Painting radiator - which paint whilst rad is off wall?

We're having work done in our living room which has required the rads to be removed. They'll be off for around a week i imagine. The big one is fine as it's new but the smaller one looks a bit tatty & could do with a paint.

I imagine you would just sand it with some wet & dry before painting? I'm totally guessing here. 240 grit? Would you even bother sanding at all?

Anyway the main question is - which paint would you put on there? Obviously i'm not referring to colour.
I guess the oil based paints will yellow over (a not very long) time. Are the water based options any good (i guess they'll stay whiter for longer but may have other downsides that oil based don't)?

So in a nutshell - what paint to put on? Thanks.

satinwood.

You can use wet-and-dry paper, as used on car painting, but it will cut through the old paint on all edges, seams and flutes, leaving bare metal that you have to prime. I use green nylon pan scourer instead (or the similar black stuff you can buy from decorating shops).

If there are any rusty bits, rub it off and patch-prime.

Do the sides, bottom and top first, them the back, then prop it up and do the front last (laid flat). Water paints on bare steel will cause slight rust until dry, so I prefer oil paints.

If you're determined to do them white and show every mark, rather than match the walls and blend in, use water-based satinwood as it will not go yellow.

Thanks.

Yeah the rad is rusted in parts. Near where the valves are. There's not a stack of rust but there is rust.

As for the colour, for me i think rads should be white (or that brushed steel effect looks quite nice) so i'm happy with white. Thanks for the tip.

However if i was to decide to opt for the oil based option ... which paint would you recommend there? I am thinking that you don't have to just go out & buy radiator paint.

satinwood.

You will need an oil-based anti-rust primer for ferrous metals on the bare parts, or a universal primer with those properties.

You may as well unscrew the valve tails, which are presumably leaking and causing the rust, and wind PTFE round the tapered threads to seal them before refitting.

If you ever want to fit TRVs or renew the valves, now is the time.

Don't know why you don't replace the radiators while you have the chance. They'll be full of black crud that wrecks your boiler anyway.

Thanks.

We have TRV's on all rads in the house actually.

As for new rads - we were supposed to. The rads we have are a weird size. The main one was something like 1759-x-600mm & the smaller one was 950x600mm. The plumber came out & changed the big one for a new one. He was supposed to change the smaller one (but didn't - somehow we got crossed wires, or rather he just totally misunderstood us somehow) & another rad got changed.

I was in touch with him again to change the rad & he asked if we wanted to go for a 900 or a 1000 rad. I replied & that was that. He never came back out. I even gave him the date it needed to be done by & he said no problem.

With the big rad he had to solder the pipework i believe. It certainly had to get moved.

The pipe work to the rad in question would need bending i think. I don't think it'd line up well. It's 10mm copper pipe. Will it be ok to bend in so it lines up with a slightly bigger rad (1000mm instead of 950mm) or would it need cutting & soldering?

If so then we're snookered basically as these guys are only qualified to remove & refit.

You simply move one of the pipes under the floor. Dead easy be it solid or timber floor. Do it all while you've got the chance.