Spray Paint vs. Vinyl Dye -- cd drives.

I read some posts of people saying to use vinyl dye for cd drives and floppy drive fronts, but had seen some others saying that spray paint was the way to go. I'm looking to paint my dvd drives and floppy a glossy black, and hopefully not spend much. I don't really know what vinyl dye is, or how it differs from spray paint, but I was told I should go with a glossy black and a clear coat over that, and it would probably look about like what I'd want. I saw some vinyl dye and a clear coat vinyl dye at autozone today though, and wasn't sure if it would be the same/different/better.

Any suggestions/recommendations? Or any pictures of drives done with either spray paint or vinyl dye?

IMO vinyle Dye looks better then spray paint.
http://linear1.org/mods/vdye.php

Purple paint and black vinyl dye:

http://www.scogp.com/images/mods/SarverSystems/Purple Monster/purple_monster.htm

I used Tremclad Flat Black Rust Paint, oil-based, $4 cdn, to mask my drives in my Sonata. Besides the big fingerprint on the front (oops) it's really hard to tell there's drives there. I did three coats, leaving it to dry overnight each time.

That certainly is some funky funky purple there.

"Got the cables all wrapped. I painted the molex connectors with a black Sharpie."

I was just wondering how well a perminant black marker would work on something like that...they have the replacement molex kit at frozencpu for like $18 or something, but I wasn't about to pay that much.

I like the look on your cd drives, it seems to be more glossy than the one I saw done with dye from linear. Did you use a clear coat over it? Also, did you have to sand the drive fronts down, or use a base coat?

To answer the questions:

The paint is shown in the picture at the top, and I followed the directions on the can exactly as they wanted. There is no clear-coat on the drives. It's already a very brilliant chrome-looking paint.

The black marker worked great, and since my mom and sister won't be handling the molexes at all, I wasn't worried about the durability of the color.

I have used all kinds of paints, and my vinyl paint looks more professional.

Regular paint doesn't like to stick to plastic. You run the risk of it coming off at some point in the future. Maybe you'll find a suitable primer, but it's unlikely. I'd just use the dye. It only changes the color, not the texture of the plastic.

These last two posts said it best.

It looks more professional because it's a softer/more natural texture, similar to OEM. Spray paint is usually pretty glossy. But if glossy is what you're going for, then go for spray paint.

My current drives are spraypainted. There is a small chip on one of the cd trays, probably I scratched it off with my fingernail by accident

I didn't try vinyl dye until I built a PC for my sister, and I really like the way it came out. Looks like they came that way from the factory. Maybe one day I'll break my rig down and repaint my drives with it.

Originally posted by CrimandEvil
IMO vinyle Dye looks better then spray paint.
http://linear1.org/mods/vdye.php

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Good link... those pictures really give an accurate depiction of how good vinyl dye looks

I would like a glossy finish, but as most seem to say, the dye looks like it would stick better and last longer. I saw some 'clear coat vinyl dye' while at the store yesterday...would this give it more of a glossy look? My case is black and red, and there's no way I'll be able to match the glossy red with vinyl dye that I can see, even with spraypaint it would be difficult. So I'm leaning towards matching the black...but I'd like it to be a more glossy finish to sort of shine rather than look hidden. I'm really not sure what the clear coat would do to it.

Wanna bet??? I can red vinyl dye that is VERY bright red.

SarverSystems - Holy crap, that is very nice!!! You have more pics of the whole case, like front and side??

Those are Lite-On drives? How do you remove the front plates anyway? I have one broken one, tried experimenting on how to go about removing it, but no luck. Tutorials?

for the most part if you want a natural plastic look vinyl dye is the way to go. If you want a painted look than paint is the way to go. Vinyl dye basicly soaks into the plastic to give a more even spread of color if done properly which is 7-10 partial coats not to full paint on a full layer at one time but fleck on almost a mist of color at a time. I do this alot where i work because I work with kids and they break the CDRom drives like nothign so its cheaper to buy the white ones and dye then before i put em back in. ( you cant even tell mine apart from factory black parts except for maybe they are a little too black if that makes sense?)

That red does look good, but it's not glossy. Finding something to more match your case would be difficult. That's sort of what I'm trying to match...a glossy candyapple red that's sort of more shiny. I know the plastic is painted from the back (same way my drive bays are) and it's probably also shaded plastic, so I won't be able to match it exactly...I just want something that looks pretty close.

