# Fixing scratches on aluminum PC case



## MIRTAZAPINE (Feb 2, 2017)

I bought an pc aluminium case while in the process of cleaning it and looking in the interior my screw driver slips my hand causing a line of scratch. Arghhh! Pretty sad I make the case worse looking.  Is there anyway to fix or patch the case scratch up so it is not visible anymore?


----------



## TheoneandonlyMrK (Feb 2, 2017)

Well that doesn't look to be a coated alloy panel( frequently lacquered with clear coat for protection) so you could just refinish it with fine sand paper or a scouring pad (green kitchen types fine) obviously with the grain of the metal ,they mearly linished it to get that finish so it's essentially the same thing.


----------



## sneekypeet (Feb 2, 2017)

My guess would be no!
I would contact the manufacturer and look into grabbing a replacement panel.

The reason I say no is that while you could sand it, you will notice the pattern change, and you will also likely wear at the anodized coating. Painting will not look very nice. It appears from that image that the chassis has screw together sections, and is why I would just look to replace it rather than fixing it.


----------



## TheoneandonlyMrK (Feb 2, 2017)

sneekypeet said:


> My guess would be no!
> I would contact the manufacturer and look into grabbing a replacement panel.
> 
> The reason I say no is that while you could sand it, you will notice the pattern change, and you will also likely wear at the anodized coating. Painting will not look very nice. It appears from that image that the chassis has screw together sections, and is why I would just look to replace it rather than fixing it.


Respectfully it doesn't look anodised to me or coated in any way hence the scratch directly in the grain.
To sand it you would have to be V careful and light as if you don't go straight with the grain up and down you will get swirls.
I have successfully refinished my ally cases front swinging rad mount a few times like this without even damaging the painted on lettering etc.

There is risk, but not much.


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Feb 2, 2017)

If you use any sort of abrasive on it you will make it worse


----------



## ne6togadno (Feb 2, 2017)

cooltek are quite cooperative for sending additional/replacement parts.
cost and effort of remaking anodization will be far greater then to get replacement

@theoneandonlymrk i have one of those and yes it is anodized.


----------



## TheoneandonlyMrK (Feb 2, 2017)

ne6togadno said:


> cooltek are quite cooperative for sending additional/replacement parts.
> cost and effort of remaking anodization will be far greater then to get replacement
> 
> @theoneandonlymrk i have one of those and yes it is anodized.


Went off the picture ,it's unusual to anodise ally a metallic ally colour (no tint)though.
Though now I look at it again I'm seeing it's black wtf looked shiny silver to me until I googled the case and only saw black ones hence this comment, so I just looked again and the pics turned black.

I think I had a black and white dress moment sorry.


----------



## erocker (Feb 2, 2017)

You'll have to evenly sand down the entire front panel


----------



## natr0n (Feb 2, 2017)

or any house oil on a qtip


----------



## Arrakis9 (Feb 3, 2017)

You'll need to buy a new panel if you want to fix it proper. That's anodized and brushed surface. You could sand the scratch out but you'd want re brush the surface and more than likely re anodize the the panel to make everything match back up. At that point it would probably be more cost effective to buy a new panel. I know brand new side panels for lian li cases run for around $10-30 depending on the case plus shipping.


----------



## MIRTAZAPINE (Feb 3, 2017)

It is brushed aluminium that is coated blue. I see if I can return the product as I am within 14 days from purchased. If that not work I see if I can get contact with the manufacturer to see if I can get a replacement side panel. I see how it goes.

I doubt scratch remover can work for aluminium as it is not steel with normal paint. My isopropyl alcohol clean hardly reduce the scratch.


----------



## revin (Feb 3, 2017)

Yep that scratch is in too deep, we have made thousand's of those kind of parts, It starts from the flat sheet run thru a time saver to deburr and grain the flat part. When they would get scratched after brake's, we'd have to run them under the belt sander to re-grain them.
Mind you this is a huge 6ft. sander with a moving table under it. Set it up and then using a waxed sanding block to re-grain it.
Sometimes they would have me use a hand belt sander like you get at a tool or department store, but it's very hard to make the grain stay as even as from a timesaver machine.


----------



## Finners (Feb 3, 2017)

MIRTAZAPINE said:


> It is brushed aluminium that is coated blue. I see if I can return the product as I am within 14 days from purchased. If that not work I see if I can get contact with the manufacturer to see if I can get a replacement side panel. I see how it goes.
> 
> I doubt scratch remover can work for aluminium as it is not steel with normal paint. My isopropyl alcohol clean hardly reduce the scratch.



If it is a cooltek case then they are good with replacement parts and cheap. Top panel for my W2 was £10 I think. 

No sort of scratch remover or anything like that will work. The colour layer is so thin then sealed on the metal. 

The cost to send it back and that's it's a bit dishonored I think you'd be better off looking for a replacement part.


----------



## jboydgolfer (Feb 3, 2017)

imo, replacement like sneekypete said.
if thats a No Go, head to your local Autobody repAIR /PAINT  shop, they can offer priceless advice. My old roommate was an autobody repait mechanic, and He had access to the best shit. His custom case builds make the ones in the case mod gallery look like a dogs wiener.


----------

