Painting Orphek OR3 Bar?

[Vested]

Thinking about getting some OR3 bars but don't like the aluminum housing look, can someone tell me if its a bad idea to plastidip the aluminum? Would it effect the heat dissipation?

 

[Dburr1014]

Thinking about getting some OR3 bars but don't like the aluminum housing look, can someone tell me if its a bad idea to plastidip the aluminum? Would it effect the heat dissipation?

Plastic is an insulator.
I would say yes, it will effect the heat in a negative way.
Anodizing, but I'm not sure of the process.
Maybe a staining? Just spit balling. Sharpie markers?

 

[twentyleagues]

Yeah id not do it. Might want to reach out to orphek to see if there are any options.

 

[Vested]

Yeah id not do it. Might want to reach out to orphek to see if there are any options.

Yeah leaning that way theres gotta be some way

 

[twentyleagues]

I talked through email with their rep he was very helpful. In the end I've decided not to go with their lighting. I saw a set up running in person pretty much the same thing I was thinking and didnt like the disco effect I was seeing. I love shimmer but that was something else. I realize you can lift them higher "usually" or remove or change lenses ( at par cost) I have a canopy so im limited. The tank I saw ran a canopy a little taller then mine and it still had individual color lines/spots. But he was very helpful and answered all my questions if thats their customer service through the entire company I makes me want to deal with them just because.

 

[Vested]

I talked through email with their rep he was very helpful. In the end I've decided not to go with their lighting. I saw a set up running in person pretty much the same thing I was thinking and didnt like the disco effect I was seeing. I love shimmer but that was something else. I realize you can lift them higher "usually" or remove or change lenses ( at par cost) I have a canopy so im limited. The tank I saw ran a canopy a little taller then mine and it still had individual color lines/spots. But he was very helpful and answered all my questions if thats their customer service through the entire company I makes me want to deal with them just because.

Yeah starting to read that I might also bite the bullet and go with a 4ft bar from quanta or alie especially if one of them can sell me a black one lol

 

[oreo54]

Yeah starting to read that I might also bite the bullet and go with a 4ft bar from quanta or alie especially if one of them can sell me a black one lol

There should be no issue with painting them black with a thin coat.
This is pretty much what "I've" accepted as fact, YMMV:

Here are some rules of thumb, with ballpark figures.


Painting an extruded aluminium heatsink will increase its coefficient of emissivity from .09 to about .94. At the temperatures we are talking about, colour doesn't matter at all. What counts is the dullness of the surface. The thickness of the paint layer affects both radiation and conduction.


Paint is less conductive than metal, so do not paint your heatsink unless radiation dissipates a significant proportion of the heat generated by the source. This is likely only under conditions of natural convection. If there is a fan on the heatsink, don't paint it.


The hotter a surface is compared to its surroundings, the more heat will be radiated rather than lost to convection.


An LED panel operating at 60 Celsius with a bare aluminium top surface open to the air will radiate about 10% of the heat generated by the LEDS. This could increase to 50% if the surface is painted, almost doubling the amount of power you can put through the panel.

So a thin coat of say flat black Krylon may help in heat transfer for passively cooled bars.