Painting the inside of cases??

[gvblake22]

I've painted the inside of an aluminum case gloss black and it worked fine. The ability of a case (of any material) to transfer heat very effectively is debatable, but if that effect does exist, then I suppose a coating of paint would inhibit the performance. But either way I think it is pretty negligible.

The only major problem I noticed after painting the case was that it added a little bit of thickness to everything that was painted. So things like the drive cages got a little smaller and it was harder to get the drives in because they stuck. You might want to mask off the inside of the drive cages where the drives are going to be so you don't have this problem.

[Bigedmond]

Originally Posted by JazzyJake

also, if it's done black, and so is the cable-sleeving, and any black IDE ribbon cables are ran flat against the back of the case, they become much harder to see, and even though your wiring isn't any better, it appears better, or at least more subtle.

This exactly why i was thinking about doing it. But i was going to use gloss black if i did it to help reflect the light. I have a spare case that is so small for my video card, so i might try it out on that first to see how it looks.

[Capper]

Originally Posted by gvblake22

I've painted the inside of an aluminum case gloss black and it worked fine. The ability of a case (of any material) to transfer heat very effectively is debatable, but if that effect does exist, then I suppose a coating of paint would inhibit the performance. But either way I think it is pretty negligible.

The only major problem I noticed after painting the case was that it added a little bit of thickness to everything that was painted. So things like the drive cages got a little smaller and it was harder to get the drives in because they stuck. You might want to mask off the inside of the drive cages where the drives are going to be so you don't have this problem.

I'm not saying it will be a huge difference, but there are cases that are based on the confection theory, namely the Thermaltake Tai-Chai, and if they work as advertised, it will impact it. I also suspect there will be more than one coat of paint, as most people use 2-3, then he mentioned a clear coat. Regardless, if the air flow is adequate, there shouldn't be any issues.

[pc_guy]

Can I just interrupt here, everybody is talking about how black paint is going to look great, but why not use a bright red or green color? That would look much better, especially if the case lighting matches that color. That's my 2 cents.

[Capper]

man some sort of fluorescent paint could look pretty cool

[JazzyJake]

Originally Posted by pc_guy

Can I just interrupt here, everybody is talking about how black paint is going to look great, but why not use a bright red or green color? That would look much better, especially if the case lighting matches that color. That's my 2 cents.

dang that looks sweet...

[travb1999]

Dude, that looks awesome.

Agreed on the fact to only paint where visible

[MantaBase]

UV Paint at Xoxide.com - UV Reactive Paint

This stuff goes on clear. Once you hit it with UV, it glows though. You could have all kinds of fun me thinks. Paint the inside flourecent green withy an clear coat of UV orange. I'd test it first.

Painting the inside of cases happens so often that any serious problems we would have heard of. That said, besides whats mentioned above, you will want to watch grounding points and keep them bare metal.

Oh and obviously, you won't paint it with components in it. Thats been tried - not wise.

Manta

[gvblake22]

I've used UV reactive paint a little and it works pretty good actually...

[Craigleberry]

I have painted a few PC's it dosnt change the temps.