Black Toughbooks or Custom Paint Jobs

This thread was here Toughbook CF31 Black WIFi issue but then the thread got side lined talking about the Black "OEM" Toughbooks or painting your Toughbook so I figured it was a good time to start a thread of it's own.


I want a factory black cf-30 or 31. I will rob old ladies' purses if I have to. I'm in love with the below picture

 

sorry to burst your bubble, but there's no factory black toughbook (30,31,19) :|

later edit: bursting my own bubble, it seems there are some !

 

Oh yes there is . There is a thread on it somewhere. Sorry but at work and no time to look

 

Here is the kit to make your own..No robbery required.

 

That's what I used on my 19 and it looks pretty good. I worry about the durability though. It seems to hold up pretty well so far.

 

Teo a year or so ago had one of them black CF-30. I will see if I can find his thread.

 

Here is one...I could not find the one he posted with a picture...sorry

Post #3 http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/741509-panasonic-cf-30-mkii-no-wifi-black-black.html

 

Sorry! I tried to upload the pictures of CF-29 and CF-30 Toughbook with the factory original black color but it keeps just round and round for a couple of minute when uploading and then nothing.

ohlip

 

Blair and Teo, I stand corrected . I was skiing when that thread you mentioned was up, and the only mention I've read here, was of some Black Hawk guy painting his toughbooks/or sticking rubber on the lid.

that factory black 30mk2 from that thread looks very neat In cold areas that black could be useful (should keep some heat) and you can find it easier in the snow

 

I am not 100% sure why Panasonic offers the black Toughbooks as an option. Perhaps to surveillance crews, Navy Seals... I don't know. I would think they would obviously be used covertly, at night and that is why they are black.

Nobody else sees an issue painting a fanless Toughbook black? They already have issues with Touchscreens... Heat makes this worse. This is why most police CF-30s have bad touchscreens. They stay locked up in cars.

 

If you want real durable powder coating is always a option, then you can do pretty much any color you want.

 

I was thinking of doing that, but to restore the cases to stock colors. I have a couple of busted pieces from a CF-18 that I am going to take into the powder coater when I take the bike frame in to get done. See what the test pieces turn out like, then go from there.

 

Rustoleum makes that texture paint in silver.....It's a very, very close match to factory Toughbook finish.

 

Ya, I have looked at that but don't know how well it would last. Powder coat once and done. Having said that, I might go buy a can and try a test piece. It would be much cheaper/quicker than pc.

Thanks Shawn.

 

Good prep work is the key.
I painted my cf30 lid with that texture paint last year. It still looks great.

 

Ya, that goes without say for painting anything. The more effort you put into the preparation the better the end results. Learned that years ago working in an auto body shop briefly.
Thanks for the info Shawn.

 

I actually used rustoleum truck bed liner from a spray can (not the gallon can for a spray gun.) I tested the texture on something else first and I loved it. It's notthing like what a bed liner should be. Just a couple of coats is about the same as textured paint, It's just slightly more rough than the factory texture of the toughbook lid, but pleasantly so in my opinion. I went with the bed liner in an effort to get something more durable than standard paint and so far, it's the perfect color and finish for me.

Have any of you heard of the insulation effect of the black cover causing problems for digitizer screens? I also want to try to work on one of these lids one day and see if I can actually remove the texture to paint a glass smooth gloss black finish.

Here's the bed lined CF-19

 

I haven't sent any Toughbook parts through the powder coating oven at work to see if the existing silver coating would survive 15 minutes at 210 degrees C (10 at 180 is box speed). No way for me to tell whether all parts are given the same coating at the factory so it wouldn't be a guarantee of future success anyway.
All parts hang from an overhead conveyor - sometimes parts are blown off the hooks by one of the wash/pre-treatments or by the circulation fans in the oven.
Powder coating on top of existing finishes often leaves ugly "static marks" because the static charge (which holds the powder to the part) is modified in unpredictable ways by an existing coating. Turning down the kV, increasing the temperature gradient etc. only alleviates the problem in about half the cases. There's no way I know of to be certain what will recoat OK and what won't, so recoats are avoided whenever possible.

I've done a lot of wet spraying too and if I planned to refinish a Toughbook that's how I'd do it.

Many types of paint are available today in aerosols and that would be my first choice because of cost and convenience.

 

I have been getting parts and pieces, mainly bike frames and assorted parts, powder coated for about 25 years. I know that you need to pre-prep the smaller parts to cut down on the chance of damage. If/when I try a piece from a Toughbook, I will give it a light glass bead blasting to remove the original coating. I have never heard of parts blowing off the conveyer but I can see where that would be a problem with smaller parts. I did get some parts to a CF-29/30 vehicle dock powder coated that turned out well.

Spray painting is cheaper and quicker for sure, but I still want to get a piece powder coated to see the results for myself. In a month I hope to take my bike frame in for powder coating and I am going to throw in a test piece. It is curiosity more than need.

Thanks for the inside info unclemack.

 

Does powder coating get into screw holes? It seems like getting powder coating on the inside of the lid would be a problem..

 

I would have to check with Sam on that. He did several lids for CF-18's that were going down south. I don't remember him saying he had a problem with them.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/660962-tropical-color-toughbooks.html

 

This thread was here http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/719467-toughbook-cf31-black-wifi-issue.html but then the thread got side lined talking about the Black "OEM" Toughbooks or painting your Toughbook so I figured it was a good time to start a thread of it's own.

 

Hi Shawn, yes it does. We use either blanking screws (which are thrown away or go for chemical stripping) or silicone plugs (cones so they fit a range of hole sizes) for blind threaded holes - threaded through-holes need the blanking screw set just right or it's there forever.
It's actually very difficult to get charged powder to stick in crevices or holes (curses on you, Faraday) but even a few particles of set powder inside a threaded hole will need clearing with a tap or chaser. Studs, shafts and other parts that need protecting are masked either with silicone tubing or masking tape. I use masking tape "inside out" whenever possible so the sticky mess is on the outside, not in the threads etc.

Avoiding areas, say the inside of a TB lid, is a problem. Adhesive masking tape leaves the worst sticky mess after going through the oven - strangely it never catches fire. Neither do paper or plastic coffee cups. Some of the people I have to work with...
Sometimes it's better to powder the whole thing and then use a blow gun at very low pressure carefully to remove what you don't want. Not too accurate but if you mess up at this stage it's easy to re-do it.

In case anyone wonders about masking to a line and maybe removing the tape before cooking - that doesn't work either because peeling the tape causes massive static disruption. The powder at the edge jumps around like crazy. Open a self-stick envelope in the dark and watch the pretty electric fireworks if you don't believe me.

 

Now I want to go buy some envelopes.

 

i would like to find someone that could do this to mine

 

I have 3 CF-27s (1 mark 1 and 2 mark 2). One is silver (bought from a german e-bay reseller), and the other two are black (bought from private persons). I like the black version more as the silver one. Black is better in the dark of the night. Silver reflects flashlights. The silver one has a silver metal sheet glued on top of the back of the screen. The back itselve is also silver.

 

"Black is better in the dark of the night. Silver reflects flashlights."

Yes Master - I too remember fondly those days of yore when the peasants had but flaming torches with which to pursue our ar$e$...

 

Yes I know I'm a little strange about wanting a green one doctors have already told me I got a few screws lose lol

 

A definite must for the members here who may be shot at night because they own a silver Toughbook. Yeah... I get it. If I am in that position I have a can of black spray paint I can whip out. Until then, I'll take silver any day as I would more likely use this during the day while soaking up solar to charge the battery.