Antifoul compatibility

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MatthewCoyne

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Hi,
I am just about to order some antifoul for my quarter tonner and am just a little upset at the cost of it. I have used VC Offshore with teflon the last 3 seasons, very good but at between £80-£90 per 2 litre pot it should be !
Do any of you know of a compatible high strength antifoul I could use instead ? I know that VC Offshore is not thinned with conventional thinners. Am I right in thinking that its flouro - carbon based ?? I am not a chemist by the way...
Regards,
Matt.
 
You should find some useful info on the International yachtpaint website. http://www.yachtpaint.com/uk/

the VC range of antifoulings do use a different thinner to the others.

The thinner does not contain any fluorocarbons. The A/F itself contains Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene, or ptfe)

There is no indication as far as I could see that VC Ofshore cannot be overcoated with a conventional AF but a phone call to International might be a good idea at least if you choose one of their range.

(By the way I am a Chemist but this sort of thing is out of my field.)
 
As far as I am aware you cannot put normal antifoulings directly on top of VC.

As the last paster has said - Check with International.

Iain
 
I used VC Offshore until a few years ago and found it to be just as useless as any other AF. Like you I decided to use something cheaper so switched to Seajet. This was just as useless but haredr to scrub. No teflon so the barnacles stuck like s*** to a blanket.
Anyway I had to scrape all the VC off first as nothing else will stick to the teflon.
You have 2 options.
1. Carry on using VC
2. Scrape it all off and use something else.

It scraped off quite easily with a Sandvik scraper.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Anyway I had to scrape all the VC off first as nothing else will stick to the teflon

[/ QUOTE ] I was afraid of that despite there being no mention of it on the website. Hence the suggestion to phone for advice, but will a new coat stick to an old one? Logic suggests that it might not.
 
There's an antifouling compatibiity chart here on the International website. It shows that you can overcoat VC Offshore with any International antifouling after a light wet sand.
 
Anything is better than VC offshore and its sibling VC17. It's very expensive brush applied fertilizer.

Mind you, it might work in an area of minimal fouling (the Dead Sea) and if you are prepared to dive on the hull weekly.
 
Blakes do a primer that seems to cover Teflon based AF's. I am putting their Ocean Performer over 2 yr old Micron this year. They recommended cleaning the silt off with a 3M pad, but being careful not rubbing a new finish on the Micron to reveal new Teflon.

Then either trying the Ocean Performer direct, or to be sure, apply their primer first.

I guess that a primer is easier than scraping, but more expensive.......

I will let you know in a year how it goes!!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Blakes do a primer that seems to cover Teflon based AF's. I am putting their Ocean Performer over 2 yr old Micron this year. They recommended cleaning the silt off with a 3M pad, but being careful not rubbing a new finish on the Micron to reveal new Teflon.

[/ QUOTE ]I've been using Micron for the last 10 years or so, and I never realised it had Teflon in it. Are you certain?
 
/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif No not certain, just going on what the lads at the yard said when I was arranging the haul out for next month.

I then followed up with a question to Blakes and hence the comment about using a primer. I guess that I should check further before reacting to rumour /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 
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