Hi folks, I am refinishing a series of old mid nineties Rockford fosgate DSM era amplifiers. I am sandblasting all the heatsinks and I need a finish for them. I do not have access to powder coating. I am wondering what a good, high temp black finish would be for them? I have reached out to Rockford and they are of no help.
VHT makes a good and consistent high temperature spray primer and spray paint. Napa auto usually has a good selection of colors in stock.
I would anodise them, like they were originally. Paint is a thermal insulator, anodising is thermally conductive.
Anodised in whatever colour you require can be dome at most plating companies and if you wait for a batch of the same colour, very cheap to apply.
Anodised in whatever colour you require can be dome at most plating companies and if you wait for a batch of the same colour, very cheap to apply.
Only the earliest with extruded heatsinks were anodized. The rest were powdercoated. You may be able to anodize the later ones but I've never see it done. Anodizing will show every detail/defect.
I agree that paint acts as an insulator so it should not be applied heavily.
I don't know about commercial anodizing but for small batches (done at home), the heatsink is anodized then dye is applied in a second process.
I agree that paint acts as an insulator so it should not be applied heavily.
I don't know about commercial anodizing but for small batches (done at home), the heatsink is anodized then dye is applied in a second process.
So here is an idea. I can sandblast all the original powder coat off of them and just leave the aluminum exposed? This may provide better heat dissipation. Any issues with that?
Aluminum begins to oxidize immediately. Within a short while, it would likely start to look really bad.
While coatings will reduce heat dissipation (in most cases), it's not really a problem with these amps. The power output is relatively low and therefore the heat produced is relatively low.
If/when you paint it, apply a nice, even coat. If you want the clear look, try to find a local anodizer and see if it's an alloy that takes anodizing well. If you take it to an anodizer, have ALL screw holes cleaned and very thoroughly degreased. Contaminants are a serious problem for anodizing and you may be charged significantly more if they have to do the cleaning.
While coatings will reduce heat dissipation (in most cases), it's not really a problem with these amps. The power output is relatively low and therefore the heat produced is relatively low.
If/when you paint it, apply a nice, even coat. If you want the clear look, try to find a local anodizer and see if it's an alloy that takes anodizing well. If you take it to an anodizer, have ALL screw holes cleaned and very thoroughly degreased. Contaminants are a serious problem for anodizing and you may be charged significantly more if they have to do the cleaning.
Most commercial anodizers are going to want to know what alloy the aluminum is and what coating thickness you'll want (usually .001 to .002 inches thick for hard anodize) so that they can determine how long it is to remain charged in the tank. They will likely want it degreased before processing it and you should not touch the bare aluminum without gloves after that, your oily fingerprints will show through the anodize. You will probably want to mask off, or plug any of the threaded holes prior to anodizing it because the process of anodizing slightly removes aluminum before building up the coating which can distort the threaded holes, especially if the anodizer is not familiar with how long it is to be submerged.
And like Perry already said, it will very likely highlight the casting flaws.
Since powder coating isn't an option, I'd probably lightly paint it with grill paint.
And like Perry already said, it will very likely highlight the casting flaws.
Since powder coating isn't an option, I'd probably lightly paint it with grill paint.
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