antifoul paint remover

ozzie

ozzie

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I have decided to remove my existing antifoul and start again. I have been on-line and found a product by CIRRUS called REMOVALL 620. It looks to be good stuff,and will be expensive (£119 for 20 litres) Has anyone tried it, is it any good, or is there another product which is recommended. My intention is to do away with the bit of white hull between the antifoul and blue hull band, and antifoul upto it and put on a new coveline (Rinker now do similar to this as an option and it looks smart).
Boat is moored on the Exe and I have been told Blakes hard racing is a good choice, plus it is burnishable. Any comments? I also need coveline in yellow 30mm wide. Can someone recommend a supplier please.
 
I think my first boat had been done in Blakes hard AF when I got it - mind it only could do 20k - so that did not suit it. I have tried both blakes and Intnl self eroders and not had much success. The best I have found is EU45. It has given me far better results in this area (I am moored in Brixham) and I believe its good for up 40Kn vessels. Have a look on their website.
 
to remove all the old antifoul try an electric chisel (it works honestly - they have a wide blade like a wall paper stripper). Clean process and quite quick. I tried chemical removers and you get a horrible sticky mess.
 
I ve tried a few suggestions from on here, and I conclude the results very much depend on the type of antifoul you have on the boat.
I have hard a/f, so, guess what.. you need a hard solution to the problem!
I guess I had 4 years of a/f...
What really worked was a big scraper from Screwfix (though I ve seen then in B+Q too).. think its called heavy duty scraper , but IE is blocking everything these days...
Its a bit manual, but it all came off in maybe 1/2 3/4 of a day.
I do actually have one of those bosch/lidl electric chisels which I tried on a small area and that worked well (but I ve so many chines I only used it on the flat surface). Whether the machine would last 5 hours I dont know ;)
Other solutions might work on softer a/f, but were useless on hard.
 
i have used a chemical paint stripper , cant rememeber what it was called , but it was a standard remover from a marine shop . it worked a treat but make sure you wear protective cloths and gloves and specs . loads easier than scrapeing
 
I found it easier to have my hull "blasted" it was all done within a few hours and no problems. I did my checks on who to use and was happy with the results.

It cost me about £300 for a 25ft boat.

Company called symblast - Paul.
www.symblast.com
paul@symblast.com

Nice guy and very helpful, he also supplied the epoxy which was cheaper. You need to apply epoxy if you stripping the hull back what ever method you decided on.
 
As the paint stripper is on offer I would try that or the electric chisel but not the slurry blast, my personal view is I would never have a grit/soda blast anywhere near my gel coat.

A few years ago at lift out a friend had his 1987 Fairline corniche at the side of my 1988 corniche.
He wanted me to join him for a slurry blast of 'gentle soda'.
I wasn't keen even when offered a two for one deal and declined.
My mate went ahead and I saw the damage the following weekend

Whole hull was riddled with small holes in the gel coat.
The whole boat had to be filled and epoxy coated.
At some stage a section of 1 ft by 2 ft on my bow had also been blasted.
It is unclear if
they started on the wrong boat.
they hit it by accident
they wanted to see if my hull would also be wrecked
they thought it was such a good job I would want mine done


My 'test' section was also covered with pin prick holes that I needed to fill.
I was pleased a small section had been tested as it confirmed to me that GRP shouldn't be grit blasted unless it needs an osmosis treatment.
A friend was then kind enough to clean my hull with an electric chisel, the old antifoul came off and left beautiful white shinny gelcoat with no visible signs of weakness.
It is clear that older boats have naturally occurring bubble holes deep within the gel coat that are created during the mixing. These bubbles are fine and will not cause a problem unless the Gel coat is overpolished with compound, over sanded or slurry/grit blasted.

The slurry blast had not made the holes but it had exposed voids that had been water tight for 15 years (moisture reading were very good).

The grass under the treated boat has still not grown back and turned into a bog for a while.

From my experience I would only have a slurry blast on a modern boat that had used a vacuum technique to mix the gel coat and so reduce the amount of bubbles.

