Antifoul Removal.

Benco

Benco

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Hi all,

Recently purchased a Monterey 218 which was originally kept in a marina but we now keep it dry stacked. Instead of renewing the antifouling I was thinking of removing completely but I have no idea where to start.
Once removed is it possible to get the hull back to it's original super shiny state?
Has anyone had the pleasure of doing this or can offer any advice please? She looks like the odd one out in the stack next to all the nice clean hulls!
 
Three main ways. First scrape it off - long, slow and hard work, but no cost. Second chemical stripper, slightly quicker, very messy, some cost. Third blasting, quick, no work for you but costs. Doubt you will ever get it shiny as before application of primer and antifoul the gel coat will have been abraded to give a key. So best finish will be slightly matt after blasting.
 
So honest opinion time, what would you do? Would I be better of applying a fresh coat of white antifoul to tidy it up?
 
Hi,

We actually sell an antifouling remover - called Strippit. It is caustic so will remove multiple layers of old antifoul, without damaging the GRP or epoxy coats. You simply apply it and leave for 12-24 hours, then you can pressure wash (or scrape it off onto tarpauling) easily. 5 Litres will cover 15sqm on average. Hope this helps.

If you'd like to read more, it can be found on our website : http://www.resinstore.com/antifouling-remover.html
 
Yes. However if you can find when a blasting contractor is working on another boat in the yard, perhaps in the winter it might not cost too much to have the bottom cleaned.
 
I'm also looking at stripping off God knows how many years of antifouling and unfortunately cannot justify the cost of sandblasting. I live in Sweden and it's going to cost around £2,000 just for stripping. I'd never pay that for a stripper ;-)
I'm looking into the chemical/scape idea... But what chemical..?!??!?!?? I'm looking into the various ones available and may well try a few before doing the whole boat. All depends on cost/time/effort..
 
wazza said:
I'm also looking at stripping off God knows how many years of antifouling and unfortunately cannot justify the cost of sandblasting. I live in Sweden and it's going to cost around £2,000 just for stripping. I'd never pay that for a stripper ;-)
I'm looking into the chemical/scape idea... But what chemical..?!??!?!?? I'm looking into the various ones available and may well try a few before doing the whole boat. All depends on cost/time/effort..
Click to expand...

I had to remove the antifoul on my 10m semi-displacement boat about 6 years ago. I to could not get a stripper at a reasonable cost :-) so I tried the chemical paste (paint one / leave and scrape off) - what a god awful mess ! It would be not so bad if you could turn the boat upside down, but when you're lying underneath trying to scrape off the stripper, you simply get covered in big clods of sticky gloop.

I ended up getting a good quality hand scraper and painstakingly scraping bit by bit (dry - NO stripper). It's long hard tiring work and if I had to do a 10m boat again.... I be really happy to pay for someone to come and blast it off
 
Reactive Resins said:
We actually sell an antifouling remover - called Strippit.
Click to expand...
This works better than Removall 620 does it ? I bought a tub of that on the recommendation of a denizen of this site and found it to be utterly useless. Said poster then reported that he'd bought some since and they've changed the formulation and now it doesn't work, which I could have told him that.

What's in Strippit that isn't in Removall 620 may I ask ?

Boo2
 
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I bought a good quality hand scraper, goggles, masks & disposable gloves, took some deep breaths and got stuck in on my snappy 23. Hard graft. I then orbital sanded it DRY again wearing full protection. Once I had an excellent base to work from, and all cleaned and dusted, I applied to coats of International antifoul primer, and after those, 2 coats of International antifoul. Job jobbed.
 
I spent 4 days stripping the antifouling off a 22 rib. International Interstrip was rubbish, barely taking a layer off with each application even when covered in cling film to stop if drying out too quickly. The tarmac driveway took a year to recover from the blobs of antifouling despite using tarpaulins. Oh and I was covered in the stuff crawling under the trailer.
 
Tranona said:
Three main ways. First scrape it off - long, slow and hard work, but no cost. Second chemical stripper, slightly quicker, very messy, some cost. Third blasting, quick, no work for you but costs. Doubt you will ever get it shiny as before application of primer and antifoul the gel coat will have been abraded to give a key. So best finish will be slightly matt after blasting.
Click to expand...

