Painting your E-Cig.

[awsapero]

Hello,
I am looking to paint at least the battery portion of my e-cig. Would some one be kind enough as to point me in the right direction to find some info on this. I am looking for facts such as what paint is good and safe to use, and what tools I might need. Thanks

 

[Faethe]

Hello,
I am looking to paint at least the battery portion of my e-cig. Would some one be kind enough as to point me in the right direction to find some info on this. I am looking for facts such as what paint is good and safe to use, and what tools I might need. Thanks

That's a really good question, and there might be a market for it, too. OK. It looks like we are dealing with a gloss enamel base (oil based) on the batteries. I have noticed that some of the atomizers on totally wicked do have a sort of decal on them. The atomizers get hot, but not that hot. Hence why it looks like the Chinese use baked enamel on the atomizers; it can stand prolonged exposure to heat.

So you want to do the same. Oil based is always used with oil based, or else it will flake off. Also, you need to sand the area you wish to paint.

I am assuming the cases are actually containers for the li-ion battery inside. Therefore, if you sand the case you are not breaching the intergrity of the battery.

Use a light sand of like 400 grit I suppose. I have not painted any of my batteries so this is a guess. The issue is that you want to knock back the shine so you can put another layer of paint on it.

Next, you want to get some paints that can put up with passive heat. I'm thinking whatever is used on RC cars, planes, etc. might be adequate. That would be testor paints - but I am not sure. There are other enamels you can use. Sounds like a trip to the hobby/paint/art supply.

After you have done your mod, the essential thing is to seal it. You want to use something durable because these things spend almost constant time in someone's hand. Oils and acids, passive contact chemicals will get on it. I am not sure what sort of sealer would be best, so that's question #2.

Whatever you do, post here. I am curious about this. I have thought of making custom cases. Custom batteries and atomizers would be awesome as we all are kinda of starting to look the same

Another mod would be IF you can add sparklies or jewels and things, crystals to them. Sealing these is fairly straight forward - you use clear nail polish/laquere in multiply thick coats.

BUT someone needs to go into the breach and see if it works first

 

[awsapero]

Ya I was thinking along the lines of a hobby store my self. For the sanding, I am not too experienced in that area. So do you think a dry or wet sand is best for this casing material? I am defiantly gonna be doing this once I take the time to look into supplies at my local stores. So ill keep the progress posted here. Ill be sure to include some before and after pics for anyone curious.

 

[DCrist721]

This was brought up in another thread and 400 grit sandpaper was also suggested. You don't need any kind of heat resistant paint because the battery does not get any hotter then something outside on a hot day. Any kind of spray paint should work.

I was thinking of just creating patterns/designs in photoshop or just a solid color and then printing them out on adhesive paper so that way I can remove them and put a new one on.

 

[surbitonPete]

I have been using smooth hammerite to paint numbers on all my batteries and atomizers....that's the only way I can keep track of how long any part has lasted.

 

[Faethe]

Ya I was thinking along the lines of a hobby store my self. For the sanding, I am not too experienced in that area. So do you think a dry or wet sand is best for this casing material? I am defiantly gonna be doing this once I take the time to look into supplies at my local stores. So ill keep the progress posted here. Ill be sure to include some before and after pics for anyone curious.

Oh, nothing dramatic. Any old 400 grit sandpaper should do. You can get a nice pack at lowes rather cheaply. Very fine sandpaper like that is used to rough up sealent and fine finishes so you can apply another coat. You don't have to knock the paint off the battery - just the top coat sealent which is over the enamel. Sand it so it is dull. What the sandpaper does is create little micro chanels in the top sealent so another layer of paint will stick. That's the basic premise behind refinishing things. It's not necessary to remove everything. You just rough it up a bit so new paint sticks.

On top of what you do, you are going to layer a new sealent. You won't have to sand again for it to adhere because it's going to stick to the new paint. The new paint is not baked on, so it's a different bond.

And yes, there are spray enamels quite up to this. Don't be afraid to use something you can paint on. Enamels tend to have a very low profile. Even if they don't and you get into texture, the top coat will still seal it. The key is getting it to make a nice tight bond with the battery that won't peel off.

 

[Frankie]

I had my son paint one of my 901s using colours for his toy models. I never used it afterwards. It stank. I felt like one of those glue-sniffers trying to vape it.

I think by now, several months later, the odour should be gone, but I have not tried it yet

So, before painting something you will be inhaling from, use the same colour to paint any surface, let it dry and sniff it thoroughly. Might save you some aggravation.

 

[bzlytbeer]

I painted one of my batteries black (because they were sold out of the black stock ones). I used the one in the image below. It worked pretty well, and I did not sand mine down at all. I found a tire valve cap fit on the end of my battery, so I put that end in my cordless drill (on low speed), and painted it with one coat. This gave it a great even coat, with no runs (no one likes to have the runs!)

Two coats would have been perfect, but it was an experiment. Did this about 3 weeks ago, and it still looks great.

Also, it is very important to cover the air holes on your battery before trying this. Plug the hole(s) and no more smoking....