paining your case......

TacT

Where can I find myself some non conductive black/silver paint pls anyone. I've asked a few peeps and they just looked at me as if I was a dragon with ten heads

I'm in Dublin.

Boston

paint is conductive, no matter what it is

GoneShootin

I'm in Dublin.

that would explain the strange looks

yellum

Not all paint is conductive or magnetic, the RUC and British Forces in the occupied counties use lots of anti-magnetic paint on their vehicles, for obvious reasons.

I'm sure theres plastic based paint that will work.

When you do find a source let us know.

Boston

Ok then all retail sold paint is conductive, he wont find a place that sells that stuff here

po0k

Why do you want non-conductive paint, if you don't mind my asking?

Inspector Gadget

Erm, acrylic paint is hardly conductive, is it? However, as my curiosity has also gotten the better of me, I'd like to echo Syxpak's curiousity about the reasoning behind using non-conductive paint? You're not going spraypainting the inside of your PC so that it'll look nice with a window, or something equally daft, are you?

Gadget

Boston

It is

po0k

hey!

I'm going to paint the inside of my case for the window
Beige I think....

TacT

Yes I do want to paint the inside of my case.

Black.

I'll get back to you if my hunt bears any fruit worth sharing

The reason for wanting to paint the inside is I have a full tower I wish to mod. The case is quite old and has some unremovable dirt :eek: which I do not want to see when I have a nice shiny new looking case.

Time to join the army so :rolleyes:

Will having a car radio mounted in a rack so it displays on the front of the case cause any unwanted interference, unwanted explosions, corruption of all data etc?

hacktavist

And why does the paint have to be non conductive its not like the motherboard is touching it... Is it?

Samba

yes in fact it is. That is why I ask. (bro's login.........

Isegrim

How about Silicon Spray?
Paint everything with "normal" paint or spray or whatever and then spray it with clear silicon spray!

Some modders with water-cooling or / peltier-element-cooling are spraying their hardware with that stuff to make it "a bit more waterresistant".

Have fun Isegrim

Gerry

ah hang on a minute... The only reason you want non-conductive paint is because right now the motherboard is shorting off the case. Could I enquire as to why this is? In any case, non-conductive paint is not the answer, as if the motherboard is touching off the case, there is a fair chance that it will wear through the paint.

TacT

no Gerry

The metal pins from the back of the motherboard touch the inside of the case but seeing as the system hasn't even been built yet I don't see how it could be shorting it

I'm trying to prevent this from happening if it can/will........

Anyway, I got my hands on a smaller case today and I'm just gonna work with that for the time being, setting it up later on, gonna leave the full tower a little while longer

Inspector Gadget

Have you tried longer standoffs (and no, I don't mean the Waco, Texas kind)?

Gadget

Gerry

"The metal pins from the back of the motherboard touch the inside of the case but seeing as the system hasn't even been built yet I don't see how it could be shorting it"

Thats just being incredibly pedantic, but anyway... Could you tell us what pins are/could/would be touching the back of the case. I'm just really curious about this, and I'm sure others are also. Usually the standoffs keep any pins well clear off the case. And normally the only problems with shorting are where you have an extra standoff in the tray, and there is no corresponding mounting hole in the board.

hacktavist

Somethings very wrong if pins are touching the case,
Paint is hardly the way to fix Short standoffs.

Victor

Most cases (and I took a look at Gambler's case for this) are finished in permanent finishes designed to repel paint (or anything else) and protect the steel from rusting. Typically they are galvanised and then polyester powder coated, anodised (much like aluminium framed windows) or similar. I forget the exact definitions. Merely using paint will mean the paint will chip off over time or scorch / burn and damage your PC. Your best choice would be to use colour materials like powder coated metals which should be available from some metal suppliers. Give me a few days and I'll see what I can dig out.

po0k

I knew that stuff wasn't paint...too damn hard to take off...
When you say the 'case' is coated in it, do you mean just the frame, just the case cover, or the entire thing?

How wold one get that beige crap off it while still keeping the galvinisation?
I intent to spray it with car paint and then spray-varnish it, finishing off with a rubbing solution to even out any bobbles in the paint.
Will this give a decent looking, and long lasting (ie no rust after 6 months) finish?

Maybe this question should be aimed at the motors forum....

Isegrim

Originally posted by Victor
..... polyester powder coated, anodised (much like aluminium windows) or similar.....

hmm, aluminium windows? transparent aluminium?
like in STAR TREK IV THE VOYAGE HOME

hacktavist

I dont think you should spray straight onto metal.
I did and you can just pick it straight off either use primer first or dont sand all the way down to metal.

Victor

Originally posted by SyxPak
I knew that stuff wasn't paint...too damn hard to take off...

Anodised aluminum (AA)- the dye becomes part of the the metal, essentially the oxidised layer on the outside of the metal is infused with the colour. I'm not sure how polyester powder coating (PPC) works, but it is just as hard to get off. I imagine it binds / bonds with the zinc in the galvanising.

Originally posted by SyxPak
When you say the 'case' is coated in it, do you mean just the frame, just the case cover, or the entire thing?

I don't know what they use on the frame, it looks like galvanising with some sort of polishing, lacquer or AA / PPC. Look at the corners where the metal is cut / folded and you can see the difference compared to the bare steel.

