What Am I Using?!

Not all etch primers are tanslucent tho, DuPont Vari-Prime (aka Yellow Death)certainly isn’t… & it is kinda ‘mustardy” looking

Thanks Tony 🙂 That’s cleared it up for me, too.

Etch primer usually needs mixing and becomes inactive after a period, and thats the stuff that gives the translucent coating only. It may or may not contain Zinc Chromate as part of it’s makeup but (and this is the bit I do recall) if it’s yellow, it probably does – Zinc chromate gives the yellow pigment. It also contains other stuff, and the point is it’s acidic and forms a stable compound with metal oxides.

Zinc Cromate primer is just primer with Zinc Chromate in it.

Pagen probably has the first sort – an etch primer – but not one like alocrom that needs mixing.

Is this more or less right?

Thanks for the replies everyone!
This stuff is in one pot (so guessing not two pack) and really is almost like a dark yellow varnish when applied over alloy.
I always thought that the primer stuff was thicker and came in that bright yellow/green colour – or is that the zinc chromate primer?

Tony what are the advantages and the restrictions with using the stuff I have?
I intend using it for alloy instrument panel restoration, and was going to use it on a stick top, but thinking the latter might be a bad idea if there is any magnesium content in it?

Definitely take you up on your kind offer of the paint guide.:)

Beermat,

Two different things, normal zinc chromate primer is different from Etch primer, Etch only gives a thin translucent coating and has to painted over in a specific period, it also has to be used in a set timeframe too..

Pagen if you get stuck I could put the RAF paint manual on a CD for u.

A pedant writes…

Don’t know about that. Actual Alocrom (at least the yellowy stuff) comes as two chemicals that have to be mixed – Pagen didn’t mention that bit.

Alocrom is a trade name, though it has become a hoover/vacuum cleaner thing – it gets used to mean any alodining Chromate treatment – IIRC the yellow ones are usually Zinc Chromate.

Aluchrom.

Mark

Yep – sounds like Zinc Chromate, the corrosion-prevention stuff – to me. Often called ‘primer’ though, just to confuse. Its an etch-primer.

Sounds like etch primer and yes it is. will not totally stop or totally kill it though, depends what you are using it on, if not steel but Ally treat it with B55 first, steel use Jenolite. DON’T USE EITHER ON MAGNESIUM or it will vanish in front of your eyes.