# Painting Inside of Case - black vs white ?....



## erebusting

I was going to get the Cooler Master HAF case, and I liked how the Antec 1200 was painted black inside (looks nice) but I like the features of the HAF (except no filters-which I will have to fabricate)......so I was thinking Ill get the HAF and paint it black inside....
now Im pretty sure I have to sand it down, primer it and paint it....
but I was thinking since black absorbs light/heat -maybe black is a bad idea?...so that got me thinking maybe white would look/be decent? ....

is this something I should consider or am I worrying too much?....
-I would be keeping my case near a window for a while so Im thinking maybe sunlight would heat it up a little more if it was black?....Im not sure, and this is my first time attempting to paint a case @ all.....

Any Advice?


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## fmw

The computer doesn't understand or care what the color of the case is.


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## StrangleHold

erebusting said:


> I was going to get the Cooler Master HAF case, and I liked how the Antec 1200 was painted black inside (looks nice) but I like the features of the HAF (except no filters-which I will have to fabricate)......so I was thinking Ill get the HAF and paint it black inside....
> now Im pretty sure I have to sand it down, primer it and paint it....
> but I was thinking since black absorbs light/heat -maybe black is a bad idea?...so that got me thinking maybe white would look/be decent? ....
> 
> is this something I should consider or am I worrying too much?....
> -I would be keeping my case near a window for a while so Im thinking maybe sunlight would heat it up a little more if it was black?....Im not sure, and this is my first time attempting to paint a case @ all.....
> 
> Any Advice?


 
If your going to paint it, do it black. White would show every molecule of dust. You would spend more time blowing it out then using it.


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## Langers2k7

erebusting said:


> I was going to get the Cooler Master HAF case, and I liked how the Antec 1200 was painted black inside (looks nice) but I like the features of the HAF (except no filters-which I will have to fabricate)......so I was thinking Ill get the HAF and paint it black inside....
> now Im pretty sure I have to sand it down, primer it and paint it....
> but I was thinking since black absorbs light/heat -maybe black is a bad idea?...so that got me thinking maybe white would look/be decent? ....
> 
> is this something I should consider or am I worrying too much?....
> -I would be keeping my case near a window for a while so Im thinking maybe sunlight would heat it up a little more if it was black?....Im not sure, and this is my first time attempting to paint a case @ all.....
> 
> Any Advice?



Yes, black absorbs heat fastest - but it also releases it fastest, too. It's the ideal colour. White would tend to reflect heat back towards the components.


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## Ramodkk

I would paint it black.

Also, you don't have to sand and prime the inside. Get a can of good quality black enamel, and that works great. I've painted insides black, orange and yellow. All with a can of glossy protective enamel and haven't had problems.


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## diduknowthat

Black if you're lazy, white if you want to be unique (and if it actually fit your parts well)




Langers2k7 said:


> Yes, black absorbs heat fastest - but it also releases it fastest, too. It's the ideal colour. White would tend to reflect heat back towards the components.



Secondary cooling is minimal to none in computer cases. And black doesn't absorb heat from the air faster, it absorbs radiation heat faster.


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## bomberboysk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STWSTgfMruc

'Nuff Said


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## Ramodkk

What's good about painting the inside white is that if you have cathodes inside, the paint basically "changes" to whatever color cathode you have, it should look really nice. (Assuming you have a side window)


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## erebusting

ramodkk said:


> I would paint it black.
> 
> Also, you don't have to sand and prime the inside. Get a can of good quality black enamel, and that works great. I've painted insides black, orange and yellow. All with a can of glossy protective enamel and haven't had problems.



I hear that gloss would reflect the heat?....any other ideas?
also I would prefer not to use gloss, I think a flat black would suit it nicely....dont you all think?


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## mac550

erebusting said:


> I hear that gloss would reflect the heat?....any other ideas?
> also I would prefer not to use gloss, I think a flat black would suit it nicely....dont you all think?



yeah i do, i did the inside of my case a couple of mouths ago, i use plasti-cote, and it came out quite well, see for yourself,





(my computer dont look like this now but you get the gist)


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## bigd54

Very nice cable management I wish you could see my case its got wires all over the place.  Want to come over and manage my cables lol


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## KR33P

I would go with black because they say it absorbs heat. So i guess it would keep your computer cooler. Also black just looks Pimp!


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## erebusting

*!!*



mac550 said:


> yeah i do, i did the inside of my case a couple of mouths ago, i use plasti-cote, and it came out quite well, see for yourself,
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> (my computer dont look like this now but you get the gist)




HEY!  PLEASE  PM ME ON HOW YOU DID THAT! LOOKS PERFECT!! =) just how I picture mine to look  (the  color/ texture)...PLEASE pm me! haha -seriously though!


