Fixing enamel chips in a bath

Which layer is failing - top down or from the bottom?

Are you sure that the area near the plug hole is thoroughly dry before you apply anything - maybe blast with a hair dryer or hot air gun to dry out the area. Possibly you also need to degrease the surface before repair. Are you removing the waste furniture before repair?

I haven't used a filler product but have used a bath "enamel" paint to fill a chip in the bottom of a bath. I used a cocktail stick to carefully apply the paint (in little dots) to ensure that I only filled the chip and not overlap the existing enamel finish.

I have successfully used the two-part epoxy resin kit featured below to repair a chip in a baked enamel pressed steel bath.

It's a very bright white so if your bath is less intense, you might want to mix in a little dark pigment but remember, however smoothly you install the touch-in it will never totally vanish into the background - there are technical reasons why this is so.

I found it useful to do a couple of practice runs using the same substrate (in this case, brightly cleaned mild steel) and prepared it exactly as if it were the real thing. I learned a lot about flow and curing time from doing that and managed to get the mix proportions right.

The real thing needs the substrate to be spotlessly clean and rust free and sanded to help the epoxy key. If the damage runs under the waste pipe or other bath furniture it really is worthwhile to detach those parts to give yourself a clear run at the problem. After you have done the job it needs to be left undisturbed at least 24hrs. We couldn't do without the shower for all that time so we put a plastic tub over the job and sealed it in place with gaffa tape.

Still all good a year later.

Nick

It happens that Nick Odell formulated :

I used that a year or two ago, to patch a rusting area. I cleaned any loose off first, treated it with rust converter, then used the above kit. It has remained as good as the day I did it.

As above, the only issue is a poor colour match - it is very bright white.

Prior to that a number of times, I tried rust converter followed by ordinary enamel paint, the rust quickly reappeared.

I think, if like me the surface is beginning to lose its shiny glaze, nothing will stay put. I'm not particularly worried for mine, since there is, I'm told still some paint still on the small chipped bit near the plug hole, but I guess with a lot of enamelled steel baths the writing is on the wall. Its going to be one heck of a job to get it out and a new one in though!

Brian

Not on a bath, but I've found in the past that after using a phosphoric acid for rust conversion and not cleaning the surface too well afterwards that it reacted badly with a coat of spray "radiator enamel" paint. Luckily this wasn't on anything that important as I was just using the left over paint to slightly prolong the life of a garden structure.

@alan_m - I didn't actually see the repair come off but guess that as it went from OK to chip exposed again near-instantaneously it must have come off in one piece rather than from the outside, so most likely better preparation is needed. I didn't treat the surface as the metal was exposed and appeared to have a fairly rough texture and to be in good condition so I just cleaned it with IPA cleaner, but I guess I should have cleaned it better at least. There is now a small amount of rust visible so I'll have to sand it off before filling again.

One problem we have is that the it's our only bath and shower, so we do need to use it daily and removal of the waste pipe furniture for any prolonged period of time isn't therefore practical. The chip is right on an outside edge next to the plughole so would also be difficult to cover up while the paint is setting. I did the repair in the morning after the bath had been used and applied the first coat of paint as soon as it had set (using a hairdryer to speed up the process) so the paint had nearly 24 hours to dry, and we were careful to use the shower as little as possible for a few days. I sprayed on two more coats of paint on successive mornings after we had finished with the shower.

Thanks for the advice - I'll try the repair again with more careful preparation when I have the chance :)

David.