Lanso
Cast Iron
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2013
- Location
- Cerritos, CA
Has anyone here used a primer for aluminum with good results?
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Primer for aluminum
- Thread starter Lanso
- Start date
- Replies 11
- Views 9,272
Yes. Zinc Chromate primer, when the surface needs painting.
Or etch / Alodine the part to be painted.
Just FYI: The etch will remove the aluminum oxide that forms on the surface when it hits air or water.
This will not allow paint to bond to the surface.
Or etch / Alodine the part to be painted.
Just FYI: The etch will remove the aluminum oxide that forms on the surface when it hits air or water.
This will not allow paint to bond to the surface.
Lanso
Cast Iron
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2013
- Location
- Cerritos, CA
Alodine sounds like what I was looking for.
Thanks
Thanks
dgfoster
Diamond
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2008
- Location
- Bellingham, WA
You might check with the local EAA. Those guys have been building aluminum planes for 60 or 70 years and have tons of experience. The FAA has written up detailed information about painting aluminum. Find an A+P in your area and talk to him. My next door neighbor is biuilding an all-aluminum plane and is using zinc chromate. I THINK it has an etchant in the paint itself.
Denis
Denis
Bobw
Diamond
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2005
- Location
- Hatch, NM Chile capital of the WORLD
Its all alodine and zinc chromate primer. The zinc chromate essentially is alodine and primer in one..
I'm sure there is some new fancy stuff, but everything I've messed with is alodine and zinc chromate primer.
There are a bunch of different types of zinc chromate. The one I always have to use is Mil-Prf-23377, its
a 2 part.. About $130 a gallon with the catalyst at any Sherwin Williams. Everything I've ever worked on
where the aluminum gets messed with, rivets or helicoils, (or on rare occasion a bolt that goes directly into
the aluminum) goes in wet with the zinc chromate primer.
And off the top of my head. Alodine is a "chromic conversion coating".
Essentially sulphuric acid, sodium Bi-Chromate or Di-Chromate and water.
brianweldor
Cast Iron
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2007
- Location
- WV
I use Sherwin Williams Rohs-Compliant wash primer (P60 G10). It's about $45/gal and I've been using it for about 3 years for exterior parts. So far so good.
rbjscott
Aluminum
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2005
- Location
- Baytown, Texas
WHAT EVER YOU USE FOLLOW THETR PROCEEDURES Should have been lower case
steve-l
Titanium
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2012
- Location
- Geilenkirchen, Germany
Unfortunately zinc chromate primer has been outlawed in many countries including Europe. I have not found an equal available product here.
dgfoster
Diamond
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2008
- Location
- Bellingham, WA
I should add that what my neighbor is using on his plane is available in the local hardware store in a shaker-can. I see online listed quite a few shaker-can zinc chromate primers intended for aluminum that claim to be self-etching. So, I would think that the shaker-can primers would be adequate for most common needs. Higher tech and more demanding applications will need a little more systematic approach which has been well laid out and is publicly available from FAA regs.
Denis
Zinc chromate primer (TT-P-1757) isn't used as much these days. The more common MIL-PRF-23377 and MIL-PRF-85582 (waterborne version) use strontium chromate (Class C2) or barium chromate (Class C1) or they even have non-chromate versions now (Class N). The waterborne stuff shouldn't be used for wet installing fasteners.
Bobw
Diamond
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2005
- Location
- Hatch, NM Chile capital of the WORLD
Out of curiosity, whats the reasoning on that one?
I assume that water could become trapped and not fully evaporate which could cause corrosion. MEK or whatever solvents they use I would think would evaporate completely. Even if not, they wouldn't cause corrosion.
