Maintaining Nokia Base Station Hardware Painting Nokia BTS hardware

4 Painting Nokia BTS hardware

4.1 Introduction to painting Nokia BTS hardware

Recommendations for repair painting or recoating Nokia BTS HW.

The original paint for Nokia BTS hardware is a polyester powder coating. Repainting,
which is done with liquid paint, and renewal of polyester powder coating is primarily
needed in the following cases:

• A change of color is desired.

• The surface has become dirty and/or lost its original color.
• Painted surfaces have been damaged.

w NOTICE: Spraying is allowed only for a de-energized BTS.

g Note: Repair painting is not needed for reliability or corrosion resistance reasons.

g Note: Do not perform repair painting on plastic parts as the parts have been dyed
throughout.

g Note: RRH optimum performance is guaranteed when the RRH solar shield or plastic
cover is in a standard color.

f CAUTION! Risk of personal injury. Plastic cover is always required on Release 4

RRH during indoor and outdoor operation for IEC/UL 60950-1 safety compliance.

4.2 Preparing Nokia BTS hardware for painting

Instructions for cleaning, grinding and protecting Nokia BTS before painting.

All areas to be painted must be thoroughly cleaned of grease and dirt beforehand.
Washing with an emulgating washing agent or thinner is recommended. All general
detergents that do not contain acids or strong alkalic agents might be used. Organic
solvents such as aromatic agents, glycol, ketone, ester, and halogen hydrocarbon should
be avoided. Check the paint manufacturer’s instructions for the appropriate temperatures
of detergents and surfaces.
To improve the adhesion of new paint, grind the entire area to be painted by sanding or
using a piece of steel wool.
All areas that are not meant to be painted must be carefully protected. In principle, only
originally painted areas are allowed to be painted over.

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If the painting method is spraying, all air inlets and outlets must be covered. For Remote
Radio Heads, IP seals must be in place during the painting and replaced with new ones
afterwards.
Thickness of the original paint is typically 70 µm at minimum, and therefore priming is not
required for repair painting.

4.3 Repair painting

Repair painting instructions, original colors, and paint and spray recommendations.

g Note: Repair painting is not needed for reliability or corrosion resistance reasons.

g Note: Do not perform repair painting on plastic parts as the parts have been dyed
throughout.

In general, the polyester powder coatings are robust with all common paint types. Ideal
adhesion and weatherproofness are obtained with the recommended paint types (two-
component polyurethane or two-component acrylic paint), and thorough cleaning and
painting procedures according to these instruction.
Small repairs can be done with spray bottles, however, due to a greater amount of
diluent the adhesion is not ideal. Small repairs can also be done with a paint brush or a
piece of foam plastic. This method makes it possible to achieve a surface that looks like
original structured coating.
If larger areas or exterior of the cabinet are desired to be painted, using an airless High
Volume Low Pressure (HVLP) or conventional air pressure sprayer is recommended.
These sprayers will provide very good adhesion and even covering with the
recommended paints. Special attention must then be paid to protecting all areas that are
not meant to be painted.
Recommended colors and paints are presented in Table 2: Original colors of Nokia BTS
hardware and Table 3: Recommended paints for repair painting.
The outer metal parts of Nokia BTS hardware are originally painted with polyester
powder paint. Original color codes are listed in Table 2: Original colors of Nokia BTS
hardware.

Table 2 Original colors of Nokia BTS hardware

Description Color code (Natural Color Nearest Munsell code

System)

Light gray cabinets FCIA NCS S 1502-R H = 9,5R, V = 8,2 C = 0,5

Gray cabinets FCIA NCS S 4502-R H = 8,5RP, V = 5,9 and C = 0,5

AirScale Remote Radio Heads RAL 7047 -

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Table 2 Original colors of Nokia BTS hardware (Cont.)

Description Color code (Natural Color Nearest Munsell code

System)

AMIA RAL 7047 -

FCOA, RAL 7012 -

Plastics parts,
FCOS

FCOB RAL 7045 -

Gloss is within the range of 7 – 13% according to ISO 2813, 60° providing a matt finish.

