Durable paint for the inside of a microwave oven

[jeff_wisnia]

We have a well functioning microwave oven with a rusty circular track on the bottom of the oven where the plastic wheels supporting the rotating glass dish have rolled for several years.

The track looks awful and it's spread to about 3/4" in width now, much wider than the wheel treads and I'm thinking it may soon rust right through the oven floor.

I tried painting it with white automotive touchup paint a while back, but that only lasted about a week before flaking off.

Can someone name a really tough white paint, maybe an epoxy based one, that I can use to put a heavy durable coating over that rusty "track"?

Failing that, I guess I can take the time to cut a circular band out of aluminum or stainless sheet metal and epoxy it over the rusted area with conductive epoxy to avoid the possibility of it arcing to the oven floor. But that's a bit of work and prolly guarantees that the microwave will decide to die soon.

Thanks guys,

Jeff

[Robert Macy]

The stain may remain, but there are ways to mitigate without painting.

I do NOT recomend painting inside a microwave. Who knows what's thepaint going to do.

There is a product called Wink that is mild HF acid with wll remove almost anythign related to rusting. However, use gloves!

We use a quaternary compound called Unicide 256 from Brulins in Indiana. That compound removes, reduces rust back to the original. Not originally intended for that, but it does do it.

We spray it on, rinse off and the rust is always all gone, plus, cleaned.

[chaniarts]

rustoleum makes an epoxy paint in a rattle can, used for changing the color of appliances. available at the borg. it does take a while to harden fully if you can't warm it up some.

[NotMe]

The stain may remain, but there are ways to mitigate without painting.

I do NOT recommend painting inside a microwave. Who knows what's thepaint going to do.

There is a product called Wink that is mild HF acid with wall remove almost anything related to rusting. However, use gloves!

DON'T BREATHE THE HF FUMES as permanent lung damage may result.

[gregz]

I don't understand flaking off, but epoxy is what I was going to say. You can't just spray it on top rusty oily surface. I usually use a hair dryer to speed setting up, and let sit a 2-4 days.

Greg

[larrymoencurly]

How did you prepare the metal surface before painting it? Because even car touch-up paint should have lasted a lot longer than a week, but in general you don't want to use it in a steamy environment because it's lacquer and is much more porous than enamel. You should have sanded down to the original primer or to bare metal and prepared the bare metal with phosphoric acid to make the paint stick better. Naval Jelly is phosphoric acid and removes rust. You don't need epoxy paint, just any non-toxic enamel that doesn't contain pure metal (almost any white enamel will do). Appliance parts supplies and MCM Electronics sell spray-on microwave oven cavity paint that's suitable.

[gregz]

Some touch up paint is lacquer. Not all. Having metal or conductance in the paint will not matter. It's too close to the metal to have any effect at this frequency.

Greg

[razzledazzle]

I have the exact same problem with my MW. It's a GE Brand. I've wanted to do something about it, but never have. I thought about sanding it to remove the rust and just coating it with JB Weld. As long as I use the slow drying stuff, it should settle and make a smooth surface.

I think it's poor design that causes this. Yet the MW itself has always worked flawlessly.

[jeff_wisnia]

Yep, mine is a GE also.

Thanks for the tips guys,

Jeff

[razzledazzle]

I kind of thought so. Probably identical model, but I dont know my model number and too lazy to go look.

[bluemenofmorocco]

I live in SPain so have to find something here.\ The paint is worn off from my scrubbing off the rust and I am down to bare metal. Thanks EH >

[icansaveyourtime]

Yes, you can paint it. Would never have happened to begin with if you woul d have cleaned it like this each and every time since it was new: take a w ad of paper towels and wet it really wet, put it in the microwave for two m inutes. Take a dry wad of paper towels and put over the hot ones to remove them. Wipe out the hot damp microwave with the dry wad. Works every time and doesn't rust your microwave either.

[Tony Hwang]

Isn't that baked on paint originally? How will handle the smell of paint when painted and oven is used. Ordinary new ovens can be had for ~100.00 of less.

[Micky]

Unless there's a spill that I wipe out, I only clean the oven every few months and I do it by boiling a dish full of water and then wiping it out, and I never have any rust.

The paint on my washing machine was baked on but the e-pox-ee spray paint I used was as hard as new and never chipped. It's amazing but it's so.

100 dollars is a lot of money for some people. You never seem to notice that. A half-can of epoxy paint costs 5$, and you'll find out how much it smells when you're done. I'd venture that after a day's drying or two and 20 minutes boiling water, even to make coffee, there won't be any smell. This group is home repair, not home buy new.

[Paintedcow]

I agree about the buying new bit.

I'd suggest the epoxy paint. But let it sit for at least 24 hours, or

48...

I had a MW that rusted around the rollers under the rotating tray. It was getting real bad, and I was going to paint it too. The MW died before I got to painting it. So I had no choice but to buy a new one, because the main board died and was not cost effective to repair. Actually the part was more than twice the price of a new MW.

Apparently they only sell parts to suckers and idiots....

[bob_villain]

Now you're in another world...Porcelain Enamel...

[thekmanrocks]

Robert Macy wrote: "I do NOT recomend painting inside a microwave. Who knows what's "

Simple: Contact the manufacturer(ANY one who makes microwave ovens really), and find out exactly what they coat the interiors of those ovens with.

[Scott Lurndal]

A baked-on powder coat. Not something one can generally apply at home.

[WWS TEXAS]

POR 15, tough as nails

[hrhofmann]

Don't use any metal rings anywhere inside the Uwave. Even on the floor of the oven, if it is not in complete bare metal to bare metal contact with th e bare metal floor,there will be circulating currents in the metal ring tha t will make it get hot, and you might get arcing/sparking also. A ring ma de of non-metal material should be ok as long as it remains electrically no n-conducting. That means no spills, etc., which are hard to completely eli minate in a real-life kitchen.