Hello everybody, been awhile since I was around. Appreciated the emails I’ve received since.
So, I wanted a windmill, too cheap to buy a new one. Few on the east coast but I found one in New Jersey. Takes a substantial trailer to haul a 40′ tower, something about hauling an old windmill that folks find fascinating, drew a crowd when we stopped. Getting it up my driveway was a larger challenge. Don’t know the age, but the company tells me this model was obsolete in 1937. The tower was once galvanized, almost none left. I’ll clean the rust but then paint choice comes up. I was thinking of either aluminum paint or automotive, the only 2 that I know will last a long time outdoors. Not picky about color, but I don’t want to do it again once I put it back together and start pumping water.
Suggestions?
Replies
I think I'd use a rust-converting primer (be sure to leave some rust), then an automotive quality paint.
Lanco Paints says Galvacon is a 97% zinc primer, primarily for use when spot priming welded galvanized steel. Did you use it as a finish coat or primer? Was it clean steel you coated? Haven't found a source but I expect Lanco would help me out..
Apparently similar products are Zinga and Brite Zinc. Brite Zinc requires all rust be removed down to clean steel. Lanco says that sandblasted surfaces should be Galvacon coated within 8 hrs or before any rusting. Zinga is a UK product available from Canada.
40 years was what I had in mind. Thank you for the suggestion.
Good of you to check in.
I'd be interested in seeing the trip up the driveway with this new find of yours.
Hope all has been well.
Checking In
Hi Calvin, afraid I was too busy trying to figure it out to photograph anything. Had to break it down to fit on a short enough trailer. 46' of trailer ain't coming up here. In hindsight, should have shown up with cordless impact drivers with 8 point sockets and taken the whole thing apart in New Jersy. Kinda hard to figure that out when you've not yet seen it. We spent 4 hrs just getting it strapped to the trailer. Bad idea to lose parts on the freeway. Probably should have left the wood tank there, unlikely it'll ever hold water again.
Still doing my normal things here in the woods, PAHS houses are slowly popping up around the world. Just milled 27' oak beams, which according to the Forest Products Handbook weigh 755 lbs each. Would you grab one end and help me get it up on the 13' tall posts? I'll have the dovetails and tenons cut by Friday. The sailboat's been in drydock, haven't seen Erie lately.
I trust your life is orderly and that the Prairie Chickens had a good year.
Hey Tom,
Hens did not have a good yr. The Tigers had to utilize some good players to get to the top.
Orderly life? Not this yr. Work is good. My 95 yo MIL is fading. Too much rain. We've been blessed with our 2nd grandchild.
All in all, eventful and interesting, and mostly a surprise every week.
Help lift........................nope. Nursing a quad injury. Golf related. Trying to figure out when to start a kitchen tearout.
Like I said, a surprise every day.
Don't be a stranger.
I Was Wrong on Both Counts?
So you had a nice sunny afternoon strolling on manicured grass, following a little white ball, and you injured yourself? My condolences, gramps.
Wow, maybe you don't want to visit here. The forest could be dangerous. OTOH, we last a long time. Major beach party for my mother's 100th in a few weeks, international attendance. The Finn decreed I was to have the windmill pumping water to the trout pond, and fish on the menu. She was less concerned with the microhydro (300' head) part of the scheme. I'm way behind, just can't find good (healthy) help.
Here's one of the neighbors who dropped by recently. Seems you now have to click on a photo to get it large enough to see much, or I have the wrong browser.
Three part system
When I was building fish screens, which are as susceptible to rust as anything I can think of: We used a three part system.
The primer was one of the rust converting water based products.
We then applied a zinc rich cold galvanizing compound, in two coats.
The final was two coats of an exterior enamel.
I'da left off that rust converter stuff, but that zinc rich stuff flat stomps down on rust. I'm a believer. And I might have used some moisture cure polyurethane paint on top. That's tough stuff.
That rust converter stuff doesn't stick well to good metal, and it's brittle, and I'm not convinced it really works, due o the number of failures I've had with it stopping rust. And, yes, I painted over it with enamel paint. Don't try that with lacquer, or it wrinkles.
How Clean Was the Steel?
Hey guys, thanks, but I'm really a wood person. Speak slowly, identify brands please. What spooked me about the zinc products was the manufacturers saying that the steel had to be absolutely clean. That so? Lacquers I know, won't use any on the tower. Polyurethane paint I don't. Better than automotive paint? Sun's the major degrader.
DanH mentioned the importance of rust presence for the converter to work. I too have had a less than favorable experience with it and oil base topcoat, but don't know that I didn't do something wrong. There was rust that turned dark with the converter.
Had to run the bear off again just now, doesn't like a shotgun fired just over its head. No pet food outside here, no idea what the attraction is unless it thinks the cat looks like dinner. At this rate it will be, but kinda small. Bow deer season here, one of my hunters (leasing rights) saw a bear twice that size yesterday. Gonna be one in the freezer before long.
Well, I sprayed the zinc rich primer over rust and it didn't come back. Zinc sticks to metal right now. But I'd say some sand blasting (maybe not using actual SAND) would be a good idea to do first. I used a couple kinds of the rust converter and was not all that impressed, Duro, SEM, and rustoleum brands.
The last top coat iI tried was Aluthane, which looks like galvanized metal. It's a moisture cured polyurethane which is supposed to be UV resistant. Not been on long enough for a verdict yet. http://www.epoxyproducts.com/aluthane.html