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## mac550

bigd54 said:


> Very nice cable management I wish you could see my case its got wires all over the place.



take a pic and upload it 



bigd54 said:


> Want to come over and manage my cables lol



lol sure, you pay for my plane ticket and ill come over and do it for you, FREE!!!





erebusting said:


> HEY!  PLEASE  PM ME ON HOW YOU DID THAT! LOOKS PERFECT!! =) just how I picture mine to look  (the  color/ texture)...PLEASE pm me! haha -seriously though!



lol thanks :good: it not prefect though may look it but it not. i just used the paint i said in first post and gave it about 6 or 7 coats.

Oh and by the way, you need 100 posts before you can PM anyone, like wise, i cant PM you untill you get 100 posts.


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## erebusting

mac550 said:


> lol sure, you pay for my plane ticket and ill come over and do it for you, FREE!!!
> 
> 
> 
> lol thanks :good: it not prefect though may look it but it not. i just used the paint i said in first post and gave it about 6 or 7 coats.
> 
> Oh and by the way, you need 100 posts before you can PM anyone, like wise, i cant PM you untill you get 100 posts.



ohh ok, well maybe you could tell me on here ?....did you sand it?..did you prime it?....and yeah it looks perfect enough for me -am I overlooking something?.....


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## mac550

erebusting said:


> ohh ok, well maybe you could tell me on here ?....did you sand it?..did you prime it?....and yeah it looks perfect enough for me -am I overlooking something?.....



to tell you the truth, i didn't sand or prime it, just took everything out and took all the plastic off and sprayed it.

just go from side to side and pulse it, like in the vid but i didn't sand it once id finished, i just left it while i did my other mod.

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## erebusting

yea I checked that vid out he does a nice a$$ job! but I was looking to paint the inside so that vid didnt _*really*_ help me out...just kinda gave me ideas....
you said you used plasti coat ? is that a spray paint? or will I have to use like an air compressor ?.....what brand did you use? ....also does it scratch easily?...
wouldn't want it to scratch while I put some parts in -at least not scratch that easily-.

what about engine paint?


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## mac550

erebusting said:


> yea I checked that vid out he does a nice a$$ job! but I was looking to paint the inside so that vid didnt _*really*_ help me out...just kinda gave me ideas....
> you said you used plasti coat ? is that a spray paint? or will I have to use like an air compressor ?.....what brand did you use? ....also does it scratch easily?...
> wouldn't want it to scratch while I put some parts in -at least not scratch that easily-.
> 
> what about engine paint?



i just posted that vid so you could understand how to spray (i dont know if you have done it before).
the way i did it was: do each section at a time, e.g. do the bottom panal and leave it for 5 mins, then do the mobotray and leave it for 5 mins and so on. once you done the last panal, leave it for 30 mins for the paint to settle and repeat that 6-7 times and leave it for like 24/48 hours before putting you hardware back in.
thats how i did it and it came out ok so im happy

yeah i used plasti-coat, its a spray paint so you wont need a compressor, the brand is plasti-coat, yes sadly it does scratch easy-ish, but as long as you dont scrape it with hard plastic or metal, you should be fine.
as for engine paint, i cant comment, iv never used it before, soz.


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## Yeti

Langers2k7 said:
			
		

> Yes, black absorbs heat fastest - but it also releases it fastest, too. It's the ideal colour. White would tend to reflect heat back towards the components.


Except most objects aren't greybodies - their emissivity varies with wavelength.  For something that you want to keep cool and that is exposed to a lot of sunlight the best color would be white since it reflects most visible light and emits about the same amount of IR radiation as black paint.  For something that isn't exposed to a lot of visible radiation, the paint color generally won't make any difference.


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## erebusting

Yeti said:


> Except most objects aren't greybodies - their emissivity varies with wavelength.  For something that you want to keep cool and that is exposed to a lot of sunlight the best color would be white since it reflects most visible light and emits about the same amount of IR radiation as black paint.  For something that isn't exposed to a lot of visible radiation, the paint color generally won't make any difference.



sorry for being kinda slow- but by visible radiation - would you mean sunlight / light heat sources ?....


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## Computer_Freak

diduknowthat said:


> Black if you're lazy, white if you want to be unique (and if it actually fit your parts well)
> 
> Secondary cooling is minimal to none in computer cases. And black doesn't absorb heat from the air faster, it absorbs radiation heat faster.



Thats exactly it.

Black absorbs every colour from white light (All the frequencies). Thats why it heats up much more.

But with heat from the air, there is not difference.


If you leave your case in the sun, then it will heat up like no other...


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## Yeti

erebusting said:
			
		

> sorry for being kinda slow- but by visible radiation - would you mean sunlight / light heat sources ?....


Yes, visible electromagnetic (as I should have specified) radiation which is visible light.


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