A fourth way: Perago rotating scraper in an electric drill. Rather slow and boring, but the machine does most of the hard work. Goggles and mask are essential, however most of the paint comes off as grain, rather than dust.
I used the medium scraper.
http://www.toplicht.de/en/shop/werk...-kratzer/perago-abziehscheiben-strahlscheiben
 
BabaYaga said:
A fourth way: Perago rotating scraper in an electric drill. Rather slow and boring, but the machine does most of the hard work. Goggles and mask are essential, however most of the paint comes off as grain, rather than dust.
I used the medium scraper.
http://www.toplicht.de/en/shop/werk...-kratzer/perago-abziehscheiben-strahlscheiben
Click to expand...

Looked at their site.... Seems an interesting option.
1- So is the hull of your boat GRP.?
2- How many m2 is your hull and how many blades did you use?
3- What was the finish like, did it scratch the gel coat?
4- Did you use any chemicals with the scrapers?
 
wazza said:
Looked at their site.... Seems an interesting option.
1- So is the hull of your boat GRP.?
2- How many m2 is your hull and how many blades did you use?
3- What was the finish like, did it scratch the gel coat?
4- Did you use any chemicals with the scrapers?
Click to expand...

1. Yes.
2. Don't know exactly, but it's a 9 meter boat with a long keel. One rotating scraper disc.
3. I have an epoxy coat under the antifoul, which is quite hard wearing. The effect on this layer is more like a matting. On gel coat: Yes, I guess you could damage it if you were persistent. But it is easily avoided. The rotating scraper has a kind of hammer effect that cracks the antifoul paint into small flakes. It is easy to see when to move on.
4. No.
 
BabaYaga said:
1. Yes.
2. Don't know exactly, but it's a 9 meter boat with a long keel. One rotating scraper disc.
3. I have an epoxy coat under the antifoul, which is quite hard wearing. The effect on this layer is more like a matting. On gel coat: Yes, I guess you could damage it if you were persistent. But it is easily avoided. The rotating scraper has a kind of hammer effect that cracks the antifoul paint into small flakes. It is easy to see when to move on.
4. No.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply Baba.... Hmmm, maybe I should try this as so far it sounds the most viable option. Dilemma dilemma...
 
I tried using mechanical methods, but stopped once I had gouged the hull gelcoat a few times.

In the end I used I used dilunette (now called Marine Strip). It did not work that well in cold conditions and needed repeated applications , but eventually I did get many years of antifoul all off: a prolonged, messy job, possibly the most unpleasant of all the tasks I did when I refitted my boat.
 
Boo2 said:
This works better than Removall 620 does it ? I bought a tub of that on the recommendation of a denizen of this site and found it to be utterly useless. Said poster then reported that he'd bought some since and they've changed the formulation and now it doesn't work, which I could have told him that.
Click to expand...

I don't doubt that he is correct, Methylene chloride was a major component in paint removers and was banned back in about 2009. I do find is galling that manufactures keep the same name for what is a completely different product - the same happened with weedkillers such as 'Pathclear' and 'Rootkill' which have also lost their main ingredients.
 
I would go with slurry blasting every time, I mean how many times would it need doing to the same boat,properly once only, when buying second hand? Had mine done after purchase, lovely bloke, run me to say all antifoul taken off, did I need him to further remove an epoxy coat on top of gel coat, epoxy coat in good condition, no, left it alone. I then gave it 6 further coat of epoxy before Antifoul, come up shining like a new hull, keels treated the same, different epoxy. It will not need a slurry coat blasting for a long long time, all this scraping I might have done in my youth.
 
When I got Gladys first, I needed to strip the antifoul back, and used Dilunett (or whatever it's called now). It's caustic soda based and you need to suit up really well (the scar on my wrist has only just gone) including taping rubber gloves to overall sleeves. It works quite well but needs a reasonable temperature, and you need to store it well above freezing, otherwise crystals start to form, and won't re-dissolve. It did a pretty good job, apart from the boot top.

Last winter I had someone dry scrape it. That was more effective, but Dilunett is pretty good, and quicker for DIY, but heed the warnings, you can smell the caustic soda it's that strong.
 
I've mentioned the Bosch power chisel before (designed for wood carving). I've used it many times on antifoul. It took 3-4 hours to strip the keel on my Jeanneau 42DS and 12 hours to take the hull back to gel-coat the next year. It only works if the antifoul is quite brittle and I've only used it on International products such as Cruiser UNO. It won't work on softer pints or after painting with stripper.

Guys in the yard were mega-impressed with the speed, lack of effort and how clean dust mask was at end. It didn't come off as fine dust and was easy to sweep up the "grit" afterwards.

There's a technique in using it but I found it easy to master. Only about 4 tin nicks on 3 times I've ued it on a hull.

I gave more detail in thread below earlier this year:
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?428493-Easiest-way-to-sand-antifoul
 
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