Painting Aluminium Windows.

Been there done that!
The trick is to get the correct etch primer to suit the aluminium otherwise it all falls off later.
We had to go to the yellow etch primer.Also two types of ali window frame coatings /colourings.Powder coating is the relatively new stuff while the really old ones were anodised as were ours.

Beware of breathing in the two pack overspray and have a bloody good respirator,otherwise the grandad of all headaches is coming your way.
Those were our experiences.
A bloody difficult job with only an average result for a lot of effort.

Just one man's opinion
Grahame

Ive been pondering the same thing, though am very amatuer. Mine are ex-commission home al windows - plain al no paint. would like to give the front ones a tidy up. Would i still need this etch primer bizzo? I dont know paints very well so anything in primary-school-teacher talk would be beautifully appreciated.

You must use an etch primer for aluminium. If the paint already on the windows is powder coat and in good condition you can just sand them back and paint again. If the paint is suspect getting rid of it back to aluminium is best.

The top primer for aluminium used in the auto trade is an epoxy primer it sticks to everything real well. Etch primers also work but the good ones have had to be fazed out due to pollution requirements and most now are chromate free etches which don't work as well.

My suggestion is to go to a paint supplier for auto paint, buy an epoxy paint and a two pack auto colour. The most common paint is PPG (old Dulux) ask for DP40 epoxy primer, it comes in 2 packs, You may have to buy a litre of each part its mixed 50/50 but it lasts a few days once mixed but only mix what you think you need for the job you are doing. You can brush it on and there is no need to rub before you colour. It also drys fast after application. You can colour within 30 minutes if you want to, if you spray you can put colour on while its still wet.

The 2 pack colour can be purchased with a slow hardener and thinner ( its mixed 4-1 -1 , colour, hardener,thinner) if you use slow you can easily brush on the paint and get as good a result as if you used normal house paint. Spraying works better and if you spray use normal hardener/thinner but you will need to do a heap of masking as the paint sticks to anything real well. As mentioned get a good mask and don't do it unless you have good ventilation. Preferably a breeze blowing.

As brushing uses very little material if you can't buy small quantities go see a smash repairer armed with some good air tight containers he will probably charge you a bit more but you won't have lots of waste paint left over. ( the colours especially only have a shelf life of a couple of years at most ) and as the paint will last 10 plus years on the windows it will have well and truely gone off before you need to repaint.

If you want to speed up the drying time (if spraying) you can use a fast hardener or better still an accellerator to dry it in about 15-20 minutes

yeah digging up an oldie here but didn't want to be one of those people who ask, get answers then nick off and never come back. though i have been back i thought id dig this up and say the windows went really well. a coat of etch primer then the colour of choice they look like new. Don't quite work like new but looks are good enough for now!