Painting a Defiant II with light surface rust

[STJP]

I have a Defiant with surface rust. No deep pitting or anything like that. I've been torn between Stove bright or Williams Stove Polish. Leaning to paint...wondering if this process will work......brush loose rust etc away, apply OSPHO, allow to dry overnight, then spray with Stove Bright paint. Any thoughts appreciated. I am hopeing someone has used OSPHO rust remover/converter (phosphoric acid) on their stove.

One other issue is getting the stove in my garage up to 65 degrees F as minimum application temp by Stove Bright. I guess I may just have to use it rusty this winter and wait until spring to paint.

Thanks,

STJP

 

[STJP]

Today I got serious with the wire wheel and cleaned up the stove. It turned out better than I expected. I have decided not to use stove polish. I thought better of applying OSPHO also. I'm planning to install new gaskets, wipe it down with laquer thinner and paint with Stove Bright. Warm weather will allow me to get the garage and stove up to 60 degrees or more for paint.

Here is a before picture and several after wire wheel pictures.

 

[fbelec]

not in bad shape. i not sure i would wipe it down with laquer thinner. it might smell nasty when you get a fire going in it. you might want to burn it outside for the first fire and let that stuff smoke off outside

 

[kybishop]

Nicely done. Glad to see you saving the old Defiant.

They are wonderful stoves. They push out a lot of heat and are great for large space.

 

[STJP]

Thanks flebec and kybishop,

I've cleaned it a bit more and started wiping it down with laquer thinner. Amazing how much black stuff comes off what looks like fairly clean surface. I intend to wipe it clean. May take a big pile cloth. I will contine the clean up until my gasket kit gets here.

Will be reinstalling the thermostat and going over the latches as well. Are latches lubricated with graphite? I failed to take pictures of my thermostst before removal, I'll figure it out. I have a Vigilant in storage to look at.

Thanks again,

STJP

 

[LondonNeil]

Stove bright seems good paint. I refurbished a tatty stove last year. Like you I wire brushed/wire wheeled the old paint and a few rust spots. yes you then need to wipe t down and you can't use white spirit or any oil based solvent. If lacquer thinner is cellulose thinners then that is ideal, and is what I used. I also wiped it over with methylated spirits just incase it had some grime the cellulose thinners hadn't picked up.

I painted mine this time last year. To do it I brought the stove inside the house for a day or 2 to warm up, then took it outside to the garage and sprayed the paint. I kept the paint can inside too, and took that back inside between coats. I did 3 iirc. Seems to have worked fine, stove looks great. I installed it a couple of week ago. Got a few wisps of smoke as the paint cured and a smell for a couple of hours. It wasn't bad though Smelled like when you clean the oven with oven cleaner, and then next time you turn it on you get that chemical smell for a few minutes.

 

[kybishop]

Let us know if you run into trouble with the thermostat. I believe my model Defiant is older. It is a coil sprung adjustable thermostat with a chain that drops down to flap door at the bottom. If they changed I don't know how much or when they did on later models. I would be glad to take pictures and post them if you get stuck.

 

[STJP]

Stove bright seems good paint. I refurbished a tatty stove last year. Like you I wire brushed/wire wheeled the old paint and a few rust spots. yes you then need to wipe t down and you can't use white spirit or any oil based solvent. If lacquer thinner is cellulose thinners then that is ideal, and is what I used. I also wiped it over with methylated spirits just incase it had some grime the cellulose thinners hadn't picked up.

I painted mine this time last year. To do it I brought the stove inside the house for a day or 2 to warm up, then took it outside to the garage and sprayed the paint. I kept the paint can inside too, and took that back inside between coats. I did 3 iirc. Seems to have worked fine, stove looks great. I installed it a couple of week ago. Got a few wisps of smoke as the paint cured and a smell for a couple of hours. It wasn't bad though Smelled like when you clean the oven with oven cleaner, and then next time you turn it on you get that chemical smell for a few minutes.

Thanks LondonNeil, Going to prep for new gaskets today and get it wiped down and clean with laquer thinner. I don't have to worry about smell with first firings as the stove is going in my 30 x 40 open ceiling garage. Picture is prior to heat shield install.

My biggest hurdle at the moment is getting the stove to 60 degrees to apply the Stove Bright. I can't move mine inside a heated space. Would need to get the whole garage interior to 60. Wonder if I could just heat the stove to 60 or above for a few hours? Maybe put an elec heater inside it?

Thanks again. I post more pics as I make progress.

STJP

 

[STJP]

Let us know if you run into trouble with the thermostat. I believe my model Defiant is older. It is a coil sprung adjustable thermostat with a chain that drops down to flap door at the bottom. If they changed I don't know how much or when they did on later models. I would be glad to take pictures and post them if you get stuck.

