Yeti cooler prep?

Technician386

Does anyone on here do yeti coolers. I have one to do for a buddy of mine to test and learn the proper prep on his. I flame treated the lid and used alcohol to wipe it down but it still had water beading up so I went ahead and scuffed with gray 3m pad. And it still was wanting to make water bead up. i flamed it three times. Can any one share there process either for yeti coolers or any plastic. I hear people say they degrease and scuff. what are you degreasing with. I realy dont want the coating to just flake off a couple months later. I've watched plenty of videoes and read. But i would realy like to hear someones full process and materials used and in what order etc. If someone doesn't mind sharing. 

Technician386

Okay so i flame treated a hard hat i had and copied jim from his video. And I noticed in his video there is still beading it just doesn't bead up as fast. So I went ahead and used some 3m scuff it paint prep and gray pad on hard hat and then rinsed off. And now it doesn't bead at all. So is this what im looking for. Flame treat wipe with alcohol to remove some of the release agents off the surface That it pulled up. Then abraid surface properly and completely degrease. The 3m scuff it seems to be degreasing as well. What do you all use for degresse after flaming and scuffing

norcalfrank

I use prep-all or alcohol

Technician386

norcalfrank said:

I use prep-all or alcohol

Do you flame treat or use other systems like sx103. When you flame treat do you just keep treating over and over till no agents come out or just a couple times then completely degrease then scuff then AP then paint. Also I have read about flame treating and it seems its not about removing the agents but more of a chemical reaction due to the gases left behind from the flame and it oxidizes the surface. If thats true just treating once should do it correct.

PagesHydroDipping

Keep flame treating. It will take several treatments.

Technician386

PagesHydroDipping said:

Keep flame treating. It will take several treatments.

So will i actualy hit a point where I will see no more release agents come up.

WileECoyote

It will get better, likely never perfect, but you got to do it over and over...

Yeti Coolers are a HUGE pain to do. The paint doesn't want to stick, everything wants to float in the water rather than dip, It takes MULTIPLE dips to do the whole thing, and it traps air all over. You didn't mention what your level of experience was... but this one isn't for beginners.

Technician386

Yea i kinda figured but there has to be a way,if they,sell them with graphics on them so It can be done well enough to not come off. But i did it over and over and then treated with 3m scuff gel. And it made the surface completely dull and water wouldn't bead up at all. So hopefuly I treated it well enough with the flame and thatscuff it stuff. My buddy doesnt care if its perfect he just realy wanted it to be camo and said it doesn't have to be perfect. I just don't want it coming off. I may do just the lid then stick it in the sun for a couple days and see what happens before I do the rest of it. It's gonna take a total of five dips Atleast. I wont be telling people yes to yeti coolers after this.

norcalfrank

Technician386 said:

norcalfrank said:

I use prep-all or alcohol

Do you flame treat or use other systems like sx103. When you flame treat do you just keep treating over and over till no agents come out or just a couple times then completely degrease then scuff then AP then paint. Also I have read about flame treating and it seems its not about removing the agents but more of a chemical reaction due to the gases left behind from the flame and it oxidizes the surface. If thats true just treating once should do it correct.

I haven't done a cooler, but on hard hats, I flame treat until the water sheets, which is usually a few times. Then put it in the blast cabinet and profile it, clean and degrease well, then use OHW, dip and clear.

NotSoFast

I'll give you a hint. There's a good reason lots of dippers won't touch those coolers. That and the price people charge to cover all the effort puts it out of the price range of most customers. I've seen lots go for $12-15 per quart rating of the cooler.

Flame treat until it doesn't bead up any more. Wipe with isopropyl alcohol between flame treatments. Scuff very well. Think of some way of making the equivalent of a small bass boat submerge without hesitation lines.

Our shop passes on all of these coolers that have been brought to us. Actually we "passed" on one. The price scared the rest away.

Technician386

Okay I got the hint yea I regretted telling him I would do it and all becuase he's only paying me 100 bucks because hes a friend and I thought it was a good opportunity to add to what I can do but after getting it and just preping the lid today i started thinking I'm going to pass on coolers. I'll finish this one and tell him he's lucky lol.

smedlin

Probably going to cost you close to that much in materials alone... well, guess it depends on the size, I was thinking one of those large ones

Trouble

The last one I did took 6 passes then I did a 7th as a extra measure. That's why I charge $10 - 12 per qt on them. I would not do it for a buddy for $100 defiantly not worth it unless you talk him into doing the top only. This is what is what I try to steer my customers to do.

DeviousDips

Coolers suck when your getting pd the right amount of money and they suck 10 times worse when it's for a friend for 10 bucks 

Technician386

Yea i feel like a hit sore thumb with this one lol. Yea im going to ask him if the lid only is okay. Because I realy dont feel like doing all of it. This one is only a 20 qaurt but it still sucks. And I'm still in the learning phase. Oh well ill just do the lid and see how comes out and talk to him about it. I'll not do any more after this. maybe a lid if the money is right.

Trouble

I tape 2 10 lb barbells under the lid. It works as handles and helps with the buoyancy

Technician386

That's a good idea

K2Concepts

Trouble said:

I tape 2 10 lb barbells under the lid. It works as handles and helps with the buoyancy

Great idea...

Sreynolds

Ive done a few of these and it aint fun... I flames 4 times I think and said to [email protected]# with it , based with nanochem and dipped away. They are still holding up well for a rail road construction company that throw them around daily. With that said... I knew the company owner and knew he didn't mind spending money. I have priced them to other people and they like to broke the hinges off my shop door leaving out so fast....

Technician386

HahahSreynolds said:

Ive done a few of these and it aint fun... I flames 4 times I think and said to [email protected]# with it , based with nanochem and dipped away. They are still holding up well for a rail road construction company that throw them around daily. With that said... I knew the company owner and knew he didn't mind spending money. I have priced them to other people and they like to broke the hinges off my shop door leaving out so fast....

Hahah yea I did the bottom part with a big weed burner and just quick swipes and then decreased and it was wetting out nice so I just went ahead and treated it with some 3m scuffit. Then AP then primer. And it's been in my shop thay gets pretty hot for a couple days and the primer is holding nice so im gonna go ahead and base coat and dip it. Ill find out couple months later lol. Ill post pictures when im finished also.

DeviousDips

This is another one like a yeti cooler I wish I wouldn't have taken on. A 36 inch round hdpe plastic table top  this thing sucked

PagesHydroDipping

Looks good @DeviousDips

DeviousDips

Thanks @PagesHydroDipping