Painting aluminum exterior

[marininn]

Has anyone painted their camper?
I have a 25 year old camper that has not been maintained by the previous owner. Needs paint. It is off-white color, and the aluminum skin is showing through as pinholes in places, so I am not sure how much I can sand it before I am on bare metal.
If you have painted aluminum sides I would be interested to hear from you, but not looking for opinions or obvious observations so much.
I have a paint gun and plan to pain it myself soon.

[_1nobby]

westend wrote:

Aluminum should be acid etched and then alodined prior to priming.

A 2 part epoxy primer and a polyurethane top coat like Imron is overkill for a travel trailer but would last forever.

Instead of using a process used for airplanes, I think the OP would be better served by advising to paint like residential siding.

Yes, two part epoxies and Imron would get a durable finish but I wonder how many of those advising this have used Imron or it's specified primer? Besides the cost, a user of Imron is facing some big safety concerns. The stuff is just flat-out hazardous in it's liquid form. Special mask cartridges should be used. I've painted with Imron and for everyday painting jobs, I wouldn't suggest to use it.
The same advice would be given for lacquers, epoxies, and urethanes used for auto body work (unless the user has experience, tools, and time).

For the uninitiated to painting, buying one of these 3M masking dispensers and some paper is going to be the best $30 ever spent.

I DID say overkill.:)

As far as hazardous.....only if you don't take precautions.

Why does the best stuff always have to be the most hazardous?

Pisses me off.

In any event...I've worked with many different types of polyurethane in my past career as an aircraft painter. Imron is the most readily available for the average guy AND does a great job. But yes...expensive.

[westend]

Aluminum should be acid etched and then alodined prior to priming.

A 2 part epoxy primer and a polyurethane top coat like Imron is overkill for a travel trailer but would last forever.

Instead of using a process used for airplanes, I think the OP would be better served by advising to paint like residential siding.

Yes, two part epoxies and Imron would get a durable finish but I wonder how many of those advising this have used Imron or it's specified primer? Besides the cost, a user of Imron is facing some big safety concerns. The stuff is just flat-out hazardous in it's liquid form. Special mask cartridges should be used. I've painted with Imron and for everyday painting jobs, I wouldn't suggest to use it.
The same advice would be given for lacquers, epoxies, and urethanes used for auto body work (unless the user has experience, tools, and time).

For the uninitiated to painting, buying one of these 3M masking dispensers and some paper is going to be the best $30 ever spent.

[eDUBz]

If its showing through to aluminum your going to need a 2 part epoxy primer, i like the Valspar DTM. Surface prep is key take your time and do it once and move on, otherwise it will look like **** again. Assuming your doing it at home with minimal tools and id start by scrubing the whole trailer with red 3M sctach pad and Ajax.use the good 3M green tape for masking, makes life easier. You should look into a single stage paint job, if laid down right it will look just as good.

[westend]

Yup, BTDT. 40 yr old Starcraft. Here's what I did: Wash, rinse, apply Jasco Prepaint conditioner (TSP substitute in liquid form), scuff with 3M pad, rinse.
Prime with Sherwin Williams DTM industrial metal primer (tinted toward finish color). Paint with Sherwin Williams Super paint. The above done with Graco airless sprayer. Spray accent colors with rattle cans.

Finished paint:


Paint job is now 3+ yrs old is just like the day I painted it.

[_1nobby]

Aluminum paints very well. As others have mentioned....surface prep and cleanliness is the key.

Aircraft are aluminum and fly through the air at 550 mph+ and the paint stays put....so your trailer should be a breeze. 🙂

Aluminum should be acid etched and then alodined prior to priming.

A 2 part epoxy primer and a polyurethane top coat like Imron is overkill for a travel trailer but would last forever.

[_1nobby]

Passin Thru wrote:
Airplanes I painted took 3 coats of filler, 3 coats of primer and 2 coats of base and 1 coat of clear. Lasted over 10 years.

What kind of aircraft was this???

[AmericalVette]

About 6 years ago I was given a 1987 Yukon Wilderness (Fleetwood). I redid the interior, and then looked at the off-white exterior with a faded brown stripe on both sides. I gave it a good cleaning and then went to Wal Mart and bought several rattle cans of white semi-gloss Rustoleum. Came out very good, and it has been sitting at a permanent hunting camp since then.... still looks good.

[Passin_Thru]

You should probably use sodium hydroxide, not acid, to etch aluminum. I am a A & P Mechanic and you can use Draino but be sure to cover your eyes with good safety glasses as it can blind you (ACID after all) I would wash it, rinse it the Acid wash it. Give the Acid time to work and rinse ti again. The more coats of pain the better. Airplanes I painted took 3 coats of filler, 3 coats of primer and 2 coats of base and 1 coat of clear. Lasted over 10 years.

[darsben1]

I applied vinegar with a hard plastic bristle brush. That will remove loose paint and oxidation

[Tyler0215]

Sand gently, clean well, prime and spray with automotive paint.

[tnscoutr]

I believe that if I could remove existing paint with a scouring pad, I would. Seems like the paint would be flaking off soon anyway. I will admit that I know nothing about painting aluminum though. Are you going to shoot a primer first?

[marininn]

I have never heard of using vinegar. You just use a rag and dip into the vinegar?
On concern is that paint does not stick to aluminum very well, and the exposed dots of aluminum would be a problem. If I sand I am afraid all the paint will be gone, just cleaning with a scouring pad removes too much.
I was planning on using automotive paint with a spray gun, not house paint. I have another camper that the guy used some kind of house paint on and it looks bad.

[WTP-GC]

You can do it yourself. Remember, the RV manufacturer did it when it was built, so nothing saying you can't do it yourself. The key is surface prep. As mentioned, an acid wash may be a good idea, but also you need to pound it with a pressure washer and try to remove any loose paint. No matter how good of a paint job you do, if you're applying over loose paint, it will fail pretty quickly.

[darsben1]

I have painted aluminum house trailers many times. I always acid wash the siding with vinegar to remove oxidation then rinse well and paint very soon. I have had good luck with Sears Weatherbeater and Behr exterior paint. The have held up for more than 10 years.
The units are stationary though