Stove Paint Help...What Happened Here?

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Caw

Minister of Fire
May 26, 2020
2,552
Massachusetts
I was recently asking about stove paints and went ahead and got the OEM metallic black for my Osburn 1600 online. Today I decided to test it out on the ash lip and now I'm terrified. I washed it thoroughly, sanded the damaged spots well with 0000 steel wool, wiped it clean of debris with air and microfiber and gave it a coat. Much to my dismay this is what happened almost immediately:

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It looks great....except for every spot I sanded. It looks like the paint is eating away at the original paint? These extremely rough looking spots are just damaged paint now.

So of course I'm terrified to use the paint on the actual stove now. I'm trying to touch up these spots:

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I spoke to SBI when I bought the paint and this is what they told me to get. Any insight? I'm pretty annoyed.
 
That is similar to what happened to me years ago and why I suggested a test in a discrete area first. What paint did you buy?
 
Yeah thats why I did it on the ash lip as that's easily replaceable. Unfortunately being an insert there isn't a very good test spot.

I used this. According to SBI this was the correct paint:

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It's slightly better as it dries but it's still chit. I kind of feel that if I sand the damaged part and try again the same thing is gonna happen. Not sure what to do other than call SBI and ask wtf.

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Yes, that sucks. Was the piece wiped down with alcohol before painting? Does it say on the paint can label what the solvent is in the paint? Usually, this is in the safety warning on the backside of the can.
 
I did not wipe it with alcohol first. Sanded, sprayed off debris, gave it a thorough wash with water, and dried + let it dry for the morning in case I missed anything. Was I supposed to do that?

Solvent appears to be acetone which could explain paint removal in general but shouldn't it have matched the original paint? Acetone paint should be ok on other acetone paint.

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Yes, it should be fine if on another coat of acetone-based paint. Call SBI tech support and give them the serial number of your stove. With some research, they may be able to track down the paint used. Perhaps the ashlips were outsourced or done with a different paint than the stove body?

Fortunately, this is an independent piece that can be sanded and then painted, but more work than it should be. And that doesn't help with the stove body touch-up.
 
I've been re-sanding as we've been chatting (paint is very fast drying) and gotten back to here. It's obvious the new paint stripped the old paint as the initial damaged spots were only the size of a quarter. I'll call SBI again and see what they say.

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FYI - thought the very detailed paragraph in the manual was funny.
 
Was this after the first coat? Very odd. I've seen this countless times when recoating.
Otherwise, how heavy did you apply it? I've only had blistering issues with either heavy coats or a partially dried base coat.
 
First coat. I don't think I was too heavy but that's entirely possible. I emailed pics to SBI after speaking with a tech. We'll see what they have to say.

I unfortunately cannot find the darn serial # of the stove. It's an insert so it's not visible and it's not written on any of my receipts. I'm hopeful the model # and year purchased is adequate for their research. It should be. Gonna see if the dealer has it on file perhaps when they open tomorrow.
 
I find it hard to believe that the actual old paint, that has cured and dried for years, could be dissolved by any solvent in your paint can. But I learn new things every day, so maybe.

If you apply it too heavy what happens is the top layer of paint dries and "skins over", meanwhile the solvent underneath is still evaporating so it forms pockets and lifts up the skin layer creating wrinkles. From your pics it does not look like you applied a super thick layer, so I'm a little stumped. The only other thing I can think of is that this problem can also be exacerbated in hot weather due to the faster drying. Did you have the piece out in the sun, by any chance?
 
I decided to give it another try just because why not, I'm likely gonna need to sand the whole thing down anyways and got a similar result:

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I find it hard to believe that the actual old paint, that has cured and dried for years, could be dissolved by any solvent in your paint can. But I learn new things every day, so maybe.

If you apply it too heavy what happens is the top layer of paint dries and "skins over", meanwhile the solvent underneath is still evaporating so it forms pockets and lifts up the skin layer creating wrinkles. From your pics it does not look like you applied a super thick layer, so I'm a little stumped. The only other thing I can think of is that this problem can also be exacerbated in hot weather due to the faster drying. Did you have the piece out in the sun, by any chance?

Nope. I'm the nice dry basement with the windows open, it's about 65 degrees in here so it should be ideal conditions.
 
Some times oil from bare hands leaves a film on the surface and cleaning the piece to be painted with acetone remove the oily deposit. Better to whipe with acetone before sanding cause the sandind will put the *oil* deeper in the paint. After sanding re-whipe the surface with acetone again and avoid touching it with bare hands, Usually not so fancy but sometimes better to be.
But I remember having a curious problem with a Tokarev I was restoring and nothing could get the *oil* from the metal....sometime all waht is supposed to work doesn't.
 
