Does painting a radiator reduce efficiency?
 

Toipc say it all. Any thoughts?

Whomp.

yes, but not my too much (unless you put very heavy coats of paint on it)
wj

It depends on the type of fins/density and paint. Have you got a pic?

I'm inclined, for an unexplainable reason, to mention high temp paint, such as used on exhaust systems, or BBQs.

I'd avoid using any paint, except where it's relevant: outside of the finned area. It's just for looks, right? The shroud should cover the finned area anyways.

I did some fast goggling, and came up only with a good reason to paint your radiador. Corrosion. Which, in a normal house enviorment, i dont think it's critical .

Nevertheless, for what i read, Electrophoretic coating is the way to go, it gives the thinnest layer of paint, thus not affecting performance very much.

source : http://www.cuprobraze.com/cuprobraze...s/coating.html (ok, not the best source...)

Want to paint it?

You can safely paint the whole outside of the heatercore without negative effects on cooling. As for the 2 sides with the fins, take your spray paint can, and hold it at about a 10-20 degree angle to the face of the heatercore. This way, you only get paint about 1/8"-1/4" into the fins - no effect on cooling, and you normally can't see much deeper than that in most scenarios.

Thanks guys.
i knw black ices were painteds, along with some others, but was worried it would hurt thermal transfer.


The 10-20 degree thing sounds perfect.

I got a monster heater core with a great little external setup.
You're gonna love it.