Repainting radiant tube heaters?

[Snip]

So has anyone here repainted their tubes on their infrared radiant tubes. Im installing a pre- owned Reznor unit and the tubes have bare and rust spots on them. I was think about repainting them with a high heat flat black paint. Have you done this with success or is this a bad idea?

 

[mikedodge]

Take some steel wool to the rust. You xan try painting them but it'll probably burn off or discolor especially the closer it is to the unit.

 

[The Cobbler]

high heat paint will make it look better, but it will burn off too

 

[pcmeiners]

Can you gun blue them? or quasi anodize them ( clothing dye). Both should last awhile, and the chemical coating should not have an insulating affect as would a paint coating. The darker the color the better radiation quality.

 

[Snip]

This week I was able to get ahold of the folks at Reznor tech support and after talking to them have decided that my best option would be to just wire brush the rust off and let them build their own patina over time. They said that any high temp paint could reduce transfer thru the tubes. A 4" cup brush on my angle grinder seems to be doing the trick quite well. Thank you to all that offered advice.
On another note if they are in my shop and they are spending time looking at the ceiling, their F U'ed already, lol