Painting your amp?

[OneKrazyKeebler 10+ year member]

Is it ok to spraypaint your amp? I don't know if it would hurt anything but I got this beat up amp last night and was thinking of taking the casing off and painting it with this cool looking paint I found at work. It is supposed to look like stainless steel. kinda different and show less scratches in the future. Does the paint need to be high temp or anything?

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[Bake 10+ year member]

Painting it would be okay. If it is painted or powder coated you will want to strip that off first. If it is anodized you will probably need to scuff it a little and use a light coat of primer. You don't need to use high temp paint.

-Bake

 

[RaiN 10+ year member]

I was thinking about gettin mine powdercoated, I think its a pretty affordable option.

 

[djman37 5,000+ posts]

Is it ok to spraypaint your amp? I don't know if it would hurt anything but I got this beat up amp last night and was thinking of taking the casing off and painting it with this cool looking paint I found at work. It is supposed to look like stainless steel. kinda different and show less scratches in the future. Does the paint need to be high temp or anything?

If it is not currently painted, don't paint it. Amp heatsinks have a job to do, dissipate heat. Anything on the heatsink that impedes this process can lead to trouble.

 

[thch 10+ year member]

if the heatsink is shiny, it may be beneficial to paint the amp. it is a common practice in electronics to go for a matte black (or matte colored) finish. this increases the ability of the surface to emit infrared radiator, which is one heat transfer mechanism.

the opposite is also true, which is why you see a layer of shiny metal foil used in insulative panels -- it reflects heat.

a thick coat of paint -- especially if air pockets form -- is probably going to pose an issue.

 

[OneKrazyKeebler 10+ year member]

This is all good to know.

The amp is one I got for cheap. It is a SPL "1600 watt". It really does about 740 or something like that. I don't give a rats *** about it honestly. Just goin in my bang for the buck daily setup. I got a real setup more than 1/2 way done in my dakota.

The amp has alot of little scuffs and shit like that all over it and was just thinking of a way to pretty it up for cheap if I ever wanted to resell it. I think I will take some fine sandpaper and scuff it up a little before I do anything to it. Probably won't have time till this weekend though.

 

[OneKrazyKeebler 10+ year member]

I am gonna try painting it tonight. I got the paint from work today. I work at a hardware store and am around Stainless Steel all day and the paint is supposed to look like that so I am kinda excited to see how it turns out.

I will try and get some before and after pics if I can.