Coppercoat preparation

Elessar said:
All that solvent must evaporate, and so you mustn't seal it in with coppercoat, thus waiting a week if it's solvented.
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I've just been contacted by someone who's opinion I value very much, and he has suggested that a week is not enough. We don't use solvented eopxy except as a single top coat over solvent free (we do this if we can't paint next day) so haven't had the problem, but I think it's important to type a correction - if using a solvented system like gelshield with multiple layers of solvented epoxy then leave longer than the week I suggested.

Read the manual, and leave more time rather than less if using solvented epoxy. It dries matt so you can leave it as long as you like.
 
I'm in the process of getting my boat professionally Coppercoated, but this thread has left me a bid confused.

Does the CopperCoat need to be abraded after it has completely cured and before it is first launched?

I get the impression from this thread that to get best performance in the first year, it needs to be abraded before the boat is launched, but there is no mention of this on the Coppercoat website.
 
Ian_Edwards said:
I'm in the process of getting my boat professionally Coppercoated, but this thread has left me a bid confused.

Does the CopperCoat need to be abraded after it has completely cured and before it is first launched?

I get the impression from this thread that to get best performance in the first year, it needs to be abraded before the boat is launched, but there is no mention of this on the Coppercoat website.
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yes it does, and you're right it helps first year performance.

A pro install should include it in the price.

It is a light abrade with 500 grit or a scotchbrite pad, just to take the shine off. Courser paper causes scratches which is no good.
 
Perhaps porous was the wrong word, but it does erode slowly from the outside in water otherwise it wouldn't work and with annual abrading there will eventually be nothing left so a heavy epoxy base as an anti osmosis treatment is simple common sense.
 
PCUK said:
Perhaps porous was the wrong word, but it does erode slowly from the outside in water otherwise it wouldn't work and with annual abrading there will eventually be nothing left so a heavy epoxy base as an anti osmosis treatment is simple common sense.
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yep can't deny that it does erode slowly. Note you do not need to abrade annually this is a (commonly beleived) myth. Every 6-8 years is enough.

After the 15 years or so it takes to erode, you can just abrade and add more over the top if you still have the boat.
 
Elessar said:
just to take the shine off. Courser paper causes scratches which is no good.
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That is an interesting point. When i did my boat i left the support pad areas & the keel to do as a second process once the boat had been moved on the cradle by the yard
It was a couple of degrees colder( but still a few degrees above the recommended minimum)
As a result i used all the thinners in a relatively small proportion of the material. I had used none in the first 5 litres but had to use all of it in the second 1 litre
This left a shiny surface insted of the matt finish of the hull. It still is fairly shiny
When the boat was lifted in St Helier for washing after 10-12 weeks the hull was hopelessly weeded but the shiny keel & the patches were absolutely clear. I wanted to ask AMC at the LIBS why this was but the chap was so pompous i gave up & forgot to ask
However you seem to suggest that that was the bit that definately should have been abraded having been shiny. Yet it was the best bit!!
 
Daydream believer said:
That is an interesting point. When i did my boat i left the support pad areas & the keel to do as a second process once the boat had been moved on the cradle by the yard
It was a couple of degrees colder( but still a few degrees above the recommended minimum)
As a result i used all the thinners in a relatively small proportion of the material. I had used none in the first 5 litres but had to use all of it in the second 1 litre
This left a shiny surface insted of the matt finish of the hull. It still is fairly shiny
When the boat was lifted in St Helier for washing after 10-12 weeks the hull was hopelessly weeded but the shiny keel & the patches were absolutely clear. I wanted to ask AMC at the LIBS why this was but the chap was so pompous i gave up & forgot to ask
However you seem to suggest that that was the bit that definately should have been abraded having been shiny. Yet it was the best bit!!
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Interesting. The following contains a lot of guessing.......

The reason for the abrade is to remove the thin epoxy from the outer layer of copper and expose it. The patches were less well cured when you launched, so it's possible they started to corrode quicker in the absence of an abrade.

Were they greener than the rest of the hull?

If so the hull will catch up, performance wise.

Even without thinners, rolled coppercoat is best described as shiny. If it isn't it's because it has gone on "wet on dry" rather than "wet on tacky". When you did the main hull, how long did each coat take and what was the temperature? Did you get it all on in a day?
 
