55 deg mark and it will cure. you just need to really exaggerate you flash times. you could literally be waiting hours for each coat to flash. look at the fast urethane reducer for instance. its 860 meant for 60 deg. nothing about the cold is ideal or works well where painting is concerned but it can be done. remember that everything, especially epoxy, gets thicker when its cold so your going to need to bump up the psi on the gun to atomize cold material or your going to have runs all over the place.

@chevman torpedo heaters are fine for intake air to the booth. been doing that for 20+ years. my booth pulls shop air so i need to supplement the shop heat when its real cold. i also pull the torpedo heater in the booth when done to get the temp up and bake. i can get it to about 110deg.
 
I used a diesel turbo heater until I quit. At the Time was cheaper than LP iir and the customer paid for It as part of the deal anyway. As long as they are maintained and burn clean aren't an issue. I never did anyway.
Had a screened small window open on the far shop end pulling fresh air, the Turbo close to It blowing out in the shops main area,to supplement the heat pump for the shop, with a bank of air filters at roof level into the booth because hot air rises and was a good deal warmer than Floor level. Even painting at 28 degrees outside was no problem.
Main 'thing is consistent METAL TEMPERATURE....
You let whatever enclosure your working in vary much temperature wise will only delay your work.
Ambient Air temperature can rise rapidly but Metal takes quite a Long time.
Hobby painters are best to stick with the 70 degree rule for a good reason.
Enter at your on risk.
 
Even 70° ambient might not be enough in winter, if the walls, floor, and ceiling are cold. In winter, work surfaces radiate heat away into the colder surfaces. Also parts close to floor level can be much colder than a few feet off the ground. An infrared thermometer is a MUST in these conditions so you can tell exactly what you are up against. A wall thermometer does not cut it, it will just mislead you.
 
crashtech said:
Even 70° ambient might not be enough in winter, if the walls, floor, and ceiling are cold. In winter, work surfaces radiate heat away into the colder surfaces. Also parts close to floor level can be much colder than a few feet off the ground. An infrared thermometer is a MUST in these conditions so you can tell exactly what you are up against. A wall thermometer does not cut it, it will just mislead you.
Click to expand...
Temp difference can easily be 10deg from rocker to mid panel with a concrete floor even in a heated space. My forced air heater was an excellent investment.
I'd suggest that you guys invest funds into insulating your space before your project. Even rudimentary improvement will be a plus. It'll be cheaper than having to redo your work.
 
Toolin said:
Hello all,

Now that it's getting cool here in Wisconsin it's time to start thinking about what I can work on painting my Sprint project through the cold months. I have a part-time business and got swamped with jobs so I lost over a month of good weather. Probably another month going forward. Anyhow I have a pretty good setup to keep the booth warm to a point but have not proven its limits as of yet. I understand minimum temperature is 70 degrees for all stages. So, my question is how long after each application of epoxy, filler, poly primer, 2K and single stage must I maintain a minimum of 70 degrees. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to complete the body/tub until next spring. Once the fans are off it won't be a problem maintaining temperature.
Click to expand...
I also am in Wisconsin and use a torpedo heater for preheating the shop to around 85 for hours so the cement holds the heat longer. I also found a laser temp reader is essential for checking the actual floor and rocker panel area temp before shutting down the heat.
 
This is the blight of us midwestern DIYers. Now is about the time my painting projects get shut down too.
 
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