Firebasket - Rust Protection Paint

[Nightwalker]

Not your usual kit question I have one of these out on my balcony:

Its superb with a BBQ grill ontop, however I've got a major rust problem!

It seems at times the fire has been so hot it has stripped the paint off and it is rusting hurrendously horrible bright orange. When I bought the thing a few months back I went looking for some sort of protection thinking that this might be a problem. I went down to the local hardware store looking for paint that would protect/seal it yet would stand up to the heat. He didnt have much at all and I think the only appropiate product he sold me was a black spray can that was for stoves, I cant remember what the temperature rating was on the back of the can, maybe 400 or 600 degrees. Anyway, turns out after a couple of fires that too burns off and then the steel is rusting like hell.

Anyone know of a good protective (black) paint that will stand up to heat? Im not wise on temperatures so I dont know what range we're looking at, somewhere between 500-700 maybe?? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, save my firebasket!

 

[Squidders]

initially I would say to try Exhaust paint from Halfords... some of it is designed to withstand massive temperatures...

I think the temp in there may get higher than 500-700C personally... I don't know for sure but I get the distinct impression it's a fair bit higher.

I have a fire pit that's also getting some "character" to it... I'm going to just see if I can get it covered in soot in a big way. That way, even if it's rusting, it'll look nice and black still so I don't have to worry

 

[Nightwalker]

Thanks for the reply. Like I said I dont know much about temperatures at all but one thing I thought I learnt recently is that steel would glow red hot at about 800-850C is that right?

I've been learning thanks to making my first knife If I stick old files in the central-core of my fire basket I can get them red hot, but the steel of the basket itself I have never seen red-hot, im guessing because its on the outside and kept a little cooler.

Exhaust paint eh? sounds good I'll have to check that out, never even knew there was that stuff.

 

[Nightwalker]

Quick google searching...

1st product - http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/products/ProductDetail.asp?cls=MSPORT&pcode=NIM1004
£24 - 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit / 1 093 degrees Celsius

2nd - http://www.nfauto.co.uk/exhaust_paint.htm
£8.50 - 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit / 815 degrees Celsius

So im guessing if you think its gona be a bit hotter than what I said before I should look for some stuff thats ok at 1,000C ? Im sure I'll find some cheaper stuff soon.

 

[Toddy]

We used to use black lead on the stove fronts and rails but the stuff had to be re-applied constantly. It was a kind of paste iirc.
One of the holiday homes we used for many years had a wood burning stove and there was a can of paint that was supposed to be used before the house was left empty for any length of time because the stove rusted like mad in the sea air.
I tried this stuff on my fire/ grill thing but it still rusts through albeit a lot slower than it had before.
http://www.thegardenweb.co.uk/stove....html?osCsid=91469839699f162cde7436335e40095e
I don't think anything except stripping your basket off, repainting it and then protecting it from the weather in some way will stop it rusting through again. I'm told these bbq and basket things can reach 600oC so any coating is going to have a hard time.
cheers,
Toddy

 

[Nightwalker]

Thanks toddy. I do have a BBQ cover that covers it well now, so that protects it mostly from rain, but im sure the cold steel will still pull the moisture up from underneath the cover, it still sorta rust's at the same speed with it on I think, lol.

When I do find the right paint/sprey to apply to it I fully expect to have to strip it down with some sandpaper etc. then paint it.

 

[Eric_Methven]

I think you'll always have the problem of burning the paint off. I had the same problem with rust building up on the outside of the charcoal kiln. Now it gets pretty hot too and the only way I can protect it from rusting is to slap some old engine oil on the outside with a big paintbrush. That might be an option for you as well. Just paint some engine oil on it after use. It'll burn the oil off again next time you light it though.

Eric