What would a clear coat of vinyl dye do on top of that red? Would it make it any more glossy looking, or just harden the plastic to prevent scratches more?

Agreed. I would love to paint my case a Candy Green, so would that be a Vinyl Dye or Spray Paint?

I think its paint (automotive)

OK...lemme explain some more things...


Adding a clearcoat to vinyl dye will do NOTHING, unless it says "glossy" clear coat on it. If it just says clear coat, or says "matte" clearcoat it aint gonna do crap but add a layer of garbage to the plastic.

If it says "glossy" clearcoat, then spray a VERY thin layer on. It wont take much to make the paint/dye glossy.

Both drives are Lite-On drives.

To remove the bezels, follow these steps:

Power up the drive and eject the tray.
Power down the drive, but leave the tray open.
Flip the drive over, and remove the 4 screws holding the 2 metals halves together.
Carefully remove the 2 metal halves, revealing a plastic chassis with all the inner workings attached.
By now, the front bezel should have popped off on it's own.
Slide the tray faceplate off by pushing it "up" carefully. It is just snapped into place.
Remember to remove the LED window before painting.

To remove the trays, follow these steps:

Perform all of the above steps first.
Look for a small motor with a rubber belt attached to it.
Slide the belt off the motor.
This will free the tray, and allow you to mave it by hand.
Pull it "out" as far as it will go, and look for 1 or 2 small plastic tabs that prevent it from falling out the front of the drive.

That "thing" above my CD drives is called a CD home. It's just a little storage area for 10 CDs. It doesn't power up, or eject the discs automatically.

Here are some more pics of it:






Also, for candy colors, just vinyl dye it a matching color (red for candy red, green for candy green) and then spray on a very thin coat of the candy color. Keep applying coats until you get the desired effect.

That is nice. Did you make that CD Home yourself?

Thanks for the tips!!

Where do you usually purchase the spray paint from? Kragen, Home Depot...? For a case and a few drives, how many spray cans would I need?

As for the the vinyl dye, which brand do you use? And for the candy paint, any recommendation? Got a few cases just laying around, so planning to mod those.

Are there candy colors available in the dye? The guy I talked to on the phone a bit ago said they only carried about four colors of vinyl dye...maybe just that store has a limited supply? I was at an auto zone yesterday and only saw a few prime colors, not much selection, but I wasn't looking very closely.

Originally posted by TSx
Are there candy colors available in the dye? The guy I talked to on the phone a bit ago said they only carried about four colors of vinyl dye...maybe just that store has a limited supply? I was at an auto zone yesterday and only saw a few prime colors, not much selection, but I wasn't looking very closely.

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Have you tried going to your local home improvement stores? I might stop by there before going to my local auto store. How much were they running for?

Krylon Fusion

I stopped by Home Depot and the lady at the paint counter said they didn't have any type of vinyl dye. It was like $4 or so a can at auto zone, and another auto parts store I stopped by didn't sell it. I don't know a brand name or anything though.

Originally posted by SarverSystems
Krylon Fusion

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Ahrite, will be hunting for these babies.

Home Depot didn't have any? Sucks. You think that the lady does not know what you were asking for, or is she telling the truth? Sometimes, well, almost all the time, the workers at Home Depot are not very helpful. They always claim that it is not their "section" even tho they are fixing the damn aisle, hmmm...

I'll check on llowes.

Originally posted by SarverSystems
That "thing" above my CD drives is called a CD home. It's just a little storage area for 10 CDs. It doesn't power up, or eject the discs automatically.

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I had an idea for something like that a few years ago, and I honestly thought it had never been done because I'd never seen it. Where did you get that?

I don't have a lot to add, SarverSystems did a good job of answering all the questions.

Vinyl dye has two big advantages: it doesn't build up the surface, and it's not prep-intensive.

If you want gloss, use paint and clearcoat, period. And think about what you're gonna do with any embossed or relief details on your pieces. Like the compact disc logo embossed into a drive bezel, or raised lettering below a power button.

I suggest you fill and/or sand all the detail crap like that off before you paint. If you don't sand down raised letters before painting, you'll sand thru the paint on them afterward and get beige lettering that looks crappy. If you don't fill the embossed stuff, you'll get clearcoat filling it up unevenly (unless you're really good with a rattlecan) and it will look bad.

Using Vinyl dye (and I like Plasti-kote Vinyl Color) lets you not worry at all about the details. It doesn't build up the surface, so you can keep all the detail.

Clear coat on top of vinyl dye has all the disadvantages of both. You have to do all the prep and you lose your wide selection of colors.

