Exterior Detailing at mid-40 Deg F. Temperatures???

[sillywilly88]

I'm a total newby and haven't detailed anything as yet. I want to clean up some scratches on a new motorcycle inside my unheated garage. I seem to remember reading that one should do this work at minimum of 60 deg. F. temp. If this is so, what to do now that it's getting colder. The temp quoted in title is mid-day. Early it's from 0 to 4 or 5 Deg C.

I don't want to screw up. I have my new Porter Cable 7336SP and about $600 CAD of chemicals, assorted 4" and 6" pads, Microfibre towels, Mits etc., with another $266 worth that I expect to arrive from eshine today.

Any help will be appreciated.

 

[Big Leegr]

Have you considered getting a portable heater? Even one of those cheap fan heaters might help warm things up enough.
Depending on the product, you may not even notice much of an issue. Plus, working on a motorcycle, you wouldn't have as much surface area to warm up, so you'd be able to get working faster.
If possible, try to get the bike warm. It'll be easier to work on warm paint than cold paint in a warm environment.

Biggest problem you'll likely have is drying time. Takes longer when cold.

Really, though, try to get a source of heat for the garage.

 

[CharlesW]

60 is great, 50 works OK for me, just not quite as nice as 60.
Below 50, it seems to depend on the product. I sometimes have some smearing with QD's and removal of some products can be a problem.
I don't even try to do much unless I get the temperature above 50.
Fortunately, that's not much of a problen for me. I have a kerosene torpedo style construction heater of about 100,000 BTU's and I only have to run it for 10 to 20 minutes to get the garage to working temperature on a day above 10 or 20 degrees F.

Some source of heat is the best solution.

Charles

 

[sillywilly88]

Thanks guys. I will investigate heaters at Canadian Tire within the next day or so (after the rain stops for a minute, lol).

 

[Conundrum]

Thanks guys. I will investigate heaters at Canadian Tire within the next day or so (after the rain stops for a minute, lol).

Let us know what you find. I have a few electric heaters at home, but not entirely sure what I am going to do once winter is upon us (I want to use QEW but the temp has to be warm enough for me to stick my hand in the bucket).

 

[sillywilly88]

Let us know what you find. I have a few electric heaters at home, but not entirely sure what I am going to do once winter is upon us (I want to use QEW but the temp has to be warm enough for me to stick my hand in the bucket).

Here's a link to a Space Heater for $25.99 CAD. Check for a Canadian Tire store near you. Here are the Specs. I don't know if that's enough for a small Garage. What do you think?

Here's the link: Canadian Tire

Adjustable thermostat
Built-in dust collection filter protects the motor from damage or overheating
2-heat settings
Cool-touch cabinet
Fan only setting
PTC Safety Switch
1500 watt/5200 BTU

 

[awd330]

Let us know what you find. I have a few electric heaters at home, but not entirely sure what I am going to do once winter is upon us (I want to use QEW but the temp has to be warm enough for me to stick my hand in the bucket).

I wear insulated rubber gloves while washing with QEW/NRWS/4-in-1 in the winter. I do this even if I am washing inside the garage.

In my unheated (but well insulated) garage, I'll turn on a small electric oil-filled radiator heater plus a couple sets of halogen lamps. This combination heats up my garage to 50+ degrees F which is warm enough for me to comfortably detail. I don't like the idea of using petroleum or gas heaters without proper ventilation.

 

[sillywilly88]

I wear insulated rubber gloves while washing with QEW/NRWS/4-in-1 in the winter. I do this even if I am washing inside the garage.

In my unheated (but well insulated) garage, I'll turn on a small electric oil-filled radiator heater plus a couple sets of halogen lamps. This combination heats up my garage to 50+ degrees F which is warm enough for me to comfortably detail. I don't like the idea of using petroleum or gas heaters without proper ventilation.

My Garage is under the deck and is unheated and not insulated either. But thanks for alerting me to the warmth factor of Halogen lighting. I use a 1000 Watt (Dual 500 Watt) Halogen Setup to see what I'm working on. So maybe with the 1500 W/5200 BTU Ceramic Space Heater I am going to buy from Canadian Tire for only $25.99 plus taxes CAD will be sufficient to raise the temp to something closer to 60 deg.

 

[CharlesW]

My Garage is under the deck and is unheated and not insulated either. But thanks for alerting me to the warmth factor of Halogen lighting. I use a 1000 Watt (Dual 500 Watt) Halogen Setup to see what I'm working on. So maybe with the 1500 W/5200 BTU Ceramic Space Heater I am going to buy from Canadian Tire for only $25.99 plus taxes CAD will be sufficient to raise the temp to something closer to 60 deg.

