Painting Awning Cover

[vagaron]

On my '06 Pace Arrow the aluminum (?) cover that the awning rolls under had bare spots where the black paint has been flaking off. I used a wire brush wheel on a drill to clean off loose flakes then put on a coat of Rustoleum. It was latex but was supposed to be for interior or exterior wood, metal, or plastic.

The next day I found that ALL of the paint had simply run off! Never seen that before. It was as though I hadn't painted it at all. There was a dark line on the pavement where the paint had dripped. Someone told me if it's anodized aluminum you can't simply paint it.

Anyone know what to use on the awning cover?

[BraveWrigley]

Did you paint in the afternoon? Maybe the overnight dew set in before the paint set up?

[Motor7]

I would de-grease then try Krylon Fusion paint.

[JBDISCOVERY]

I believe the post about dew is spot on.
I cleaned and painted our aluminum awning shield with Rustolum oil based gloss paint two years ago. Has held up great. Would recommend the product.
Regards,
JimB

[vagaron]

Yes, I did paint in the late afternoon. It occurred to me that moisture in the air might have had some effect, but couldn't imagine even the flat, horizontal surfaces were completely devoid of paint. Maybe I'll try again on a small area in another time of day and see how it goes.

I've also read that painting anodized aluminum requires first using an etching primer.

[Motor7]

Anodization does not flake off since it is the actual surface of the aluminium that is oxidized during electrolysis. It can be worn through by abrasion, but it cant flake off. Corrosion under it can make it appear to flake, but in actuality that is just a complete breakdown of the metal.

What I suspect is that your aluminium is Powder Coated and in this day and age everything seems to be done with it. The problem is that without expert proper prep it simply looks good for a year or so then "epic-ally" fails by flaking off in sheets. Most paints will not stick to a slick powder coated surface. Scuff it all up with a scotchbrite pad, de-grease, prime with Krylon Fusion Primer, then paint with Fusion since it is made to bond with most plastics.

[enjoyrv]

I have the same peeling problem on 2 of my awnings. I haven’t tackled painting yet. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[vagaron]

Anodization does not flake off ...

Perhaps I wasn't clear in my OP. I didn't mean the anodizing was flaking, only the paint (or coating) on top of that. It was the areas without paint that surprised me by shucking off the paint I added.

[BraveWrigley]

Originally Posted by vagaron

Yes, I did paint in the late afternoon. It occurred to me that moisture in the air might have had some effect, but couldn't imagine even the flat, horizontal surfaces were completely devoid of paint. Maybe I'll try again on a small area in another time of day and see how it goes.

I've also read that painting anodized aluminum requires first using an etching primer.

Professionally covered tens of thousands of square feet of roofing of various types including huge aluminum buildings, large asphalt roofs, PVC and EPDM, Comcrete and even walls and foundations with coatings such as acrylics, aluminum, urethane and fancy blends and I absolutely guarantee the metal hit a dew point, moisture formed and you saw the results.

Our coating season never much ran past August and started in June, it was short for the exact reason in your post. Imagine coming to job in the morning and all the coating has ran off the roof or wall?