Painting cameras ?

[Rollo]

It seems most exterior cameras have a white housing, and the part of the garage I want to mount a camera on is black.

I'm thinking of masking the front of the camera, and then use a decent spray paint for plastic on the camera. Are there any 'gotchas' I should be aware of ?

This isn't to be covert, but just be a little more subtle and to fit in with existing colour better.

 

[fenderman]

The only possible issue is if the camera is exposed to direct sunlight then the black will absorb more heat. It probably wont matter though....

 

[dalepa]

I like my cameras to stand out... hoping that the crooks will see them and think twice....

My neighbor was robbed last month, and he had a camera up and caught the crook staring at the camera... nothing was taken... Im pretty sure the crooks took off once they saw the cameras...

 

[bp2008]

Many cameras aren't made of plastic, just FYI.

Be sure to cover up the front of the cam with tape before you paint, and I don't think it will be a problem especially if you have it in the shade most of the time.

 

[nayr]

Getting paint to stick to plastic long term is a PITA, just FYI... use a ton of adhesion promoter in-between many thin layers... If your mounting it under an eaves it might last a while but if exposed to the elements it may start coming off after a few nice storms.. you'll also need to be really careful handling/cleaning your cam to keep from damaging the paint job.

I hate painting plastic, the more heavy duty and durable the plastic the harder it is to get the paint to adhere properly.. If its a cheap porous plastic like some ABS plastics then vinyl dye works pretty damn well and actually penetrates the plastic... but for example the panels on my dirt bike came out of a bucket of black dye still white because its friggin indestructible.

 

[icerabbit]

I have painted the few that I have already installed facing the street, dark to match surrounding trim work, for both a bit of covertness and aesthetic reasons. Some small camera surveillance signs posted on the house can take care of the camera warning effect. The one cam I did forget out in the sun drying while doing other stuff certainly got hot to the touch, so no doubt it is a concern. Two are installed in the shade under the eave obviously no issue. One is partial shade, late afternoon sun, and so far so good, even with 80+F out. Those that will be in full weather exposure, I have told my spouse that the one or two on the back of the house will probably have to be left white due to full weather & sun exposure. I think they'd be roasting facing SW without cover.
Can't comment on reliability of the paint job on the cameras, because it only has been a few weeks. But, that being said, some prior exposed electrical work and some other odds and ends I've custom colored or restored over the years have held up great. Clean item, gently scuff the gloss a bit with some steel wool or scotch pad (if old rusty item scrub all you can!), wet clean, dry then one or two thin coats of primer (if bare metal involved self etching primer), primer sealer, color of choice.

 

[pal251]

Not sure if it will matter to you but the Warranty will be void.

It would be nice if there was a temporary thing we could put on the camera to change the color.

 

[icerabbit]

I figured it might be an issue, especially if a weather exposed camera overheats due to dark coloring. If one of those were to die prematurely, I'd just blame myself.

However for a non-exposed outdoor and certainly an indoor camera, I'd hold my foot down, that it doesn't matter whether the color of the metal casing is white, black, neon yellow, sky blue, hot purple, bright orange, ... to match whatever ceiling, wall or feature they're installed on. Brushing some paint on the outside casing < > tampering with the camera internals. Again, when not exposed to sunshine where a darker color will effect the housing temperature.

For me personally, due to buying direct, I don't have a warranty anyway really. Or if I had one, it might cost half the value of the camera in shipping. It is a bit of a gamble. Cheaper camera. Will it outlast the standard warranty? Or not?

But - speaking of temporary - that just made me think of one or two possible ways to not use something permanent like several coats of spray paint: plasti-dip and vinyl wrap. Without direct access to wrap, plasti-dip might actually be a try as it is supposed to be more like a vinyl rubbery paint layer that is removable.

 

[catseyenu]

I wonder if there is a plastic shrink wrap like they use on cars that would work?

 

[icerabbit]

That's what I mean by vinyl wrap. The stuff in solid color or custom print to decorate cars etc.

 

[networkcameracritic]

Your best bet is Plasti Dip spray can. It goes directly on plastic or metal, really thick coating, matte finish, people paint entire cars with it, sort of a cult following around it.

 

[icerabbit]

Honey I just painted my car!

I know there's a bit of a cult and addiction around it. Once you try it you want to do other stuff.

My issue would be that plasti dip spray only comes in 6 colors and so I'd need to spray a closer matching house/fascia/... color over it. Which then tends to interfere with the plasti dip, where it becomes very hard to remove. Supposedly it works fine if you have a thick enough coat of plasti and then paint over it after it has cured. But it still may come of in dime size pieces vs peeling of in a whole sheet. ... Which would still be better than my permanent paint, if you were to have to remove it for a warranty issue.

(forum is giving me token issues again ... )

 

[networkcameracritic]

The OP wanted black, to match that Camaro.

 

[catseyenu]

The OP wanted black, to match that Camaro.

They also have a "Create Your Own Color Kit".

http://www.plastidip.com/home_solutions/Create_Your_Color_Kit

 

[icerabbit]

Yes, but the mix kit is not spray / rattle can application. I wouldn't exactly want to "dip" a camera or its housing; and I don't know how well that stuff works brushing on and fear a bit what the end result would look like. Guess you can always peel it off and start over

 

[eyeball]

One of these days in the not so distant future I can envision that products - cars, cameras - anything - will have user-programmable color (taking another toke...) .... yeah, that's the ticket .... :laugh:

 

[networkcameracritic]

You can make your own spray can with the paint of your choice - http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-spray-paint/#step1

 

[icerabbit]

That's inventive, making a spray gun out of a soda bottle.

No need for me to go that route when it comes to spraying. I can just use some of my DIY spray guns that have the little paint container on them. The issue is more about the cleanup for the small amount of spraying needed. Would be different with larger surfaces and doing a dozen at once. Vs one or two at a time.

And then of course there's spraying the custom colored plasti-dip. Ordinary paint you can dilute relatively easily a bit to make it sprayable. Though you do get a fair bit of clogging till you get it right (more experience probably helps). Not so sure about changing the composition of plasti-dip. But they actually have that covered in this bit: http://www.plastidip.com/blog/2011/06/create—and-spray—your-color-with-plasti-dip/

Dilute with some naptha then use a "preval" sprayer. Now that preval sprayer they mention is something else I hadn't seen or heard about. Screw your own paint mix on the bottom of that charged spray can and spray away!

I'm guessing with proper dilution one could just use a regular compressed air spray gun.

Fortunately, rustoleum and others have a pretty close match to the trim color on this house, so no need to go the custom route.

 

[eyeball]

I kicked around the idea of painting my cameras to match the trim, but ultimately I settled for the stock black camera - no mods to color. The reasons were that (1) black doesn't look that bad against most trims anyway and (2) if it stands out just a bit that's probably a good thing.

I can see the appeal of painting to match the trim though. At this point my wife isn't complaining about the black cameras ...

 

[erkme73]

Did you ever settle on a paint brand/type? How did it go? Long term, any regrets? I'm trying to do the same thing - painting mine black to match my camper...