condensation prevention on sheet metal

I have no specific knowledge about the products at the links below, but I hope this helps. I haven't checked the MSDS on WD-40 so I don't know about its toxicity. It is my personal favorite though. "Makes the world go 'round" as my dad would say.

www.eurekafluidfilm.com/about/tech_data.html

Is it possible, in your application, to employ a method of heating the sheet metal to a couple degrees above ambient? Or is that not feasible? That could prevent condensation forming. Just a thought.

Just had another thought. I have a nephew who needs a job (the little piss-ant needs to learn responsiblity). You could hire him to run around with a rag and wipe away any moisture that accumulates.

Hello Mark684, Thanks for the web sites, that was very useful. As far as the piss-ant job, I already hold the position, sorry. Thanks again

I like the anti -corrosion products/sytems that you provide information on.

Have you any idea of the cost of these, or where I could ask the question? Being a retiree cost is sure an issue!

I hate metal toolboxes because of the tools that have rusted over many years and am now using plastic tool boxes as far as possible. Corosion of tools has dropped remarkably.

Use of the above products might enable the use of metal toolboxes again?

Advice welcome.

Sleepy

How about a dehumidifier unit?

You could spray on warm, dry air . . .

Quite. Or even warm the sheet up beforehand - its temperature is clearly below the dewpoint temperature for the air being supplied.

We have a hollow wall panel system for construction that has a galvanized sheet metal track that may develop condensation from the outside air and inside air. Blown insulation may help stop air movement, but if a coating can be sprayed on before hand, it may prevent watering beading in extreme temperature changes. Testing may show that it is not needed. Thanks for all of the comments.

Try zerust vapor phase inhibitor pellets

http://www.zerust.com/product/application/3/show/24.html

I keep an slightly different model in my gun cases.

milo

Cetyl alcohol might be worth investigating. It's an ingredient in soaps and shampoos, so relatively benign. It's normally a solid, but emulsifies with water and is sometimes used as a lubricant for threaded fasteners and such.

Plasma Polymerization of methanol is used in car headlights to reliminate any inner condensation and fogging. You might consider doing this if your parts are small enough to be placed in a vacuum chamber or a sputtering machine. The coating is very conformal and high quality. I don't know about its resistance to abrasive environments though.

yes would be a good thing i do not think there is a product other than keeping it in a controlled environment ( an airconditioned and heated building ) but if there is i would like to know .

Try automotive undercoating or drain pan coating from HVAC supply house.

then would it not damage the steel or have a large clean up problem when you get ready to fabricate your parts.

Yusef1, Icynene is just the answer I was looking for. It adds more benefits than expected and is green. That adds to our already super green wall system. There is a dealer right here not 9 miles away. Sometime it takes a little help to point out what was right in front of you, like my wife likes to says. Our wall system is hollow around the entire house, so no studs to get in the way. A new method of filling the walls is being worked out. WD40 sounds like an added safeguard during construction. Thanks again all!

So check my post with a good answer.

The only drawback to WD 40 (or any other oil) is that it may prevent the foam from adhering. Your steel "might" be arriving on site with oil on it already which will need to be cleaned off before spraying with the icynene, and you would have to clean the wd-40 off as well. If I was to do the project from the get go...I would powder coat, galvanize or enamel all the sheets of steel before even thinking of putting them into an industrial application like a building. This is already done for steel roofing. I am a little surprised that a professional steel wall system would not come galvanized as an automatic sort of thing!. If it is galvanized, then there is no need for any oil at all! Just the spray to prevent condensation and provide a moisture barrier. You sure your steel sheets don't come galvanized?

I would not have thought that steel was very "green" in that it uses a lot of coal to manufacture it. I mean...not like straw bales, which we use around here for truly "green" housing.

Yusef1, you are right about WD40. The thought of using icynene on top of WD40 was not needed as icynene does the job of blocking are flow. If we were to use blown in insulation the WD40 would have helped. Icynene turns out to have multiple functions of not only sealing the hollow walls, it insulates the copper pipes and if sprayed in the attic, venting is not needed. You are right again, steel is not very green so we minimize the amount. We only use recycled galvanized sheet metal for our tracks. Thanks again for the contact and all of the others that had comments.

WD40.

Is this a kind of problem of yours?

http://www.plantservices.com/articles/2008/102.html

If yes, you may find the solution there.

You may also check Nansulate, a nanotechnology coating.

http://www.nansulate.com/nansulate_industrial_casestudies.htm

---best, czes