Having said that about colors, my local auto paint supplier can mix custom colors of vinyl dye and pump up a rattle can. It's not cheap, about 20 bucks for a color from his book and a few bucks more for a custom match.

Originally posted by linear
it doesn't build up the surface

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That is definitely TRUE! Another reason vinyl dye is so impressive.

Ace hardware is having a 20% off whatever you can fit in one bag sale this weekend so I'm going to be picking up some spray paint, I'll check if they have the dye then also. I called another auto parts store and they told me they didn't carry any at all, but to try PepBoys, so I gave them a call. Pepboys told me they carried the plasti-kote vinyl dye in a number of colors, though I didn't ask price. I wasn't able to find Krylon Fusion anywhere, yet.

Krylon Fusion...available at the nearest Wal-Mart. Bring your ID.

I'm curious why would you need an ID for spray paint?

So you can go buy a case of beer on the way home

Actually I think walmart is ghey when it comes to selling spray paint to minors. But for good reason since minors like to phuck sheit up

I'm over 21 so it's not a problem, but I know every store here (nevada) has a strict rule about not selling any form of spray paint to anyone under 18.

Has anyone compared krylon fusion to the plasti-kote vinyl dye? From the looks and descriptions of the two products, both seem very similar...I'm just wondering if there is any visible difference, or anything like that.

edit: btw I found this site for a list of colors that the krylon fusion can come in:

http://www.dickblick.com/zz014/11/products.asp?param=0&ig_id=6372

Originally posted by Benny Blanco
So you can go buy a case of beer on the way home

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LOL I should try that, buy beer (alot of it) and spray paint (alot of it ) and stop by Compusa for a beige case and see what I get!
hahaha
Anyways with the right prep work krylon fusion could look just as good as a pro job were as the vinyle would look like it was stock colors. Personally I only use krylon fusion for cases and vinyle dye for the drives because it requires less work but still looks just as good, although the lack of a wide range of colors sucks- maybe I'll see if some local auto paint shops can do custom mixes with vinyle but it would be cool if I could just mail it somewhere and get it that way.
Hey linear! maybe we could just mail you parts and you could get them painted for use! What do you say?

I'd offer my services, but it's about 8°F here right now. A bit too cold for painting outside.

So Krylon Fusion is vinyl dye? What do you need just a can of vinyl dye and nothing else? Do you need to sand at all?

From what I've been reading, you don't need to sand, prime, or anything. That's why the vinyl dye is so much more recommended. And ya, Krylon Fusion is basically a type of vinyl dye, I googled it and found that it comes in more colors than the plasti-kote brand, but I'm not sure which is better, if one is any better than the other. I know linear said he used the plasti-kote, as did a tutorial for dying drives on GideonTech. However I think ServerSystems used krylon fusion?

I haven't seen anyone say they've tried both types to recommend one more than the other, but I guess that could partially depend on the color you wanted.

edit: I hope this url works...this is for a color listing of what the plasti-kote vinyl dye comes in:

ya that url didn't work, heh...it's on www.plastikote.com, and here's a screenshot of their color listing:

I'm thinking of picking some up just to try it on my spare case laying around, too bad I'm only 17 though , maybe I'll take my friend, who just turned 18 a week ago.

I don't think I've got any spare case parts or drive fronts to test on...so I'm going to have to hope it looks the same on wood as it does on plastic I think. Unless anyone has a better suggestion for a test surface? I still haven't seen a gloss clear coat selection, but that doesn't mean they don't have it. I plan on checking at ace or pepboys sometime today or tomorrow.

Wood is pourous. DO NOT spray it on wood. It'll all soak in, and you'll need about 50 jillion coats to make it look the same as if sprayed on plastic.

Just go find ANYTHING plastic. It doesn't have to be the same plastic as a computer case. Got a jewel case laying around? Go paint it on there to test it.

Originally posted by TSx
I'm over 21 so it's not a problem, but I know every store here (nevada) has a strict rule about not selling any form of spray paint to anyone under 18.

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ya florida has that also... i was trying to buy some vinal dye once at walmart (meh) and the cashier wouldent sell it to me becuase i was under 18... after showing her my drivers licence that clearly showed i was 19... she called a manager and said that they couldent sell it to anyone who was under 18... so finally i started screaming at them "hey, genious, 1984 was 19 YEARS AGO" so then he got this look on his face like he was thinking really hard and finally he said "whatever, just sell it to him anyway"

sigh