If you read the professional sites they warn about this in a round about way " leaves a nice key finish ready for filling and epoxy coating " shouldnt the surface be ready for AF Primer ?
 
I too did my last corniche with a bosch power chisel, it took me 2 days to do it then sand with a da to clean up and apply 2 coats of epoxy paint before the anifoul.

There is a company near me who will travel anywhere and ice blast boats, it leaves no marks at all, you can blast metal surfaces like drives and all that falls off is antifoul.

Its about £600 for a 40ft princess type planing boat, depending on where you are if a club got together then maybe a discount for multiple boats.

Anyone pm me if interested, ill forward details on.
 
dacarak said:
As the paint stripper is on offer I would try that or the electric chisel but not the slurry blast, my personal view is I would never have a grit/soda blast anywhere near my gel coat.

A few years ago at lift out a friend had his 1987 Fairline corniche at the side of my 1988 corniche.
He wanted me to join him for a slurry blast of 'gentle soda'.
I wasn't keen even when offered a two for one deal and declined.
My mate went ahead and I saw the damage the following weekend

Whole hull was riddled with small holes in the gel coat.
The whole boat had to be filled and epoxy coated.
At some stage a section of 1 ft by 2 ft on my bow had also been blasted.
It is unclear if
they started on the wrong boat.
they hit it by accident
they wanted to see if my hull would also be wrecked
they thought it was such a good job I would want mine done


My 'test' section was also covered with pin prick holes that I needed to fill.
I was pleased a small section had been tested as it confirmed to me that GRP shouldn't be grit blasted unless it needs an osmosis treatment.
A friend was then kind enough to clean my hull with an electric chisel, the old antifoul came off and left beautiful white shinny gelcoat with no visible signs of weakness.
It is clear that older boats have naturally occurring bubble holes deep within the gel coat that are created during the mixing. These bubbles are fine and will not cause a problem unless the Gel coat is overpolished with compound, over sanded or slurry/grit blasted.

The slurry blast had not made the holes but it had exposed voids that had been water tight for 15 years (moisture reading were very good).

The grass under the treated boat has still not grown back and turned into a bog for a while.

From my experience I would only have a slurry blast on a modern boat that had used a vacuum technique to mix the gel coat and so reduce the amount of bubbles.

If you read the professional sites they warn about this in a round about way " leaves a nice key finish ready for filling and epoxy coating " shouldnt the surface be ready for AF Primer ?
Click to expand...


Funny enough I remember your post a few years ago saying the same thing when I was making enquires. Well I took onboard your advance and others who had it done and went ahead with it on my 1999 Sealine. I did not have those voids (well only the odd few and I mean just a few the size of a pin head) and I was so pleased it was done. However your advice did steer me clear of some companies that prehaps are heavy handed - thank you. 5 coats of Epoxy and one happy owner.
 
Scubadoo said:
I found it easier to have my hull "blasted" it was all done within a few hours and no problems. I did my checks on who to use and was happy with the results.

It cost me about £300 for a 25ft boat.

Company called symblast - Paul.
www.symblast.com
paul@symblast.com

Nice guy and very helpful, he also supplied the epoxy which was cheaper. You need to apply epoxy if you stripping the hull back what ever method you decided on.
Click to expand...

You don't very often actually need to epoxy after removing the antifoul - but it is an ideal time to do so and it gives you added protection to the hull.

Many of the boats we see have been 1/3 stripped by the owner using mechanical or chemical means. Then they call a removal company.

If you do go the chemical route, take extreme care not to sit in the spoils. This is very very important - it soaks through your clothes and kills your nerve endings so you don't know you're being burned.
 
dacarak said:
As the paint stripper is on offer I would try that or the electric chisel but not the slurry blast, my personal view is I would never have a grit/soda blast anywhere near my gel coat.

