painting a 932 HAF inside

[Crawlerz246]

I have oredered a HAF 932 case for my build. I going for i7 920 (most likely) ASUS mobo, 6GB corsair 1600 RAM, etc...

 

everything except the mobo and the CPU I already have. case is coming.

my question is this. I have a couple of my testors spray paint cans (from my models) that can paint metal. what I need to know is - IS IT ACTUALLY A GOOD IDEA TO PAINT THE CASE INSIDE? beside all the difficulty masking and taking it apart? my main concern THE PAINT WILL SCREW UP THE HEAT CONDUCTIVITY OF THE METAL (it's aluminum isn't it?) also I think testors is flammable, no? yes.

 

so before I though about it, it sounded really sweet, now after I though about all the heat sources (nowadays everything's a heat sourse: CPU, GPU, HHDs, etc... and I plan to OC later)

Edited December 25, 2009 by Crawlerz246

[Baulten]

The HAF 932 is rolled steel I believe, not aluminum. It will affect the heat conductivity, but it'll be an unnoticeable change.

[davidst]

yea it won't be enough to make a difference .00000001 R-value

and hopefully it's not going to get hot enough to worry about the paint helping cause a fire

if anything it will help from getting a short cause the metal will be painted

the only thing is if you scratch if it will show up more

I wish I had painted mine <_<

[Crawlerz246]

well Ill tell you this... at first I was really excited about painting it. looking cool and all that. maybe painting the other wall blue. now I'm not so sure I wanna do it. first of all I dont want to have the paint melt even a little bit after warming up for really long time. secondly, I dont want to drill out the rivets and then re-rivet (to paint the drive bays individually).

 

I did look at some online posts pertaining to this matter. people recommend using high-temperature automotive paint. might be a good idea, but quite frankly this is snowballing into a life of its own.

[Boinker]

There is always powder coating. and you can get the guys that do it to chemicly match it, and lastly it will be hard to scratch.

[Scott P]

The inside of a case will never get hot enough to melt the paint. If want it to look its best, I would take it all apart, mask well with good tape and use a primer for the bare metal. Of course, you will want to fully wash the parts in hot soapy water beforehand. I think Rustoleum or similar paint would be sufficient and the cost isn't that much. I'd leave the model paint for the models.

[Crawlerz246]

I'd leave the model paint for the models.

 

what about high temperature automotive paint?

[Boinker]

I belive The high temperature they are refering to is never seen by the case itself. 150'F by the chip but that is isolated to the chip itself, and if the HSF is working properly or whatever cooling solution your using it pulls the heat away from the chip and into the cooling part of your cooling solution. Unless you have a slight issue with the graphics card producing heat then I severly doubt you will ever have problems with pait fade due to heat. and plus its a haf 932. Cold come in, not as cold air comes out, the case in factory form fan set-up cools itself so well that I can barely tell a difference with the air coming in or out. so I belive you will be ok with either paint.

[davidst]

Yea the case better not get hot enough to melt paint hehe

But yea if your not able to disassemble in properly then it's

not worth it

I would paint mine black like this one

http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?product_id=2950

[Scott P]

what about high temperature automotive paint?

 

Way overkill. The inside of your case will top out at maybe, 80+ degrees. Regular paint is fine. Rustoleum/Krylon offer great color selection.

[Crawlerz246]

Way overkill. The inside of your case will top out at maybe, 80+ degrees. Regular paint is fine. Rustoleum/Krylon offer great color selection.

 

IMO, no, I've seen a can of high temp paint at 12.99 (black) and the can's like 3 times the size on the testor's model paint @ $4/pop. although the Testors says it's good for metal, I'm reluctant.

Edited December 27, 2009 by Crawlerz246

[QuantumX]

Isn't the inside galvanised? Normal spray paint don't adhere very well to galvanised metal.

I painted my Antec 300 black on the indside, which is also galvanised, with normal spray paint.

I can chip the paint with my fingernail.

 

I agree with boinker, maybe the best would be to powdercoat it. It would look alot better anyway.

I wish I powdercoated mine. . .