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September 26th, 2014, 8:40 am
#1
* Kingman ** Kingman *
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I noticed a small amount of rust where some paint flaked off of my YS640, near the bottom center of the front. Planning to clean smoker with citrus cleaner to remove grease drippings and then lightly sand rust away with some fine sandpaper and/or steel wool. I already have black high temp paint from Yoder. Just wondering if I should spray a little rust prevention paint underneath the flat black or no? Don't even know if there is a high temp rustoleum paint available but just curious what factory recommendation would be.

Thx

TJ

September 26th, 2014, 10:03 am
#2
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The process we use is exactly as you specified. After sanding, clean and degrease again, then paint. What I do when touching up the outside of cookers, is to plan ahead and do the painting when the I am cooking. This way the cooker is hot, and the paint dries almost immediately, and bakes on as soon as it hits the cooker.

The choice of the paint used by Yoder, was chosen for the ease of maintenance. Everything that is metal rusts when the surface is scratched or damaged. The paint on all Yoder Smokers cookers is easily sanded, blended and matched to keep them looking great.

Yoder_Herb
September 26th, 2014, 10:05 am
#3
* Kingman ** Kingman *
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Ok, roger that Herb, and thanks. Does it matter what the cook temp is when applying the paint? For me it would almost, in all cases, be between 180 and 350F.

Thx

TJ

September 26th, 2014, 10:13 am
#4
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I have painted in that range, but never hotter. Not sure it would be a problem or not.

Yoder_Herb
September 26th, 2014, 10:52 am
#5
* Abilene ** Abilene *
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A little off the subject, but besides the added cost has Yoder looked into powder coating?

Thanks Matt

Still waiting on my YS640 but I hear it's shipping next week Woop!!

Anxiously waiting my new YS640 Silver Comp cart
September 26th, 2014, 12:38 pm
#6
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If you have ever attempted to fix damage to a powder coated surface, you know that it is very hard to get it looking like new again. The current paint on all Yoder Smokers is super easy to repair, and when done, looks almost perfect.

Yoder_Herb
September 26th, 2014, 12:55 pm
#7
* Abilene ** Abilene *
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Thanks, good to know.

Anxiously waiting my new YS640 Silver Comp cart
September 26th, 2014, 2:32 pm
#8
* Kingman ** Kingman *
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I'm having trouble getting all the drippings and gunk off the YS640 with citrus cleaner and don't really want to scrape it with a putty knife because I'm afraid I'll gouge it and encourage future rust to develop... Any suggestions for getting burned on grease and gunk off the metal/painted surfaces? I guess I can use sandpaper and/or steel wool, as indicated above, but that'll just require a lot more painting than I had hoped/planned.

Thx

September 26th, 2014, 2:42 pm
#9
* Cheyenne ** Cheyenne *
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plastic putty knife and a stiff bristled scrub brush.

may take some effort but will definitely do the job

September 26th, 2014, 3:21 pm
* Durnago ** Durnago *
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A little Dawn in some warm water and an old toothbrush. Always works for me.

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September 26th, 2014, 3:26 pm
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jeetS wrote:plastic putty knife and a stiff bristled scrub brush.

may take some effort but will definitely do the job


Yes, this is probably the best method to do this on old stains. This seems to be more of a permanent stain to me, so scrubbing and sanding is what we do. I have not found a cleaner that will remove the stain, and we have tried many, including Simple Green. Maybe someone else will chime in about a miracle cleaner that works.

Yoder_Herb
September 26th, 2014, 3:28 pm
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Yoder_Kirby wrote:A little Dawn in some warm water and an old toothbrush. Always works for me.


You obviously do this external cleaning thing a little more than the rest of us. :oops:

Yoder_Herb
September 26th, 2014, 4:26 pm
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So far, 00 steel wool and citrus safe are doing an ok job on a lot of it, but there are some baked on drip trails that I just can't get off...guess it's gonna have to be sanded...

Moral of the story...I need to clean a bit more frequently!

September 26th, 2014, 4:41 pm
* Durnago ** Durnago *
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TennesseeJed wrote:So far, 00 steel wool and citrus safe are doing an ok job on a lot of it, but there are some baked on drip trails that I just can't get off...guess it's gonna have to be sanded...

Moral of the story...I need to clean a bit more frequently!


Did you try my trick?

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September 27th, 2014, 3:53 am
* Kingman ** Kingman *
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Not yet but I will before I pull out the heavy stuff. Had to put everything away yesterday before I could finish, so I'll try your approach when I start again. Turning into a bigger project than I expected. Didn't notice it before I started cleaning but I have some rust all along the entire top edge of the 3/4" metal band running across the bottom of the front of the smoker. There appears to be rust in between that strip and the front panel itself and I'm not sure how or if I'll be able to really get at it. I can see that I've had some drips that ran down the front and just sat in that edge once they hit it. Wonder if I can get it really cleaned up and repainted if it would make sense to run a small bead of high temp black silicone along that strip to keep any drips from sitting in there. I can send a photo if not clear.

