Prop AF coating

From what I have concluded from TF and elsewhere the same coating I put on the bottom of my aluminum skiff should be fine on my bronze prop. I suspect that all will be well except I doubt the stuff will stay on the prop as it's very soft. Rub w your hands on the painted surface and your hands are black. I think it's Tri-Lux 33 ? Anybody ever tried that? It may be the stuff they put on aluminum IO and OB props. They run at higher loadings and speeds that on Willy.

If it worked well why would so many go to the expense and trouble of Prop Speed? Just ask'in.

Try Cold Galvanise. Cheaper than Propspeed, cheaper than the stuff they sell in a spray can for $25 at the yard that looks like cold Galvanise yet says prop on the tin. Few of my friends are trying it, no results to report, although one is a diver and I expect the first result soon.

I put Petit Barnacle buster on my prop at Thanksgiving last year. Drove to Fla and back. Both the bottom gear and bottom were wistle clean...to be exected as much moving and back and forth salt to fresh as I did.

Stopped moving April 17 and hauled June 6th with a few prop turns at the dock checking systems 15 minutes each. The bottom had already picked up some globs of growth...so did the prop and rudder. About the same infestation so it worked as well as cheap ablative with the boat not moving from it's slip.

I reapplied when hauled...so the upcoming haul in November or mid-summer bottom cleaning I may do will tell the real tale..so far I would say it's only OK...not as good as good antifouling..but better than nothing.

I think the trick is moving the boat or prop every week or two.

Eric for years I put the same anti-fouling on my boat and prop. It never lasted nearly as long on the prop as on the hull. I've been using Prop Speed for about ten years now. It is expensive but it works better than anything I've ever seen.

It looks like I pick up almost a full knot at WOT with prop speed instead of bottom paint on my propeller. With new paint on the bottom and prop on the way home from the yard I never saw more than about 15.3 knots on the GPS. Now with prop speed I see 16.1 or 16.2 on the GPS.

So Prop Speed is expensive. That shouldn't be much of a problem as a quart of paint (it is paint isn't it?) unless it's $180 a quart.

Seems to me I remember it being labor intensive to apply. I'll search the archives as I'm quite sure there's something there.

Thanks all

manyboats said:

So Prop Speed is expensive. That shouldn't be much of a problem as a quart of paint (it is paint isn't it?) unless it's $180 a quart.


Thanks all

Click to expand...

Have a look Eric, it is shocking!
DETCO MARINE Propspeed Foul Release System | West Marine

I resisted using Propspeed for years, but noticed whatever anti foul they applied to the prop, it was a mess of barnacles every haul out, having to ground off each time, no doubt taking some good bronze with it each time. The last two times I have used Propspeed, and the prop has looked a nice clean gold colour with virtually nothing adherent to it, even after 3 years in the warm Queensland water, in the case of the last time out...and worth adding...I don't get to use the boat a lot, so it sits at the berth for quite long periods.

Pic 1, just out and quick wash down - pic 2, after new anti-foul, (went for black this time), and new Propspeed.

Soft ablative a/f is not good on running gear, even good quality hard a/f as recommended fouls readily. All that scraping, chipping, power brushing using the angle grinder....I`ve decided on propspeed next a/f. I`m sure it costs, especially the first time, but the boat should be faster, more economical running, less vibration with no shell, and less work.Wonder if it works on outdrive legs which seem a magnet for all forms of shell, weed etc.

"So Prop Speed is expensive. That shouldn't be much of a problem as a quart of paint (it is paint isn't it?) unless it's $180 a quart.

Seems to me I remember it being labor intensive to apply. I'll search the archives as I'm quite sure there's something there. "

Eric it is expensive, but you probably only need the 200ml kit for your single prop.
Yes it is some what labor intensive. You need to start with a sanded or blasted clean prop. It's a two step application after that.

I think it's worth it.

HopCar said:

Eric it is expensive, but you probably only need the 200ml kit for your single prop.
Yes it is some what labor intensive. You need to start with a sanded or blasted clean prop. It's a two step application after that.
.

Click to expand...

After the initial Propspeed treatment, is maintenance re-applying a single coat each haulout, or cleaning the surface, or..? How does it go over time?

If by chance you are pulling your prop to have it trued or checked in a prop shop, our local prop shop did the prop speed at a very reasonable price while it was in there shop. Given they do so many at one time it keeps the cost down. You might want to check with your local shop. It pretty much paid for the prop work when you figure the labor the yard would have charged. So far it is working great, diver always says props are clean and he just runs his hand over them to make sure...

Xbank,
What form of cold gal were you refering to? Yes I had thought of that before but there's a sneaking suspicion that the zinc may play games w the bronze prop. Prop is expensive and I aim to protect. Dissimilar metals. I used spray-aerosol cold galvanize on my bare mild steel anchor and it held up really well. Perfect actually.
Armor-all is all I needed in Alaska but spray gal may be all I need here whereas if I was in FL I'd need PS .... ?



Rogerh,
YES .. that's exactly what I'll do. Take it to Tom. Perfect.
Hope he has the stuff. May be an opportunity for him if he didn't but to be cost effective he'd prolly have to buy $1000 worth of PS at one time. I'll call him Monday.

there is a lot of info on the cold galvanized "zinc coating" on the cruising forums.. I coated the Ocean Alexander with it on the recent haulout. Just splashed ten days ago so I will report as time goes on. I did use the marine version on Volunteer with good results so we will see what the hardware store version does
HOLLYWOOD

Great, another tester, hopefully there is a reasonable, cheap solution. My boat was not usable for a month while I designed and built a new exhaust system for it. There was a diver working my marina for other things and I diverted him to scrape my wheel, he said the bottom was good but the wheel was already barnacled so he gave it a good scrape (I hope, how do you know?) and as I had not coated the wheel, a month with it not turning was all it took.

"(I hope, how do you know?)"

Xb just a bit of a swim. I'd get a diver if I were you.

You mean become a diver? All that clobber, rubber suits and all, just to annihilate barnacles? I saw a boat that had a camera mounted on the bottom so you could watch your running gear while underway. It was neat watching the wheels thrashing away. Good way to check for crab pot lines. I suppose you would have to hire a diver to clean the lens...

I recently had a new prop installed and had to make extensive repairs to my bronze-blade rudder. The yard suggested I coat both with Propspeed since they were both clean and accessible. That was in April. I will be pulling the boat again later this month to install a flexible coupling (need to trim the shaft length) so I will have a good look at three months wear. I'll report back, hopefully they will both be spotless!



Larry
M/V Boomarang

Been using prop speed on my charter boat for 3 seasons now. Works very well, better than any bottom paint. The yard textures the surface before applying by lightly sand blasting the surface which also removes loose previous coating.

Ted

"...he said the bottom was good but the wheel was already barnacled so he gave it a good scrape (I hope, how do you know?) "

I just jump over in my shorts and take a look. For you how about a GoPro camera on a stick? The sportfish guys are getting spectacular underwater videos of fish next to the boat this way. I even sell sticks with a GoPro mount that match the gaffs we sell.
The gaffs of course match the fishing rods. We must keep up appearances.

Two coats Pettit Zinc Barnacle Buster. Two cans @$20 each once a year. Works great on all of our underwater metals.

Dave