Painting Your WSM


 

EricDevlin

TVWBB Member
Hi,

It seems that there are 3 choices for customizing the color on your WSM:

1) High temp paint
2) High temp powder coating
3) Ceramic coating

Has anyone had any success with any of the above? What would you recommend? Photos would be great!

I have a company near where I live that will do a ceramic coating in any color for the 22" for about $200.00. I might be able to work down that price by bartering with some BBQ.

Thanks!

Eric
 
Eric,

Up front, I'll go ahead and state for the record that I'm an IT (computer) guy and not a metal coating expert, nor do I have any hands on experience in that area.

That being said, however.....

$200 seems mighty low to do (what I understand to be) a proper job in ceramic coating a WSM. The original coating has to be either removed completely or "roughed up" a bit so that top coating can bond and be chip, weather and rust resistant.

I assume their pricing assumes a ready-to-finish product coming into the door, and all they'll do is the coating.

Also, a personal opinion. Although if given the choice I might go with another color option if the manufacturer offered it. But because Weber's porcelain enameled coating has not only proven to heat resistant to at least a thousand degrees, there are kettles and WSMs dozens of years old that have cooked thousands of meals and still looks almost (and in some cases just) as good as they did the day they were purchased.

Weber has proven their coatings last and are very durable. There's no way I'd remove it!
 
Thanks for the input. I appreciate your thoughts and I'm definitely going to have to look at this carefully.

I was going to have it done for use on my nieces comp team, the Grill Scouts. It would help set them apart and be a cool novelty, but if it reduces the functionality or durability, it wouldn't be worth it.

Hopefully we will get a few other people to chime in with their thoughts.

Eric
 
Painting with High Temp paint is not a problem, provided that you do it the correct way. Leave the original coating on, lightly scuff the finish with 600 to 800 grit wet-sanding paper. Use a high temp paint that is designed to be a multi-part system, and put on a light color first, followed by your chosen base coat. After curing, finish with a clear coat to seal and protect the finish. Pre-heating the parts initially will help to promote adhesion.

Since I do not use my Smoker for high temp cooks, I am not at all worried about 550 degree rated paint. I have checked the temp all over my 22.5 inch WSM while cooking at 300 degrees, and could find no spot above 260 degrees on the outside.

As for kettles used for grilling, I would reccomend either 900 degree caliper paint, or 1200 to 1400 degree stove or BBQ paint.

Plenty of folks have "spot painted" chips and blemishes with all sorts of paint, and as long as you keep the rust down, you should have no problems.

One thing though, my brother is a car painter by trade, and I have access to years of experience with painting metals. I am paying 25 buxx to have the top, bottom, and middle sections of my mini smoker prepped and painted at the shop. Will post some pics when done, and after usage.
 
Here is a pic:
MiniSmoker.jpg


I posted more in the portable grills section in the Mini Conversion thread.

The paint is fantastic, hard as nails, and has been heat cured.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Alan Cleland:
Here is a pic:
MiniSmoker.jpg


I posted more in the portable grills section in the Mini Conversion thread.

The paint is fantastic, hard as nails, and has been heat cured. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

that looks outstanding! great job!
 

 

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