| Author |
Message |
Jeff (Jeff)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 02, 2006 - 4:30 pm: | |
After spending three hours sanding fifteen feet of the roof of my 40 foot bus I have to ask. Has anyone that have used Kool Seal paint, painted over it with automotive paint? I painted my roof two years ago with Kool Seal. It has gathered all the environmental dirt in my neighborhood, it seems. I’m getting my bus ready for the painter. Do I sand the roof completely back to the original paint on the roof or what? I am having so much fun out there. |
truthhunter@shaw.ca
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 02, 2006 - 4:41 pm: | |
I have not use that product but have you tryed a heat gun, might be quicker and not hurt the roof's anodized layer like samding or striper might? |
pete hyser (4501pete)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 02, 2006 - 4:57 pm: | |
you can not paint auto paint or anyother paint that is not an elastomeric over the kool seal or anyother elastomeric.the elastomerics are ruberized and have a 300% elongation. even with 100% recoverability it will make whatever is on top of it crack! |
David Hartley (Drdave)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 02, 2006 - 5:04 pm: | |
Kool Seal is a latex/alkalid based paint, You cannot paint over it with any stanard paints. They will either wrinkle or not stick, They will look terrible and not last very long either.
If you plan on using automotive paints you will need to remove the kool seal completely. You may need to use industrial paint remover and at $25 to $35 a gallon it is not cheap and can't be done on a hot day. Very messy and more.
Or... Clean what you have really good, Apply a new coat of kool seal or one of the thermal paints and then overcoat it all with an approved clear sealer to keep it clean.
I mixed 5 gallons of Kool Seal with ceramic bead insulation additives and slopped it on. When mine gets dirty I will clean and recoat and then clear coat it all. I cut heat migration by 40 degrees just by taking my cheap shortcut. I need A/C not a pretty roof. I have 5 carbuncles up there now and when I add the solar panels I will have 8 more and maybe even another a/c unit.(nah!)... |
Jim Shepherd (Rv_safetyman)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 02, 2006 - 5:08 pm: | |
My experience with Kool Seal is the same as most folks, it looks like crap after almost no time. I am still going up on the roof quite a bit and the ladder marks on the side of the roof looked terrible. I did a quick clean job with lacquer thinner and painted it with white Rustoleum. Used a roller since the surface is rough anyway. Looks pretty good. Too recently applied to know if it will be durable. Even if I have to do a touch up, the paint is cheap and easy to apply.
I am not a strong believer that Kool Seal helps keep the bus cool, but I think it is great to assure that there are no leaks in the roof. I had made patches when I put in my ACs and I feel good that the Kool Seal will keep the water out. Indeed, we have been in a ton of rain during the last three weeks and no sign of any leaks. In any case, it just was not worth the effort to remove.
In my rush to get the bus on the road, I did not finish all of the roof with Kool Seal. That turned out to be OK, since I will be adding a third AC (relocating the front one and reinstalling the escape hatch)and another Fantastic Fan. When I get done with those installs, I will redo the Kool seal on all of the roof and then coat with the Rustoleum.
Jim Shepherd
Evergreen, CO
’85 Eagle 10
http://rvsafetysystems.com Toll Free: 1**888**349**0704
Bus Project details: http://www.rvsafetysystems.com/busproject.htm (updated 2/9/06) |
Jim Shepherd (Rv_safetyman)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 02, 2006 - 5:52 pm: | |
Pete, even though Kool Seal has high elongation capabilityv(would guess 300% is higher than its true capability), it will only elongate as much as the roof material itself. Thus the elongation will be very small and the automotive paint will see the same elongation either way.
Dr. Dave, I am not sure about the adhesion issue. There is no chemical reason that I can think of (silicon etc.) and there is lots of "tooth" in the Kool Seal surface. I guess I will find out in the next year or so.
Tell us more about the beads (source?)
Jim |
David Hartley (Drdave)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 02, 2006 - 10:03 pm: | |
Jim,
This is what I used this time around,
http://hytechsales.com/index.html
I have a bucket of thermal coat somewhere stashed away but couldn't find it so I went an alternate and actually cheaper way. Haven't had any problems and when I have needed to do touchups its easier to run to Lowes and buy a gallon of Kool Seal than having to order 5 gallons and wait. |
Ed Jewett (Kristinsgrandpa)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 02, 2006 - 10:49 pm: | |
I Kool Sealed my roof shortly after I got my coach home. Two years later when I started covering windows and painting the siding I had Kool Seal down on the sides a little too far and quickly discovered that laquer thinner will remove it after 2 years, though not easily if thick.
I seriously thought about stripping it, but I have a box of the glass beads to add to what is left in my 5 gal of KoolSeal to give it another coat, I'm going to try that to see how it works.
I do know that the Kool Seal discolors and that the darker the roof the more heat it absorbs.
I guess I'll have to clean it every spring before A/C season, and let it stay dirty thru the winter. |
motorcoach1
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 04, 2006 - 12:27 am: | |
I soaked part of mine today in the evening so it wouldnt evaporate so fast with Xyol and it came right off fast ..i used some cheese cloth spread out |
Crane
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 04, 2006 - 9:50 am: | |
I have not had most of the problems that you guys are reporting.
No I didn't paint coolseal but it certainly cooled my coach down. It was very eveident while applying to the roof in the summer in 90 degree temps. Where the roof was not treated, the roof metal was HOT to touch. Where the KoolSeal was applied, the roof metal was cool to touch ,in the coach. White paint alone will not give you the same result. This is an actual result.....
I have only had to wash, not scrub, with mild soap every so often to keep it white. I have also considered using a vinyl top sealer to prolong the washing. As it was, I didn't have to do it but once a year, maybe.
Someone said they had KoolSeal down the sides of the coach. Well the roof was installed 10 years plus and only now do I see anything on the side, but after the yearly roof cleaning, its all gone. Maybe its the sealer preventing this.
Kool seal also dulled the thuds of the rain drops on the roof. Paint won't do this either.
My original purpose for using KoolSeal was to stop some bad leaks, which it did famously. Paint won't do that either.
I haven't had that much of a problem with the roof that you are talking about.
I think if I was to paint, I'd go BRIGHT WHITE only to try to reflect the heat, but it does not reflect heat very well in a white car so the result may not be too great. Even worse if you use a color.
You need to read the label if you want to take it off. I know it holds on tightly so it would have to be a job. My old coach has no areas coming loose even today.
Good luck |