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Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
The authoritative public forum
for Metal Finishing since 1989
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Coating hot tub parts
Faded siding or trim? Everbrite might fix it without repainting
Q. . Hello all....glad I found this site..appears to be a wealth of knowledge on coatings.
I have a hot tub that is about 2 years old and the Diverter knobs have become discolored to a lighter gray than they originally were. I've seen on youtube when YouTube where you could take PVC primer and it would restore the color back and this did work outside of the hot tub but when put back under the cover they actually discolored to a lighter Gray than before starting. I then took them to a powder coater who tried one of the knobs but it must be a polypropylene plastic material and it actually just deformed the diverter knob. He only tried one that I had an extra of. He suggested automotive paint but I'm a little weary about that because the water return is also one of the parts that sits under the water is one of the pieces and I'm afraid if it doesn't hold up that the water will become contaminated and I'll be in a bigger barrel than currently.
I was just wondering if any of you fellows had any ideas? Thank you so much for your comments
Mike Berkowitz- HICKORY, North Carolina
March 17, 2022
A. Hi Mike. Just a possibility for the above-water parts, by no means a promise, but Everbrite [a finishing.com supporting advertiser] offers a clearcoat that in some cases can restore color to siding. I believe the way it works is "fading" is not always from loss of pigments, but sometimes from a microscopically fine etching of a surface, which causes a diffusion of the light so the color loses vibrance. You sometimes see this with a seashell or piece of sea glass which looks good when wet, but chalky when dry.
The best part of this solution is all you have to do is wet your parts with water and look at them. If they look good wet, this should help; if the parts don't look good when wet, you can dismiss the approach without wasting time or money.
Luck & Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
March 2022
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