sashee said:
Hi! it is called Thermo-lite 4. Possibly we can just paint it, if the paint will adhere. Not sure if curtains would get caught in the folding mechanism. I could velcro them up and remove them each time I close it, though. Thanks!
Gee... that name is
very interesting. I can't find Thermo-lite 4 but searching led to "Thermo-Lite Board®" manufactured by
SpaceAge Synthetics, Ltd. of Fargo, North Dakota. And that in turn reminds me of seeing this
2013 Truck Camper Magazine article where Tom Hanagan said the new composite lift panels are made in the Dakotas (about two-thirds of the way down the article). Could those be the ones?
There appear to be several variants of those panels but the Safety Data Sheet applies to all of them.
Safety Data Sheet
I then called SpaceAge Synthetics about painting Thermo-Lite Board® panels. Unfortunately, it's not as straightforward as saying yes or no. The guy said the degree of success depends on the finish. The one most likely to be successfully painted would be a sanded finish which he described as a rough, textured finish. Another is E-skin, also known as 'elephant skin' (because it looks like elephant skin) and it would be more difficult to paint. And another is 'fast coat', an epoxy finish which would be very difficult to get paint to stick.
I also asked if Thermo-lite 4 means anything to him. He said that might just be a mis-hearing of "Thermo-Lite Board". But there is a finish code 4 which means smooth one side, sanded the other. And another code 4 which means the 'tough-lite' version of their panel. He gave me a sample code of 2844 and explained the first four would mean 'tough-lite' and the second four would mean 'sanded-one/smooth-other'.
In any case, his advice would be to sand first to rough the surface a bit and then apply a urethane-based paint, not a water-based or an oil-based one. And he said he believes Sherwin-Williams has a urethane-based paint.
(Please note we have not yet confirmed that the composite panels are indeed Thermo-Lite Board® ones, much less what finish they have.)
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