Keep in mind that with a 1500 watt heater and 1000 watts of halogen, you will have an electrical load of almost 23 amps. Add in a PC or a rotary and you may have more power requirement than you realize. Since most home electrical circuits have 15 or 20 amp circuit breakers, you may need to break your electrical loads up a little. Don't plug everything into the same outlet.

Charles

 

[sillywilly88]

Keep in mind that with a 1500 watt heater and 1000 watts of halogen, you will have an electrical load of almost 23 amps. Add in a PC or a rotary and you may have more power requirement than you realize. Since most home electrical circuits have 15 or 20 amp circuit breakers, you may need to break your electrical loads up a little. Don't plug everything into the same outlet.

Charles

Thanks CharlesW! You addressed a problem I was kind of wondering about. I only have one double outlet in the Garage and there is a Fridge connected to one of the outlets already. I guess I can run a heavy duty extension cord into the bottom floor of the house and plug the Heater into it by itself. I have used the Halogen lamps and Porter Cable on the one free outlet without a problem. Does that sound like a reasonable solution to the potential problem?

 

[sillywilly88]

Let us know what you find. I have a few electric heaters at home, but not entirely sure what I am going to do once winter is upon us (I want to use QEW but the temp has to be warm enough for me to stick my hand in the bucket).

OK! I bought a Ceramic Heater from Canadian Tire for $29.99 plus tax. It is a little different than the one I showed in the link. They all look like TOYS in those price ranges! It has a 1000 Watt and 1500 Watt setting. I bought a 10 Metre Indoor/Outdoor Cord with 14 AWG and use it ONLY for the heater. It is well within my 15 amp breaker rating. My Garage is about 225 sq ft so I cannot heat the entire garage but it seems to be OK if I keep it aimed close to what I'm working on (I also bought an $80 Leaf Blower to use as a Dryer which I connect by itself when used.)

I use my other cord in an entirely different unshared socket for the 1000 Dual Halogen set plus my Porter-Cable 7336SP which has a 3.7 Amp motor which should also be just fine since Total Power is just under 1500 Watts and again within the 15 Amp Breaker rating.

As far as your hands in the bucket are conerned, use warm water! :yay

Good Luck in finding your particular solution!

 

[CalgaryDetail]

OK! I bought a Ceramic Heater from Canadian Tire for $29.99 plus tax. It is a little different than the one I showed in the link. They all look like TOYS in those price ranges! It has a 1000 Watt and 1500 Watt setting. I bought a 10 Metre Indoor/Outdoor Cord with 14 AWG and use it ONLY for the heater. It is well within my 15 amp breaker rating. My Garage is about 225 sq ft so I cannot heat the entire garage but it seems to be OK if I keep it aimed close to what I'm working on (I also bought an $80 Leaf Blower to use as a Dryer which I connect by itself when used.)

I use my other cord in an entirely different unshared socket for the 1000 Dual Halogen set plus my Porter-Cable 7336SP which has a 3.7 Amp motor which should also be just fine since Total Power is just under 1500 Watts and again within the 15 Amp Breaker rating.

As far as your hands in the bucket are conerned, use warm water! :yay

Good Luck in finding your particular solution!

sounds like you had an expensive trip to canadian tire. Make sure to let us know how eveything works, this may be an option for my new house

 

[sillywilly88]

sounds like you had an expensive trip to canadian tire. Make sure to let us know how eveything works, this may be an option for my new house

having read many of your posts and seeing the kind of money you spend on stuff, I'm not sure if the first sentence is tongue-in-cheek or not, but for me, this is an expensive hobby at the moment which I hope will bring in some $ by the Spring once I've learned enough not to screw up someone's fabulous car and also since I'm long retired. I've spent over $1,000 CAD and hardly have very much to show for it: The Polisher, a small amount of Chemicals from e-shine, (it all fits in two very small boxes) Microfibre, and other stuff plus the Canadian Tire stuff.

But, to answer your question: the heater is much too small to heat my Garage: After waiting a while, it will wqarm the air around my motorcycle but to heat the entire Garage needs a better solution. I'd consider adding some duct-work to the existing Nat Gas Furnace System, but it's already somewhat inadequate. My house is 3,000 sq ft and the builder-owner cut a lot of corners including putting in a furnace and hot water tank that are somewhat small for that size home, plus The Deck above the Garage leaks when it rains, like now! And there is some wood rot that make the garage door difficult to open and shut now as the horizontal beam is sagging a bit in the middle which makes the automatic door bind a bit going up or down. I've priced out having all that taken care of and it's a $20,000 CAD job (90% labour,lol) so that isn't going to happen at the moment.

Sorry I don't have much advice for your new house except to emphasize that this small cheap heater isn't that good. We get what we pay for I guess!