Peeling paint

Hi All,

My ST-120 is approaching 10years of very enjoyable service - thanks Bob!
I have one hassle: the paint on the transformers started cracking and flaking off.
Whilst I did use engine enamel and thought that I'd prepped the surface, it's letting go on the end-caps (the laminates seem to be OK).

Interestingly, its the power tranny's top cover (so it's very visible) and the LHS output tranny's cap at the front.

We live on the coast so the salt will speed up the rust (which has already begun) so I'm going to need to repaint.

Not wanting to deconstruct the amp, does anyone have any suggestions on how I could fix this properly whilst keeping the amp in one piece - or should I bite the bullet and remove the trannies?


Thanks,

Anthony

Hi Anthony ---- well, you could pull the tubes, and then use a couple of layers of the Blue Painters Type Masking Tape to carefully cover 100% of the top and sides of the chassis.
Then, how you re-paint is up to you.  As long as there is nothing showing of the stainless chassis, you can spray paint or brush.

I have used the tape method to spray paint Dynaco Mark IIIs that needed the Trannys repainted and they turned out just fine.

Let us know what you decide.
Stew

Stew, you may want to use Krylon FUSION spray paint in the SATIN black. That's what Bob Latino
recommends and what most of us use. Found locally at hardware, parts store. Dale

Hi Dale .... I think you meant Anthony ..... he asked the original question and I responded.

As far as paints go, I have used Krylon Satin or Rust-oleum Satin or Rust-oleum Universal Metallic all with good results.

Stew

The way I see it.
1.-) The power transformer generates a lot of heat.
2.-) This heat when cooled in an enclosed space tends to become water vapour.
3.-) Apart from rusting the caps and expelling the paint will destroy the transformer windings.
When I rewinded my transformer for 230v., I did some drilling to avoid these problems.

Mpffff... I have a very simple solution to all this - and being in a household with cats/dogs/grandchildren in some quantity, the decision to take this route is easy:

Clean up the loose paint and any rust, and put a cage on it.