Thx. I'll report back.

September 27th, 2014, 10:02 am
* Kingman ** Kingman *
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Tried Dawn, water and toothbrush and plastic scraper and there are still some raised, baked on drip trails running down front that I'm just not getting rid of...going to try my steam cleaner with plastic brushes and if that doesn't get it, only thing left I know to try is some fine sandpaper, which I'm confident will get it off...

September 18th, 2015, 9:10 am
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Ok, here I am one year later, actually finishing what I started last year...YS 640 ain't pretty right now, but alas, it still works fine!

For full disclosure, I didn't do the maintenance as well as I should have...unfortunately, the hinges on my pellet hopper and the lid both locked up completely. I feel pretty confident that had I sprayed a little white lithium grease in the hinges, I'd have had no issues with the hinges...live and learn. Thanks Yoder for supporting the body and helping me w/ replacement hinges and pellet hopper lid, etc. I'm a little disappointed that I have as much rust as I have on the smoker, particularly since I have it under cover 24/7/365, but I'm determined to get it cleaned up and looking new again...

Bought a grinder and cut off and sanded the old welded on hinges on the lid and body. While I'm at it, I'm using the flap sander and metal brushes to take the rusty areas down to metal so I can repaint and be sure that there won't be rust underneath the new paint. If anyone has similar issues as I've had, where the toothbrush and Dawn, or a plastic scraper and citrus cleaner don't do the trick, I can attest that there's nothing a grinder and appropriate attachments won't take care of. ;)

Couple of questions:

    1. It seems like (as I remove the factory paint finish), there is more than one layer of paint. Does Yoder put more than one layer of paint down when new? I'd like to try and restore the finish to the same (or at least as close as I can get it) as when I got it new.
    2. I can't locate the same paint I received from Yoder. I can find high temp flat black paint by Rustoleum only. Anyone know if it will match the paint I got from Yoder ok? I don't want to put any down if there's any difference in appearance/color/finish.
    3. Is there any problem with using some high temp caulk to keep drips and water/moisture from getting behind the flat bar stock along the bottom of the front and back of the body? My plan would be to remove all rust (as best I can), repaint and then apply a thin bead of high temp caulk along the edge to let drips, etc. run over the edge of the flat stock rather than behind it.
    4. Anybody that has any recommendations/suggestions for how to paint this--I'm all ears. This is outside of my experience set for sure...

Thanks!

TJ

September 18th, 2015, 10:31 am
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P.s., a quick follow up/additional question:

There are a few areas where the metal is slightly pitted with rust (behind some grease drip trails that I've now removed) and some other areas where I just can"t get to to remove all the rust that's there (e.g., the small area just behind and underneath the flat bar stock running along the front and rear bottom of the cooking chamber). Anything I can do to help prevent rust from worsening in these areas and continuing to rust even after repainting? Anything I can apply or clean with to help remove some of this chemically before repainting?

Thx

TJ

September 18th, 2015, 11:41 pm
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Yes, there are multiple coats of paint on the cooker, with a drying time between each coat.

The paint we use is a high temp silicone based paint. If I remember correctly, yours is the flat black version. We have hear of some customers using the rustoleum with good results, but I have no first hand experience, sorry. You can purchase the exact paint here: http://www.atbbq.com/store/show/ys_touch_up_paint

Using high temp sealant should not be a problem. You will not be able to paint over it though.

Here is an article on paint prep and repair: download/Best%20Practice%20and%20how%20to/Prep%20and%20Paint%20Procedure.pdf

The best method is to remove the contaminated paint and rust before painting. Not sure what to tell you about chemicals, but I have seen YouTube videos showing Coca-Cola being used to remove rust. Personally I would use a steel brush and/or sandpaper.

Yoder_Herb
September 19th, 2015, 2:17 pm
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Thanks Herb. I bought some Rustoleum but I'm going to return it and stick w/ the Thurmalox paint Yoder uses because I'm not taking the entire thing down to bare metal and I want the finish to be similar to the factory paint. I'll paint before applying the HT silicone; I just wanted to be sure it wouldn't be a problem to put some on after I painted. I'm getting rust all along the bottom welded on trim strip on the front and back of the smoker chamber body and I'm hoping the silicone will keep drips and moisture from getting in behind the metal strip. I am sanding and using steel brushes already and I'm just not quite getting it all off. I'll just have to take off a little bit more metal I think to get it all.

Thx

Rick

October 4th, 2016, 2:54 am
* Abilene ** Abilene *
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Hi There, could anyone confirm up to which year Yoder was using satin black and then switched to flat black ? I need to order some paint too and I'm not sure about which one shall I use...

October 4th, 2016, 7:24 am
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