A few years ago at lift out a friend had his 1987 Fairline corniche at the side of my 1988 corniche.
He wanted me to join him for a slurry blast of 'gentle soda'.
I wasn't keen even when offered a two for one deal and declined.
My mate went ahead and I saw the damage the following weekend

Whole hull was riddled with small holes in the gel coat.
The whole boat had to be filled and epoxy coated.
At some stage a section of 1 ft by 2 ft on my bow had also been blasted.
It is unclear if
they started on the wrong boat.
they hit it by accident
they wanted to see if my hull would also be wrecked
they thought it was such a good job I would want mine done


My 'test' section was also covered with pin prick holes that I needed to fill.
I was pleased a small section had been tested as it confirmed to me that GRP shouldn't be grit blasted unless it needs an osmosis treatment.
A friend was then kind enough to clean my hull with an electric chisel, the old antifoul came off and left beautiful white shinny gelcoat with no visible signs of weakness.
It is clear that older boats have naturally occurring bubble holes deep within the gel coat that are created during the mixing. These bubbles are fine and will not cause a problem unless the Gel coat is overpolished with compound, over sanded or slurry/grit blasted.

The slurry blast had not made the holes but it had exposed voids that had been water tight for 15 years (moisture reading were very good).

The grass under the treated boat has still not grown back and turned into a bog for a while.

From my experience I would only have a slurry blast on a modern boat that had used a vacuum technique to mix the gel coat and so reduce the amount of bubbles.

If you read the professional sites they warn about this in a round about way " leaves a nice key finish ready for filling and epoxy coating " shouldnt the surface be ready for AF Primer ?
Click to expand...

I've read your sorry tale before. Fortunately it isn't typical.

It's true voids can sometimes be exposed by slurry blasting. This are usually extremely isolated if they exist - often for some reason in a localised patch. For example the 54fter we did today had about 10 pinheads over the whole boat, and about 30 or 40 in a square foot patch above the bowthruster. The voids are easily, locally filled.

The boat is left ready for paint - as my website says!

We always do a small test patch on a boat, and show the owner. If, as in your case, the result is not satisfactory we offer to walk away without charge.

Those bubbles are not watertight as you seem to think. Gelcoat is slightly porous so those voids may be best exposed and filled anyway. In your case not as you boat is a good age with good readings - so let it be. But you are very much the exception, and not the rule.

And the age of the boat has nothing to do with it. A 1965 powerboat we did recently needed the hard olivine we normally reserve for steel, and the finish was like glass.

Finally, you recommend slurry blasting for osmosis treatment. This is the only scenario for which it is not ideal. You need a peel for this.
 
I am strongly against slurry blasting however seeing as it is your livelihood I agree to keeping an open mind but I thought Nick h had experienced exactly the same issues on his UK play boat which was only a few years old.
He went on to say the epoxy required to fill the holes then had been washed off in the rain and I came to the conclusion he was taking the @@@@ , if Nick confirms it was a wind up and he was pleased with the slurry blast I agree I need to significantly water down my posts on the subject.
I think Nick changed id when the forum changed and I have lost contact with him but expect he is reading this .

perhaps we should continue by pm.
 
dacarak said:
I am strongly against slurry blasting however seeing as it is your livelihood I agree to keeping an open mind but I thought Nick h had experienced exactly the same issues on his UK play boat which was only a few years old.
He went on to say the epoxy required to fill the holes then had been washed off in the rain and I came to the conclusion he was taking the @@@@ , if Nick confirms it was a wind up and he was pleased with the slurry blast I agree I need to significantly water down my posts on the subject.
I think Nick changed id when the forum changed and I have lost contact with him but expect he is reading this .

perhaps we should continue by pm.
Click to expand...

I know you're against slurry blasting and with your experience of it I don't blame you.

Your experience should be in the public domain, it helps people make an informed choice.

Clearly your boat was damaged, but one swallow doesn't make a summer. I was trying to point out that most customers are delighted with the finish we achieve, that pinholes happen but are rare if the operator is skilled. In the case of your boat, if we had been doing it we would either have done it gently enough not to expose the voids or, if they had been very close to the surface, would have stopped on your instruction before causing disappointment.

Oh and we don't cause bogs either, we place a sheet under the boat and take everything away.
 
Thanks for all the replies- I will have to think about what method to use. I hadnt thought about scraping, so I may have a go at a test patch. From a time point of view I may look into slurry blasting. I will keep you updated on the final method with results!!
 
