Weak electric heaters

[cdoggwsu]

Trying to get some painting done inside the burb in this cold ass weather and I can't keep it warm enough inside for the paint to cure. Just plain old Rustoleum.

So far I tried a little 1500w space heater and an oil-filled radiator...neither one can keep it more than a few degrees above outside temps. I painted yesterday and it's still tacky tonight!

What have you guys used that works? All I can find in town are these crappy little space heaters that won't cut it. Even the "milkhouse" style heaters I found are cheap chinese junk. I don't want to run the truck's heater cause I'm afraid it'll just coat the wet paint with all the dust and crap in the vents (poor man's herculiner?) but I need something safe enough to leave on all day that will still put out some decent heat.

Ideas?

 

[owenst7]

If you put a fan behind that oil-filled radiator, it will generate about 10x as much heat.

I like the dish-style infrared heaters because you can focus the heat really well, but I don't think you'll ever really be able to get enough heat for a garage to be really warm out of 20 amps @ 110v.

 

[cdoggwsu]

If you put a fan behind that oil-filled radiator, it will generate about 10x as much heat.

I like the dish-style infrared heaters because you can focus the heat really well, but I don't think you'll ever really be able to get enough heat for a garage to be really warm out of 20 amps @ 110v.

I tried the fan behind the radiator and it just cooled the radiator down...didn't quite work out like I had hoped.

I'm not trying to heat the garage, just literally putting the heater inside the cab of the truck with all the doors shut. I don't have a space inside that's big enough to park the truck.

 

[owenst7]

Maybe somethings wrong with that heater? Iut should heat up and the switch will click off to keep it from overheating. By cooling the fins off faster with a fan, the heater will stay on constantly, and produce more heat.

Maybe your thermostat is different or the heater is worn out and cant keep up? I have a oil filled 1200 watt that will heat 200 sq ft when its below freezing out when I put a pair of 8" fans behind it (i bought it to heat my old efficiency in college when the bonehead landlord broke the furnace).

 

[cdoggwsu]

Yeah it sort of worked but didn't crank out the heat like I was anticipating it would. Inside the house that radiator works awesome but I think it just doesn't heat fast enough in the truck cab. With no carpet or headliner all that sheet metal just sucks the heat away almost as fast as the heater can produce it.

 

[diesel4me]

Your being unrealistic--all electric 110V "heaters" (and I use the term loosely,they should be called "warmers") wont put out more than 5000 btu's at the maximum 15 amp load they will draw on the highest setting...I have been dissapointed that two of them I have wont even raise the temparature of a 4x10 foot closet sized "office" in my garage much more than 10 degrees above the outside temparature,and they suck your wallet dry too,I used them one month and our electric bill went up by 50 bucks!...would have been cheaper to run a "real" furnace!...

I use wood stoves or a torpedo heater,the wood stoves force dry paint much better but they also make a lot of dust,so they aren't the best choice for heating a paint shop,never mind the risk of fumes being ignited..the torpedo heaters aren't much better either,the same two hazards exist still,and the fan in them blows dust everywhere...

I find the best time to paint anything you dont want to come out dusty is in the heat of summer,July & August is best on a dry hot day--unfortunately humidity is often high here and its hard to get many good "painting days",I imagine in WA the weather isn't any better,you probably get a lot of dampness and cool weather,and not much sun...all poor for good painting results...

Rustoleum dries slow as hell typically,unless you force dry it with heat or use a thinner,which kills a lot of the gloss...frustration from painting things that turn out poorly is mostly why my vehicles are mostly still rusty and in primer!...

 

[cdoggwsu]

Your being unrealistic--all electric 110V "heaters" (and I use the term loosely,they should be called "warmers") wont put out more than 5000 btu's at the maximum 15 amp load they will draw on the highest setting...I have been dissapointed that two of them I have wont even raise the temparature of a 4x10 foot closet sized "office" in my garage much more than 10 degrees above the outside temparature,and they suck your wallet dry too,I used them one month and our electric bill went up by 50 bucks!...would have been cheaper to run a "real" furnace!...

I use wood stoves or a torpedo heater,the wood stoves force dry paint much better but they also make a lot of dust,so they aren't the best choice for heating a paint shop,never mind the risk of fumes being ignited..the torpedo heaters aren't much better either,the same two hazards exist still,and the fan in them blows dust everywhere...

I find the best time to paint anything you dont want to come out dusty is in the heat of summer,July & August is best on a dry hot day--unfortunately humidity is often high here and its hard to get many good "painting days",I imagine in WA the weather isn't any better,you probably get a lot of dampness and cool weather,and not much sun...all poor for good painting results...

Rustoleum dries slow as hell typically,unless you force dry it with heat or use a thinner,which kills a lot of the gloss...frustration from painting things that turn out poorly is mostly why my vehicles are mostly still rusty and in primer!...

Yeah I just didn't think I'd have this big of a problem finding a higher output electric heater. That and I underestimated the heat dissipating properties of sheet metal.

I've been trying to heat up the whole vehicle and that just ain't gonna work so I got a slightly larger milkhouse heater from a buddy and I'll just keep it as close as possible and blowing directly on the painted area. This is purely for rust prevention, not cosmetic at all. For reference this is what I'm doing:

Prep

Primer

 

[shady]

Crack the windows a bit and run one of the infared ones that screws right to the top of a 20lb lp tank. there cheap and put out a BUNCH of heat

 

[diesel4me]

And keep the cell phone handy to cal 9-1-1 and the fire department!...I use a propane heater like that sometimes in my "office",it has nearly killed me more than once from CO poisoning!...I'd never put one inside a vehicle with PAINT fumes...good way to make a bomb!....

If you just using the rustoleum for rust prevention,not looks,you can use Naptha or laquer thinner in it to make it dry much faster without any heat,outdoors would be best too...I've used gasoline as thinner with rustoleum outside on farm impliments that looks aren't a big concern,but its VERY flammable and must be done with extreme caution..inside a vehicle even opening a door can make a spark at the dor jamb switch that could make it go "boom"..

I use "Aluminum" Rustoleum on things exposed to the weather--it resists rust a lot better than plain enamel and it takes years for it to let existing rust to once again resurface,even if you just spray over old rust without doing much prep work..the high metallic content seems to ward off rust better than plain enamel does..

 

[cdoggwsu]

Well using my little space heater and the one I borrowed it was at least enough to get the paint tack free three days later. That was just the first coat...I was hoping to do at least one more.

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I won't be trying this again...

 

[shaun89]

im gonna be "that" guy....does the burb run? it might cost u a couple dollars in gas but what about just running the burb with the heat on?

 

[cdoggwsu]

im gonna be "that" guy....does the burb run? it might cost u a couple dollars in gas but what about just running the burb with the heat on?

No worries, I addressed that in my first post.

I didn't want to run the fan and blow any crap from the vents onto the wet paint. Now that it's at least dry to the touch I'm gonna run it with the fan on high and get it real toasty in there tonight.

 

[shaun89]

damn,the only sentence I didnt read