Daydream believer said:
Main hull- (5 units pf coppercoat)-2 of us took 6.5 hours not inc preparation & final clean up of kit etc
Keel & patches (1 unit)-took 1 for about 5-6 hours ( approx from memory)
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Sounds OK. 6.5 is a bit long for 5 litres, but not overly so. The pot life is max 1 hour but you're bound to have had mixing time etc. Odd the difference in shine. I suggest scotchbriting the lot before relaunch and see what happens. Once it's corroding properly you will be pleased with it, as frustrating as it's been so far.
 
Elessar said:
Sounds OK. 6.5 is a bit long for 5 litres, but not overly so. The pot life is max 1 hour but you're bound to have had mixing time etc. Odd the difference in shine. I suggest scotchbriting the lot before relaunch and see what happens. Once it's corroding properly you will be pleased with it, as frustrating as it's been so far.
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I hope i will be! That is why i applied it. I had a problem 10 years ago with copper bot which failed in 6 weeks & wessex replaced all the materials FOC. But i still had the hassle of re applying & taking the boat for a scrub every month for a season
On this boat I was concerned that i had to fork out £200-00 for a scrub . In spite of comments of others the md of AMC assured me i did not need to abrade before launch. Then later told me it was normal. The DVD did not say anything about abrading
However, that is water under the bridge now
I am more concerned about the gel coat underneath as whilst the hull may be ok now i want to know what happens in 10 years when the antifoul has eroded
I just had such a bad response from the people on the stand that i do not trust this company
 
Daydream believer said:
I hope i will be! That is why i applied it. I had a problem 10 years ago with copper bot which failed in 6 weeks & wessex replaced all the materials FOC. But i still had the hassle of re applying & taking the boat for a scrub every month for a season
On this boat I was concerned that i had to fork out £200-00 for a scrub . In spite of comments of others the md of AMC assured me i did not need to abrade before launch. Then later told me it was normal. The DVD did not say anything about abrading
However, that is water under the bridge now
I am more concerned about the gel coat underneath as whilst the hull may be ok now i want to know what happens in 10 years when the antifoul has eroded
I just had such a bad response from the people on the stand that i do not trust this company
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You will find that the Antifoul performance will fall off before the hull erodes to bare white. This is likely to be longer than 10 years, some have done 20. You simply do a 120 grit abrade (all the other abrades are 500 grit or scotchbrite) and new Coppercoat goes straight on the old.

The Wessex system was not Coppercoat BTW, real Coppercoat was originally called copperbot then became Coppercoat. All other variations on the name, including the wessex one which I think was called CopperBot 2000, are pretenders.

I don't know what happened on the stand which I have helped man a few times, but amongst the customers you get quite a large number of nutters. People who accuse the product of not working then you find out that they haven't actually got Coppercoat they've got something else with the word copper in it. Or the put it on in January, kept the product in their garage, did one coat a day or whatever. It is never, ever their fault. Whoever you spoke to, it's just possible that you arrived just post nutter, no excuse but we are all human.
 
I fully agree with Elessar. In addition, dilute the product to the full extent as suggested by Coppercoat. Otherwise, you risk the product hardening too quickly and leaving air bubbles and runs in the finish...
 
I just have to say - I cheated .... I let Elessar do it ;)

First year was quite slimey, second year - after a wash and scrub less so - I only intend to do the wash this year.
The keel was a bit of a pain (it is a Bav after all) - being Iron - Elessar can tell you more, but it did rust through the initial epoxy coat and there are a couple of rust spots after the first year in the water.
 
Before Gelsheiding mine I asked around various yards about Coppercoating and they said don't do it. I'm not sure why they are so against it, two of them are honest so it's not about reducing potential work for them. They said you have to abrade it each year anyway, but I would rather abrade than paint if it needs it, which apparently it doesn't.

Cornish Crabbers said I should coppercoat it and I wish I had listened to them. Unfortunately I have put Primocon on now ready for antifoul which never works for me (Micron Extra -useless!).

Seems a good solution to me and you don't have a build up of years of anti-foul to blast off after a while. If only I could get that Primocon off easily I would Coppercoat mine but it's not to be...
 
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