Table 3 Recommended paints for repair painting

Base Paint type Hardener Diluent

paint/Manufacturer

TEKNODUR two-component TEKNODUR 100 TEKNODUR SOLV,

190/Teknos Winter Oy polyurethane TEKNOSOLV 9521 or
TEKNOSOLV 9526

Akzo Nobel Sikkens two-component acrylic Autocryl Hardener 1.2.3 Thinner Fast
Autocryl/Akzo Nobel paint MS20, MS30, MS40,
Coatings BV MS50 or MS60

Table 4 Recommended paints mixing ratio by volume

Manufacturer Base paint Hardener Diluent
Teknos Winter Oy 4 parts 1 part 10-20%
Akzo Nobel Coatings 10 parts 5 parts 1 part
BV

Table 5 Teknos recommendations for spraying

Paint: TEKNODUR 190 Notes

Airless sprayer
0.011– 0.013”
• Nozzle size Do not use universal diluent
10 – 20%
• Dilution or thinner, since they might
TEKNODUR SOLV contain alcohol which will
• Diluent
react with the hardener.

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Table 5 Teknos recommendations for spraying (Cont.)

Paint: TEKNODUR 190 Notes

Conventional spray
1.4 – 1.8 mm
• Nozzle size 20 – 30%
• Dilution
TEKNODUR SOLV
• Thinner
• Viscosity, DIN 4 18 – 30 s

Application conditions Best results at room

+5°C (+41°F)
temperature.
• Temperature (min.) below 80%
• Relative humidity

Film thickness 40 µm -

Theoretical spreading rate 12.5 m2/l -

Table 6 Akzo Nobel recommendations for spraying

Paint: Akzo Nobel Sikkens Notes

Autocryl

HVLP spray gun top feed 1.3 – 1.6 mm -

• Nozzle size max 0.7 bar

• Spraying pressure 5 – 7.5 %
• Dilution
1.2.3 Thinner Fast
• Diluent

HVLP spray gun bottom feed 1.5 – 1.7 mm -

• Nozzle size max 0.7 bar

• Spraying pressure 5 – 7.5 %
• Dilution
1.2.3 Thinner Fast
• Diluent

Conventional spray top feed 1.2 - 1.5 mm/3 – 4 bar -

• Nozzle size/pressure 5 – 7.5 %

• Dilution 1.2.3 Thinner Fast
• Thinner

Conventional spray bottom feed 1.4- 1.6 mm/3 – 4 bar -

• Nozzle size/pressure 5 – 7.5 %

• Dilution 1.2.3 Thinner Fast
• Thinner

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Table 6 Akzo Nobel recommendations for spraying (Cont.)

Paint: Akzo Nobel Sikkens Notes

Autocryl

Viscosity, DIN Cup 4 (at +20°C 16 – 17 s -

(+68°F))

Application conditions +10°C (+50°F) +20°C (+68°F) optimum

• Temperature (min.) below 80% 50% optimum

• Relative humidity

Film thickness 50 µm -

Theoretical spreading rate 18 m2/l -

More detailed painting instructions are available from paint suppliers.

4.4 Recoating
Recoating instructions for changing the color of Nokia BTS HW.

Recoating can be done when it is necessary to replace the original color with a different
one, for example, when required by the premise owner. Using the same paint types (with
a suitable color) for recoating as for repair painting is recommended. The following must
be taken into account when painting:

• Nokia BTS units must be removed from the cabinet or casing before painting.
• Elastomeric parts (such as cable entries) must be masked during the painting
process.
• Grounding points must be masked and should not be painted over.
• When painting a Remote Radio Head, the IP seals must be in place and replaced
after the painting.
• Gore vents must be masked.
• For recoating plastic parts, use suitable paints for the used material. See the
recycling marking for material details.
• Painting of any plastic parts must be performed in a clean indoor environment only
(for example, in a car paintshop).
• Do not paint the cables.
• Black color should be avoided in cases where the BTS can be located in direct
sunlight.

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