Hi kybishop,

My thermostat is like yours. My only confusion (at this point) is this. The lever screws into the stove so it is not evident to me how the lever can then be moved to set the door position. I'll take some pictures today and post tonight.

Appreciate your help.

STJP

 

[LondonNeil]

Thanks LondonNeil, Going to prep for new gaskets today and get it wiped down and clean with laquer thinner. I don't have to worry about smell with first firings as the stove is going in my 30 x 40 open ceiling garage. Picture is prior to heat shield install.

My biggest hurdle at the moment is getting the stove to 60 degrees to apply the Stove Bright. I can't move mine inside a heated space. Would need to get the whole garage interior to 60. Wonder if I could just heat the stove to 60 or above for a few hours? Maybe put an elec heater inside it?

Thanks again. I post more pics as I make progress.

STJP

I guess a small fan heater in it for a while would warm it, you don't need the garage to be at 60F, just the stove and the paint, so warming the stove should work as long as the outside surface is warmed.

 

[STJP]

I guess a small fan heater in it for a while would warm it, you don't need the garage to be at 60F, just the stove and the paint, so warming the stove should work as long as the outside surface is warmed.

Hey LN,

I agree, but I've changed my mind...again. I'm going to use Williams Stove Polish. I wil be able to fire the stove by Wednesday. Too much stuff to do otherwise tomorrow.

It is always good to have other weigh in on our plans. Thank you.

Stjp

 

[STJP]

Hi kybishop,

My thermostat is like yours. My only confusion (at this point) is this. The lever screws into the stove so it is not evident to me how the lever can then be moved to set the door position. I'll take some pictures today and post tonight.

Appreciate your help.

STJP

Here are my pics of stove thermostat parts. I don't think I am missing anything. I am still puzzled that the thermostat handle screws into the stove back and when adjusting the thermostat the rotation of the handle is by the threads of the handle in the cast iron. Presume I am worrying to much?

 

[fbelec]

yep the spring just sits there and movement is just back and forth it won't back out if that is what you are worried about.

 

[kybishop]

This setup works really well. The coil spring heats up and closes the flap door to regulate the temps. Works great at keeping the temp in range on our old Defiant.

The heat shield is on ours and makes it a bit hard to get some pictures. Took some. The coil just attaches there at the top. The chain can be adjusted I believe to where you need it for holding the door.

Not sure if these help you much. Looks like they are the same setup but slightly different castings on the back of the stove.

Did you get it all back together ok? Looks correct as far as I can tell i photos. I just don't think my setup has all that exposed thread but ours is an older model.

 

[STJP]

yep the spring just sits there and movement is just back and forth it won't back out if that is what you are worried about.

It seems strange to me that the pivot point is threaded. I also think a coiled spring is between the thermostat spring and the stove whether Defiant of Vigilant. Wondering if any washers need be installed here. Here is a picture from my Vigilant. Thanks for responding fbelec. All info is welcome.

STJP

 

[STJP]

kybishop,

Thanks to you for the info and pictures. The picture I posted showing lots of thread was a picture where I had not screwed the thermo handle in very far.

I did not get anything done today other than a dentist trip and a trip to look at my Vigilant 30 miles from my home.

It seems the thermostat lever rotates/moves as a threaded pivot. I found the spring which evidently goes between the lever and thermostat coil and the stove!

Thanks to you,

STJP

 

[kybishop]

kybishop,

I found the spring which evidently goes between the lever and thermostat coil and the stove!

Thanks to you,

STJP

I remember that spring now!

 

[STJP]

Now I lost the dang thing. I'm going to put up a new thread to request sources

Cheers,

JS

 

[STJP]

Now that I have cleaned it up and wiped it down with laquer thinner I've decided that for now I'm not going to paint it or polish it. It looks good. I'll wait until the spring to decide. I need heat in the garage.

Installed new gaskets yesterday.

Was trying to set up the thermostat and the door/flap is a bit too wide at the pivot. After I get that adjusted today will be able to hook it up and fire it!

Snow here today in north central North Carolina. I need to get er done!

STJP

 

[kybishop]

Looks great!

 

[STJP]

Looks great!

Thank you kybishop.

 

[STJP]

Got the thermo installed tonight. I had poor fitting parts from Stoves Parts Unlimited. A bit of a pain, but now done.

Cheers,

STJP

 

[fbelec]

looks great. anytime your ready mine needs a little tlc

 

[STJP]

looks great. anytime your ready mine needs a little tlc

fbelec,

I hear you brother, I'll be right up to Mass. to pick it up.

Thanks,

STJP