Anyone Use Propspeed

I saw this advertised in"Trade Only" and was wondering if anyone has used this product.

Propspeed | Propeller Coating | Foul-Release, Not Anti-Foul

I had my boatyard apply it to my prop some years ago as part of a bottom job. Within a year it was all gone and barnacles were growing. And it was rather expensive for less than a year's worth of protection.

David

I have not used it but I understand that prep is very exacting and not real easy. Maybe that is why his failed in a year.

Comodave said:

I have not used it but I understand that prep is very exacting and not real easy. Maybe that is why his failed in a year.

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Also, a diver can scrub it off fairly easily. We have to remember to tell our bottom divers that we have Propspeed applied.

I’ve had Propspeed last a very long time. Well worth the expense, in my opinion.

I've used Propspeed for about 15 years and have been happy with it, getting 3+ years before I see any growth or barnacles. According to the yard that applies it for me, metal prep and timing of applications is critical and determines the result, good or bad. I also think there's a tie-in on water temp, colder water here in the PNW giving longer life. Propspeed is expensive, but worth it IMO. I intend to keep using it.

Plenty of discussion on Propspeed on TF if you do a search. Regular users, myself included, get good multi-year performance from it in fast-fouling warm waters. For slow fouling cold water environments it might not be needed.

It does need to be applied properly, and for a time here in Oz it was only sold to trained users. From what I have seen when it is successfully applied, it is not rocket science. Good surface prep of the metal. Coat with the etch primer. Allow to dry. Liberally coat with the second, silicone-rich, part. Allow to dry. Don't touch it! Now if you read the Instructions that come with it there may be other things, but that's the guts of it.

My experience in same waters as Brian above was similar. Usually allowed haul-out to be 3 yearly, and still one felt it could do longer. The main reason why not was usually the barnacles on the rudder, shaft brackets, and foot. Micron Extra kept the hull pretty good as well, and our waters are warm all year compared to many. But yes, you should not let a diver & brush near it.

I have used Propspeed on the prop and rudder for the last three haulouts, spaced at two years. Zero barnacles on prop after two years and 1 or two barnacles on rudder. It is tricky to apply and I have the yard do it (Blackline Marine) and it costs about $500.

Expensive BUT I have no loss of efficiency due to prop fouling and my zinc consumption is now almost zero. Zinc replacement was almost $200/set and that was every 6 months.

Photos (I hope) of recent haulout (May2020) showing prep, application and finish.

Nearly four years.

Wow Ray, thanks for the pics..

I don't have problems with barnicals as I keep the boat in fresh water during the winter. Then when I enter salt water, the green slim comes off.

We hauled out after almost 3 years.
Last haulout was at the same place and I checked their records.
What do I use? Armor All
The stuff you get at NAPA and many many other places.
If there’s any secret it’s how well I clean the prop before I apply the AA.
Got some funny looks when I told the marina guys I wanted the prop installed w/o touching it. I had the ready to go prop in a box. When it was time to put it on the shaft I tipped up the box and used a 1” dia alum tube 3’ long to insert into the propeller bore. While horizontal I lifted the prop, went over to the boat and guided the prop onto the shaft. Only touched the hub .. w a glove.
I was almost as fussy the last time I prepped the prop w AA and put it on the shaft. Been doing this for about 10yrs.

In three years (if I’m still boating) I plan on finding an anti-fouling paint thats a bit porus .. or has some tooth. Apply that and then the AA.
It’s 1% of the money as PS but seems to offer 99% of the anti-fouling.

I'm trying a budget propspeed type experiment this year. It's not as cheap as Eric's Armor All solution, but cheaper than propspeed.

I used the Pettit zinc primer, then top-coated it with black widow. That stuff is slippery like propspeed, but also has some antifouling properties. I did the props, shafts, struts, rudders and trim tabs that way. I'm hoping it's more durable than ablative antifouling on the running gear and at least in my low fouling waters, should keep the props clean without any mid-season scrubbing. Plus, the dark gunmetal gray (they call it black, but it's really just dark gray) looks cool, especially if you polish it a bit. Not that you can see the stuff once it's in the water, but still.

Nomad Willy said:

We hauled out after almost 3 years.
Last haulout was at the same place and I checked their records.
What do I use? Armor All
The stuff you get at NAPA and many many other places.
If there’s any secret it’s how well I clean the prop before I apply the AA.
Got some funny looks when I told the marina guys I wanted the prop installed w/o touching it. I had the ready to go prop in a box. When it was time to put it on the shaft I tipped up the box and used a 1” dia alum tube 3’ long to insert into the propeller bore. While horizontal I lifted the prop, went over to the boat and guided the prop onto the shaft. Only touched the hub .. w a glove.
I was almost as fussy the last time I prepped the prop w AA and put it on the shaft. Been doing this for about 10yrs.

In three years (if I’m still boating) I plan on finding an anti-fouling paint thats a bit porus .. or has some tooth. Apply that and then the AA.
It’s 1% of the money as PS but seems to offer 99% of the anti-fouling.

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Eric, I'm curious if you heard about AA from someone or did you 'invent' the use of it for anti-fouling yourself? I've never heard of using AA or anything like it on underwater gear.

I have used Prop Speed for several years on the upper Gulf Coast and often leaving boats in Nassau.

The things that affect the performance of Prop Speed are (in order of importance based on my experience):


1. If your mooring location gets lots of barnacle growth (like the Mississippi coast), Prop Speed will keep the props clear for only about 6 months (assuming no cleaning by diver). In the fresher, Lake Pontchartrain, you might get 1-1/2 to 2 years). In the Bahamas, where you get lots of soft growth, Prop Speed works great (lots of growth but it all slides off as advertised).

2. You need to run your boat weekly with Prop Speed. If you just let it sit, barnacles grow and eat through the silicone.

3. Prep and application are very important. Don't skip the initial etching step. Follow the instruction exactly.

4. If you run your props through sand (like a soft grounding) Prop Speed will be removed from the blades.

5. If you have a diver clean your Prop Speed, it won't last as long unless the diver is very gentle.


Lately, I've gone back to thinking an alternative is to just get a diver on a schedule. Prop Speed is so expensive, it's almost the same price as using a diver (based on the time period when Prop Speed truly keeps your gear clean)

One last note; I have a 48 Defever with about 10ft of shaft and two big struts exposed on each side. Prop Speed works great on the monel shafts, It works pretty good on the 28x28 props, and never works well on the stainless rudders or bronze struts.

Tom,
I was contemplating using PropSpeed during this haul out down in Mexico. Did a lot of research and the general consensus was, for the money (product only) and the labor costs required to apply it correctly, didn’t seem like it was a worthwhile expense for the life expectancy. So the guys cleaned it up real nice and then polished and waxed the prop.
That may change when we get further south, we will see.
Cheers

I’ve applied it twice. First time it was early April, went on easily. Last time, it was mid May in the 60’s and putting it on working alone was tough. I barely kept up with the rate the product is kicking. It’s a difficult product to use. If it cures correctly, I can get 3 years. First time at year 1.5, I forgot to tell the diver and it got scraped off.

Most people should have an experienced yard do it, and I’m quite sure that many folks have had failures at full price if the cheaper yards let the yard monkeys give it a try. It’s not forgiving to errors at all.