Zen Fireplaces are painted with Stove Bright® High Temperature Paint. Stove Bright® is the industry’s premier high temperature paint. It is formulated with a unique blend of heat resistant pigments in a silicone polymer resin that provides excellent colour retention and film integrity in working temperatures up to 650°C.
Curing the paint - First burn
Do the following BEFORE you fire the fire for the first two times:
Ventilate: Open all doors and windows where the fireplace is located. Use a fan to move the air around faster.
Vacate: Leave the area when doing the initial burns as the heating process will release non-toxic fumes which may cause distress for children, pets or anyone with breathing difficulties.
Clean: Wipe the fireplace to remove any dust or fingerprints. After the curing the process the fireplace won't need this prior to each burn.
Most high-temperature paints operate in the same way. There are two resins in the paint. One resin dries at room temperature, giving the paint the initial properties seen on an un-used stove. Then, when fires are built in the stove, this air-dry resin burns away. The other resin is a silicon resin (silicone gives the paint it’s high heat resistance) that will not cure until it is heated to high temperatures. This cross-linking occurs at around 200°C - 232°C. The air dry resin will burn away at about 315°C.
We recommend a two-stage curing process. Do not burn at full heat (480°C or more) for the first two burns as this could “shock” the paint and cause failure.
- The initial fire should be medium temperature (232°C) for about 60 minutes. (The fire should measure approximately 300mm in diameter). As the paint heats it will soften, even appear wet, and must not be touched with anything. Gradually, at the hottest spots, the paint will again appear dry. Allow the fire to die down and allow the firebox to cool. When this process is complete, the paint will be ready for the next stage.
- A second, hotter burn of around 315°C for another 45 minutes will burn away the air-dry resin. (The fire should measure approximately 350mm diameter). You will know when this occurs because the process creates some smoke and odour. The nontoxic smoke is primarily Carbon Dioxide, but there are other residual components that make it smell bad and may cause physical distress for some individuals or animals. It will also displace oxygen, so we recommend a “ventilate and vacate” procedure which calls for open windows and fans during the burn-in process. Once more allow the fire to die down and allow the firebox to cool.
Until the second stage is reached, the curing process will be incomplete and may be a smoky annoyance at a later time. Stove Bright® may appear to be a little glossy when first applied. The application of high heat (as described above) will cause all liquid paint to lose any appearance of gloss and become flat. Metallic colours sometimes appear to have some gloss due to the metallic fleck in the paint, but are still flat.
Cleaning
Cleaning your fireplace is quite a simple process. Always wait until your fireplace has fully cooled down and there is no active fire or embers left in the firebox. Once the fireplace has cooled, simply place on some rubber gloves, grab a bucket and some old newspaper.
Remove any large pieces of burned timber. Once you have removed all large pieces, remove the fireplace grate and place on the old newspaper on the floor to not dirty your flooring or furniture. If you have a small ash shovel, scoop up the remaining ash from the firebox and place in the bucket.
If you want to clean the internal firebox further, use a mixture of warm water and ph neutral soap to remove any ash and soot. Gently scrub away using a soft sponge. Do not use any solvents as this may damage the paint. Clean your fireplace grate with the same warm soapy water and sponge and allow to dry.