Antifouling plastic bow thruster prop

[haydude]

I am replacing the bow thruster prop, the old prop is anti fouled with bottom paint and I intend to do the same to the new, however I did not prepare the old prop when new, but I am preparing this new one.

Please could you advise if I should just sand the new prop before applying anti foul paint directly on the plastic or should I use also a primer? And if the latter which type of primer?

 

[Norman_E]

I have a Vetus bow thruster with a plastic prop. I don't anti foul it. I just swim and clean it gently by hand once in a while. The plastic is shiny, and any fouling rubs off fairly easily. If I leave it in over winter, as I am doing this year, its a simple matter to take it off and dunk it in a mild acid cleaner then replace it if the fouling has become a bit heavier.. If you sand it and roughen the surface you will probably be worse off after painting it than you would be just leaving it alone.

 

[Plum]

Not sure what the paint manufacturers recommend but in March I abraded my plastic thruster prop with fine abrasive (I used one of those sponge foam blocks from the DIY store) and applied International micron 2 without any primer. When I dried out on the scrubbing posts in September there was no sign at all of the antifouling detaching and no fouling other than a bit of slime. This is in UK East Coast.

Colin. Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk

 

[dulcibella]

My experience in the Solent is similar to other respondents - I get only very slight limescale fouling of the bowthruster prop, easily removed by a weak acid.

 

[David2452]

Normal antifoul can attack plastics, but there are several antifoul products available in small pot sizes which are designed for plastic transducers, one of them may suit, I have a larger pot of Airmar MDR 720 that I use on new installs, that too is available in small quantities and is as good as any other.

 

[Skylark]

My first season, 2014, with a virgin bow thruster pair of plastic props was fairly extensive barnacle attachment. Prior to 2015 launch, I did little preparation, other than removing the little blighters, and painted with Primacon undercoat and Trilux 33 antifoul. Seemed to work well and I'll repeat / touch it up next season.