Originally posted by SyxPak
How wold one get that beige crap off it while still keeping the galvinisation?

I don't think you can.

Originally posted by SyxPak
I intent to spray it with car paint and then spray-varnish it, finishing off with a rubbing solution to even out any bobbles in the paint. Will this give a decent looking, and long lasting (ie no rust after 6 months) finish?

Unfortunately, I imagine that no home-made job would compare to a factory finish - remember that case manufacturers have produced tens if not hundreds of millions of cases each and have been able to perfect their processes over time. Their is a risk that stripping and recoating the metal may eventually cause some rust, regardless of environment.

Originally posted by SyxPak
Maybe this question should be aimed at the motors forum....

No harm.

Originally posted by Isegrim
hmm, aluminium windows? transparent aluminium?
like in STAR TREK IV THE VOYAGE HOME

Duh! Aluminium framed windows.

Victor

Originally posted by hacktavist
I dont think you should spray straight onto metal. I did and you can just pick it straight off either use primer first or dont sand all the way down to metal.

I imagine zinc primers work best. Remember that even this may be repelled by AA & PPC.

TacT

Well because the aul case has some unnecessary bits sticking out of it, just under the pci slots and on the other side were touching. I hacked two little bits off, got some higher risers and it's sorted. (So I can forget about the non conductive paint

po0k

I sanded the grey crap off one case before. The rust is a bit of a problem, especially when you can't be arsed to paint it.

If you were to clear-coat it would that stop much of the rust forming for a while?? I don't want to spend a fair bit of cash on painting meh case only fo it to turn orange and flakey after 4 months

Victor

Guys, won't be able to help with metal at the moment, too busy sorting out 'real life' stuff.

Lacquering metal does work to a degree, but does gradually flake off, allowing some rust.

po0k

Right, I'm after getting the supplies today.
1x 500ml can of Simoniz Spray paint - Cellulose - Matt Black (SIMP17) €7.99
1x 500ml can of Simoniz Spray paint - Cellulose - Grey Primer (SIMP11) €5.49
1x 150ml can of CarPlan Special Cear Coat - Two Stage Acrylic Laquer €?
1x 300ml can of Loctite Auto - Acryplas Plastics Primer €12.64
1x 150g tin of Simoniz Rubbing Compound - Heavy Duty Cleaner €5.25
Total was about €26
The Rubbing compund should only be applied 9-14 days after laquering/painting (dunno which - going to leave it for 10 days regardless).
The Case is an old AT tower cover, has been sanded but needs to be re-sanded again to remove some light rust and deeper scratches.
The Plastic bevel and drive covers (old floppy and CDROM drives) have been lightly sanded and will be undercoated with the stuff bought for it - intended for bumpers (ABS, Nylon, Polyurethane, Hard PVC, Glass Fibre, Polycarbonate, Polypropylene). I wonder if it'll melt.......
using J-Cloths to clean and dry, going to earth the case before spraying, and going to spray in the garage with the case cover supported from the inside by a block so all the edges hang free.
The weather is picking up (better if the weather is a bit warm) and I've the next week and a half to do it so here goes.

Please tell me if there's anything I'm forgetting.
I'll try and take photos during it and put them up soon.
Wish me luck etc.

Lump

OK, I didnt really read all the posts, but surely oil based paint isnt conductive.


John

po0k

Well I've started.
Sanded the bit of rust that was building up with my trusty belt sander.
Sprayed on the Grey undercoat, let it dry for an hour, sprayed on another coat - nice and even like - let it dry for 2 hours then sprayed on the black. Going to let it set over night out in the garage then going to put on another coat tomorrow if there's enough left.
Sprayed the previously prepared plastic front and drive covers with the plastic primer - much like the poly-glue for plastic Humbrol models. It bonds with the plastic. Let that dry then sprayed it with the same black stuff - twice in about 2 hours - having gently rubbed the first coat of black with a clean J-cloth to bring up a bit of a sheen(though it['s matt paint anyways).
Going to leave that for a few days.
By next thursday i reckon I should be able to spray the whole thing with the Clear coat stuff and elave it for a week before applying the rubbing compund to seal it all in and preven t to much rusting. Might just rub the inside near the paint with some vaseline or something to protect agasint rust-creep from the edges.
Also have a white Apple iBoook sticker for the side - a bit of a nod and wink to those Mac pervs
Should be good in the end.

I did make two cockups alldready though - both in relation to the primer stage. When i was giving th top of the case it's second layer of primer the bottom of the can scraped off the top and left a small mark. I then proceeded - unwisely - to try and smooth it out with a cloth, only making it worse. Thinking quickly I sprayed over it and prayed.
Again when putting the undercoat on the plastic front I decided it could do with a bit more as it looked like it wasn't sitting right. Turned out I ahd a bit too uch and when I went to try and gently carress off the excess it left a rather patch-work design on the still-melty plastic. Balls.
At least i'll know for again, which is the point of this exercise
Should have an MPEG of it soon - gettignt eh use of a DV cam and a new iBook for the week

po0k

have it finished, assembled and everything.
Going to start applying the rubbbing compound tomorrow.
The DV cam thing kinda fell through. No tape
Going to grab a webcam off a friend tomorrow and take some snaps of it. should have em up by tomorrow night.
Only gripe was the clear coat, I dind't take my time and the finish along the sides was less then satisfactory