I'd be inclined to some of the epoxy paints, due to wear considerations. I bought some stuff from Brownells a while ago, called "Alumihyde," which is an epoxy paint for firearms. Comes in colors. I've used it for other stuff, such as painting tools, tool handles, etc., where I want a really tough finish.
I would expect that Lowes or Home Depot might have something similar.
I have an 8 year old MW that works fine. It has a rotating tray and there is a plastic thing under that tray with 3 small wheels. Where those wheels contact the bottom of the MW, the paint has worn away exposing bare metal, which from spills and such, has rusted. Before the rust gets real bad, I'd like to paint that part of the bottom. Do I need a special paint, or can I just use any common white spray paint? I'm not concerned about a perfect match to the color, just protecting the metal. OR, do I need some special paint?
Yea, I know not to cook in it for a day or more after painting, so it dries well.
They are two part finishes like the epoxy cements, right? I worked in a building that was repainted with two part epoxy paint. They had to mix the two parts before applying it with brushes.
In practice, any white enamel will work fine, but if you want to be completely proper, use microwave oven cavity paint, sold for painting the metal duct that goes between the magnatron tube and the interior (mica cover over it -- lets in microwaves but keeps steam and food fumes from building up in the cavity and on the magnatron):
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Some other colors contain metal particles (even if they're solid, not metal, colors) that will heat up from microwaves and catch fire, so stick with white. White is also non-poisonous.
You may be able to get away with just treating the rusty spots with phosphoric acid rust remover (Naval Jelly), but don't leave it on too long or it will damage the paint. Phosphating the metal also makes the new paint stick better.
I got a defective microwave oven from General Electric. It was never abused, but the paint inside the cavity peeled badly. It was out of warranty so of course I was out of luck.
I bought high heat paint for barbecue grills (I chose the almond color) and after a good sand and scrape I painted the microwave interior.
It has been almost a year, and the grill paint is holding up well.
In Californianstan there was a company, Deposition Technologies that made metalized plastic films like the square piece of metalized plastic in the bottom of microwave popcorn bags. The purpose is to make a hot spot so the corn will pop. I'm not sure what became of the company, it was probably bought out or merged with another but I did some work there in 1989 on the installation of a glue machine that applied glue to the polymer films they produced. I later came to believe that the machine I worked on was used to make the radar absorbing film for the B2 bomber skin. I wish I could find out what happened to the company, I'm curious.
replying to jw, Don Williams wrote: Yes u need a special paint. It is called " microwave cavity paint " it is for inside of microwave. Wal-Mart sells it online only. Go online for other places.
replying to Steve B, The Good Nurse wrote: Steve, I know your posts are old, but come on! You're saying idiotic things that will potentially cause fire or great harm. What's your problem? 's
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