Elessar said:
I know you're against slurry blasting and with your experience of it I don't blame you.

Your experience should be in the public domain, it helps people make an informed choice.

Clearly your boat was damaged, but one swallow doesn't make a summer. I was trying to point out that most customers are delighted with the finish we achieve, that pinholes happen but are rare if the operator is skilled. In the case of your boat, if we had been doing it we would either have done it gently enough not to expose the voids or, if they had been very close to the surface, would have stopped on your instruction before causing disappointment.

Oh and we don't cause bogs either, we place a sheet under the boat and take everything away.
Click to expand...


I support Elessar in what he is saying, although I used a different company and a different system, it is down to the operator. The guys who did mine adjusted the "power" of the system so not to cause harm/damage to the hull. I was there when they did it and can only say they did a great job, they too used large sheets and basically covered in the hull and blocked the air vents to the engine bay etc.

I am I right in thinking that the true slurry blasting is not really for boats and used as a general term, whereas symblast and Farrow are very much different application.
 
Can't speak for Symblast but I'm sure Paul will he looks in on this forum sometimes. I know he has a lot of satisfied customers including you.

The Farrow system I use was designed for taking antifoul off yachts by a norfolk farmer called Nigel Farrow who now makes the machines in the USA. It uses volcanic olivine suspended in hot water, which is basically thrown at the boat in a jet of air. The heat helps remove the old coatings with reduced pressure - less pressure than a cheap jetwash. Even this though can blast a hole in concrete if you want it to - it isn't a DIY job.
 
Hadn't read this post before. I guess my experience doesn't conflict with either view. Yes, I had some voids exposed by the blasting (the aggregate was was a fine pummice stone), but as Elessar suggests they were grouped in one or two areas, with very few elsewhere on the boat.

I was Coppercoating anyway, so didn't epoxy the hull first, but I did find a problem coating over the holes. They're too small to force gloopy Coppercoat into, so I tried to cover over them, but I think because the Coppercoat warms as it's mixed, it warmed the parcel of air in the void which expanded and pierced the film of paint. I kept going and I think I got all of them, but i'll be looking closely when I lift it in a month or two. I'd use the system again (cos it's so quick and easy), but i'd put on a conventional epoxy primer coat before doing anything else.

Pete, it wasn't a wind up about the epoxy washing off in the rain, Coppercoat is a water based epoxy and needs 24 hrs+ to set. I'll leave the wind ups to you, you have more experience :-)
 
Nick_H said:
Pete, it wasn't a wind up about the epoxy washing off in the rain, Coppercoat is a water based epoxy and needs 24 hrs+ to set. I'll leave the wind ups to you, you have more experience :-)
Click to expand...

Hi Nick,
Sorry I doubted you, and for what it is worth I will now confess to each and every wind up I have ever done on this forum, the rest were all started as serious posts.

How to DIY Underfloor safe
I was GC_1 a few years ago
Cheap scrub, by pouring a drum of hydrochloric acid into the lock
Getting chased by the harbour master after I marked my anchor chain with spray cans on the pontoon.
Getting trapped on 'Bay Gouys' sailing boat
The Kedge Anchor and the Mother in Law


Most of these were posted on April 1st ;)

Everything else as I recall was based on factual accounts as I believed at the time including the Ghost of Chichester :eek:
 
Elessar said:
Your experience should be in the public domain, it helps people make an informed choice.

Clearly your boat was damaged, but one swallow doesn't make a summer. I was trying to point out that most customers are delighted with the finish we achieve
Click to expand...

I got your pm thanks, and I will significantly reduce my 'slurry blast account' in future although it is too late for this post .
My prejudice against blasting wasnt based on one Swallow, it was based on 4 boats.
My neighbours boat, my small section on my old boat, your own boat last April before you started ARC and Nicks modern boat.
I accept this was a very small sample especially as you and Nick are now happy with your boats.

If you feel my future comments on blasting are unfair please feel free to pm me and I will amend(including this one if you think the retraction does not go far enough).
 
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