Coppercoat going more green
- Thread starter Snowgoose-1
- Start date
wonkywinch
Well-Known Member
I'm getting my boat copper coated in May. The guys are buying the materials now as we agreed I don't want to be a guinea pig if the latest H&S friendly versions of things like Nitromors are anything to go by.
Supertramp
Well-Known Member
The new Coppercoat uses a plant based epoxy instead of a petroleum base. There seems to be nothing to dislike except I wonder if other resin users are making the same change? One of the benefits of Coppercoat is the epoxy coating underwater. Worth checking that it is as effective as a barrier and as durable as plastic epoxy. I assume the copper part is not affected.
justanothersailboat
Well-Known Member
There have been expensive day sailers made with plant-oil-sourced epoxies for a while now. I've decided not to underestimate modern chemistry's ability to make similar stuff from different sources of the same atoms if enough money, effort and energy is thrown at it.
ducked
Well-Known Member
ducked
Well-Known Member
I would agree that it would be “worth checking” but i’m unclear how this is to be done.
If you mean buy some and test it on a small scale, that would make sense, if practical, though it will likely involve a delay.
If its been in use long enough, there’ll be “the word on the street”
Otherwise, unless one of the mags has done independent testing, there seems unlikely to be any information available
If you mean buy some and test it on a small scale, that would make sense, if practical, though it will likely involve a delay.
If its been in use long enough, there’ll be “the word on the street”
Otherwise, unless one of the mags has done independent testing, there seems unlikely to be any information available
potentillaCO32
Well-Known Member
Not sure the epoxy barrier properties are that relevant as the guidance is to roll it on over two coats of normal epoxy paint anyway.
wonkywinch
Well-Known Member
Magazine ... independent ...
I think mags are funded by advertisers rather than subscribers. Not sure I'd trust their review.
Lucky Duck
Well-Known Member
My next door but one boat neighbour had all the old anti foul removed and copper coat applied professionally indoors, to describe its performance as poor would be praising it to the hilt while others here report good results.
With such varied results with the same product heaven knows how you could differentiate between new and old.
With such varied results with the same product heaven knows how you could differentiate between new and old.
Supertramp
Well-Known Member
I would ask Coppercoat - they will have measured and compared.
Trident
Well-Known Member
There have been bio epoxies working exactly as well as petroleum based ones for several years now. You can also use hemp instead of GRP as a cloth with similar strength and properties to E glass. Like most green innovations cost and availability take time to align with the older technologies but tests seem very favourable over the long term so there really should be nothing to worry about
ducked
Well-Known Member
Assuming that to be true, I'd expect them to say the new stuff is the best thing since...er...the last new stuff.
I wouldnt find this either convincing or informative.
I would be surprised if they make actual data available, research paper stylee. Quite an unusual company if they do.
potentillaCO32
Well-Known Member
You have to ask why they are doing this?
Either it is cheaper.
or it works better.
Or they have to.
Or more likely a combination of all three.
I imagine that the testing they will have done shows it works at least as well or they wouldn't do it. Poor customer feedback would kill the business very quickly.
Either it is cheaper.
or it works better.
Or they have to.
Or more likely a combination of all three.
I imagine that the testing they will have done shows it works at least as well or they wouldn't do it. Poor customer feedback would kill the business very quickly.
ducked
Well-Known Member
Doesnt appear to make sense.
If they "have to" (as for legislatively directed environmental reasons) the other two become irrelevent, so logically you cannot have "a combination of all three" as a motivation.
You could have all three, but that would just be lucky.
You also forgot "It sells better", The green label may be worth a (probably small) additional cost if there is no significant functional penalty, probably the case here.
There are, however, plenty of examples of less effective innovation, which is where we came in (2nd post).
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justanothersailboat
Well-Known Member
It's not like Coppercoat themselves make the resin from raw feedstock though is it, surely? Whatever they do to it, the base resin used by Coppercoat is probably bought in from a chemical company who can demonstrate rather a lot about the properties of their range. There is a risk that some minor change of properties will lead to problems, but it's probably quite low.
Marsali_1
Well-Known Member
Are there not laws against false advertising of products? Seems to be a risk greater than it's worth for what is a niche market product. From the many discussions about boat products that have taken place on this board, I feel comfortable in saying that the number of boaters who are motivated to buy a product based on its "greenness" is quite a lot smaller than those who are motivated by cost and effectiveness (with a strong bias towards the cost).
ducked
Well-Known Member
I dont see where the false advertising would be in marketing plant-derived epoxy as...er...plant-derived epoxy. Whether that would be effective advertising is another question, and you may be right to doubt it
Chiara’s slave
Well-Known Member
In the case of antifouling, I feel as it’s a ‘premium” product, the no. 1 motivation is effectiveness. They are not looking for the ones who hate to spend more than £50 a year.