Being the tinkerer that I am I put on new gloves, washed with acetone, sanded, rehashed, and went for another coat. It came out much better this time but still not perfect. I think ill repeat the process again this evening and see what happens. At least it's an improvement finally.

Keep in mind all my comments are not in real time I didn't paint/sand/repaint etc within 30 minutes ;lol. Im still nowhere near confident to try this on the stove itself but yeah. This shouldn't be so hard.

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I painted many castiron stoves with different HT stove/BBQ paints and never got problem but when I does like you, it's on metal plate...Maybe whire brush the acetone and wait longer before re-paint???
 
Make sure you shake the hell out that can before you spray.also could be old paint.i just painted my osburn with stovebrite.quick sanding with emery cloth wiped with a damp cloth,let it dry and 2 coats and looks like new.
 
I find it hard to believe that the actual old paint, that has cured and dried for years, could be dissolved by any solvent in your paint.

The ashlip does not see the high temps necessary to bake in the paint. That said, neither do heat shields. This one is odd.

Reminds me of an old house where we repainted the shutters with a high gloss enamel that the customer had picked out. The old paint must have been 30-40 yrs old. When we came back the next morning all the carefully applied paint was full of wrinkles. It had dissolved the underlying paint even though it had decades to cure. What a huge pain that project was.
 
Yeah I don't know. I'm thinking this paint they sold me just isn't correct honestly. Is the Stove Brite acetone too?

I contacted SBI and they've been "helpful" so far. First he tried to tell me my stove was from before they purchased Osburn way back. That was a little annoying. I mean I realize I don't have the serial # which is my bad but I bought it in 2020 from a dealer, have the model # and receipt it's not that old. I also sent him pics, I feel they should be able to identify what paint I need with all that criteria. I knew it was a couple years old as I was buying the last one in stock pre 2020 reg changes.

I think the most annoying part is that I called them ahead of doing this to avoid this exact problem and here we are. They've always been pretty helpful but I feel they dropped the ball on this one. I asked for a refund on the paint and I'm hopeful they can tell me the correct type to use this time .

Im going to go talk to the dealer tomorrow. If nothing else I'll just start trying stuff. I'll start with Stove Brite.

Edit - good news, I found the serial number! Had it written down elsewhere.
 
Yeah I don't know. I'm thinking this paint they sold me just isn't correct honestly. Is the Stove Brite acetone too?
Stove Brite is acetone based. I wouldn't be surprised if Forrest Products (Stove Brite mfg.) makes the paint for SBI.
 
Stove Brite is acetone based. I wouldn't be surprised if Forest Paints (Stove Brite mfg.) makes the paint for SBI.

I'm starting to wonder if the ash lip has a different paint than the stove itself. Maybe it was outsourced as someone else suggested and tech support just doesn't know it.

The good news is I'm sanding the damn thing so much eventually this paint will simply work. Just annoying and doesn't help my confidence painting the stovetop.

I suppose worst case is I have to have it pulled and do a total paint job. Hoping to avoid that as I can't pull it myself.
 
Well they purchased osburn in 2002 and I'm sure your stove is not that old lol.buy a can of stovebrite and go to it
 
It's possible that the paint never baked. You might want to call Forrest Product's tech support and see what they have to say.


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I was recently asking about stove paints and went ahead and got the OEM metallic black for my Osburn 1600 online. Today I decided to test it out on the ash lip and now I'm terrified. I washed it thoroughly, sanded the damaged spots well with 0000 steel wool, wiped it clean of debris with air and microfiber and gave it a coat. Much to my dismay this is what happened almost immediately:

View attachment 279414View attachment 279415

It looks great....except for every spot I sanded. It looks like the paint is eating away at the original paint? These extremely rough looking spots are just damaged paint now.

So of course I'm terrified to use the paint on the actual stove now. I'm trying to touch up these spots:

View attachment 279416

I spoke to SBI when I bought the paint and this is what they told me to get. Any insight? I'm pretty annoyed.
That's EXACTLY what happened when I painted my Drolet 1400i with Stove Bright metallic black. It did it all over the stove too BTW...and it was wiped down with a commercial pre paint surface prep before painting, stove was totally dry before shooting the paint...and the paint was well mixed.
Hate to say it, but I've had better results from Rustoleum hi temp paints...