painting lp tank cover?

[paintyliz]

Hi all, I'm new here, I have gotten a ton of information from you guys, seems like I am looking through the forums weekly for something or other. I searched the forums and didn't find this covered.

I just ordered a new plastic propane tank cover. The previous one lasted seven years, then began to get brittle around the bottom. The camper is stored under a roof, but still gets some of the blazing texas sun.

Would it help if I painted it with some of that fusion for plastic spray paint? Do you think that would reduce the uv damage?

Thanks for all info and/or opinions.

[12rvjoe]

I sprayed my black covers with a product called Plasti-dip. One can ( about $6 at Home Depot )covered it. That was back in April while we were in Myrtle beach and they still look great ....

[myredracer]

The cover will be made from HDPE (high density polyethylene) and I doubt you will find any paint that will stick to it. They make containers for all sorts of liquids (including paints) from HDPE because it has the property of nothing being able to adhere to it.

[opnspaces]

The covers are just for aesthetics.

[paintyliz]

By the way has anyone used the vinyl fabric covers? I thought of sewing one if they were good. What exactly is the point of a cover, does it make it more aerodynamic? If so, I would think fabric would catch the wind, but I'm sure it's not much of a factor in mpg.

[paintyliz]

Well...I'm more than satisfied with the quality of our 2008 fun finder 189Fbr. It is very nicely made and hasn't had any problems at all. Besides, plastic doesn't get dented up like aluminum does, so I prefer a plastic lp cover. And it did survive 7 years of Texas sun. But there are a lot of tt's that aren't made as well out there, I did a lot of research before I chose cruiser rv. So I concede your point lol.

[Oasisbob]

This is another example of folks having to go out of their way to compensate for poor quality. The plastic used to make this stuff should be of higher quality or aluminum. The technology is readily available.

[paintyliz]

Finally found relevant info: "The presence of an opaque surface between the sun and the pipe prevents UV degradation, since UV radiation will not penetrate thin shields such as paint coatings or wrappings . . . In fact, any opaque shield, no matter how thin, will effectively prevent UV degradation. The most common method used to protect above ground PVC pipe from the sun is painting with an acrylic or latex paint." - unfortunately, the website that was taken from in another posting referring to pool plumbing, is not available (uni-bell.com) and I have no idea of the veracity of the statement but it sounds good. lol

[paintyliz]

I looked up fusion paint on the krylon site and it does not mention uv protection, but they have a clear fusion that has a uv block. So maybe I'll use that as a final coat. I wonder if the regular Fusion blocks uv because it's opaque? You'd think they'd mention it. The trailer is 7 years old but hasn't seen much action. Hopefully that is changing, we just had it in corpus for a week. One benefit to painting it will be that I can make it any color I want :0)

Thanks to all for their input. I think I will paint it and if it gets blotchy, I'll deal with it then. I have used fusion on other outdoor plastic and it's great.

[BarneyS]

I used Fusion on all the plastic parts of my trailer about 5 or 6 years ago because of yellowing and those parts still look like new (window frames on both doors, stove hood vent cover, door holders, grab bar anchors etc.).

About three years ago, I used it on the covers for the air conditioner, and the refrigerator vent on the roof. Both of those items were starting to become brittle. They now look like new again and have lasted another 3 years and going strong.

I think that Fusion paint will probably be perfect for what you want it to do.
Barney

[Dick_B]

I tried that Fusion paint but it mottled after awhile. Next I would try a primer and finish coat OR one of those paints with the primer and finish in one.

[gbopp]

Have you considered spraying it with Protectant 303?
It's a UV blocker.