How the heck do I get antifoul to stick to the prop?

eddystone said:
Question to Vyv Cox - looking at your photos looks as if you have only put Velox on prop and P bracket, not the shaft; I'm planning to include the shaft and the Stripper (which I assume is s/s) in my velox application - is there a reason not to do this? (I do get huge lumps of tube worm/barnacle on the shaft in current location).
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Some time ago I painted a small area of propshaft with Hammerite to check its adhesion. It is still there so I assume it holds quite well. I have not bothered to Velox the shaft but assume it would work well. It works on my Airmar dual transducer also, but without primer.
 
captainboo said:
I have the same prop and using the Velox primer it didn't stick very well at all. Can I ask how you prepared the prop before applying the Hammerite special metal primer as I will try this next year.
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Several people have advised me that they had problems with the Velox primer. The technique suggested by the UK agents was far too aggressive IMO and their suggestion that swabbing with acetone was preventing adhesion of the primer seemed contrary to common sense. I abrade with 180 grit, then paint immediately.
 
vyv_cox said:
Several people have advised me that they had problems with the Velox primer. The technique suggested by the UK agents was far too aggressive IMO and their suggestion that swabbing with acetone was preventing adhesion of the primer seemed contrary to common sense. I abrade with 180 grit, then paint immediately.
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But Velox do recommend swabbing with acetone in the instructions I've read. I will use 180 instead of 80 they recommend as you suggest.
 
tbh when using the Hammerite primer I feel that just the normal maxims apply - a clean, roughened, grease and dust free surface, if you have a little acetone to hand then it will not hurt if applied with a clean cloth. The main plus of the Hammerite is its etching ability and the enhanced hold this gives.
 
NormanS said:
I have an Autoprop, and sail on the West Coast of Scotland. I clean my prop with a wire cup-brush, and just before launching, slather on stuff called "Vickers Underwater Oil", which is really a water resistant grease, which I happened to have from a previous boat. I have no idea how long it stays on, as there is no sign of it at lift out after six months, but also no weed or barnacle growth. May or may not be significant, but after six months the anode is practically eroded away. On the hull I use a copper rich antifouling. Is that significant?
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That is interesting because Bruntons MD told me not to bother with antifouling the prop so I just stick a load of grease on it at launch at easter as the boat always sits idle for 3- 4 weeks before I actually use it. ( then I go away for 12 weeks hols so it gets used a lot) The prop rarely has much growth on it when I slip it for the mid season scrub ( have to as I have coppercoat) & at the end of the season I just take 15 mins to clean with a fairly strong brick cleaner. Does not have a lot on it but it does eat anodes
 
eddystone said:
But Velox do recommend swabbing with acetone in the instructions I've read. I will use 180 instead of 80 they recommend as you suggest.
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From a private exchange of info I understand that the USA website for Velox recommends acetone. The UK agent says that acetone prevents adhesion of the primer. Based on other advice they have provided (using an angle grinder to prepare for example) it seems to me that their primer doesn't work very well, my guess being that the etchant is not effective.
 
vyv_cox said:
From a private exchange of info I understand that the USA website for Velox recommends acetone. The UK agent says that acetone prevents adhesion of the primer. Based on other advice they have provided (using an angle grinder to prepare for example) it seems to me that their primer doesn't work very well, my guess being that the etchant is not effective.
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Quite hard to see how a solvent could reduce adhesion of primer
 
I have had no success at all with the Velox primer over the last couple of years. Usually on the second or third time under engine I can see flakes of Velox antifouling appearing in the prop wash. At the end of the season my propeller is so extensively covered in tube worms that I can hardly make any progress.

It sounds as though the Hammerite special metals primer might be a better bet. I'll try that next season.
 
vasant said:
hi
Reviving this thread about the Velox Primer .
Was there a noticeeable difference with HAmmerite?
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Just to add,

I have never had any problems with Velox' primer. I do aggressively abrade the metal of the prop - but have not had issues with it falling off. I have tried Velox on the sail drives and it is not particularly effective, but then nothing else is any better. I might conclude that Velox needs a decent flow of water over it. As with any AF - if you allow the coating to develop hard growth when you come to clean - attack vigorously with a scraper - you will take the coating off and growth will then occur at an increased frequency. Cleaning regularly is the answer - either by regularly using the yacht or a quick wipe down - before hard growth develops.

But to answer the query - we have no issues with the Velox primer, just follow the instructions to the letter and abrade as a aggressively as you can (when you rub a rag on the abraded surface the rag should 'catch').

We are getting a full 12 months in the water, its warm and growth is quick. We will touch up, its now 14 months, to eke it out to the full 24 months - then strip and re-apply, hopefully only needing minor touch up to the primer.

Jonathan
 
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Well this year i put two coats of primer and things look better indeed. Still wondering if there is a way to have a better result.......
 
vasant said:
Well this year i put two coats of primer and things look better indeed. Still wondering if there is a way to have a better result.......
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That looks like the same propeller as mine - Radice. I couldn't get the primer to stick either despite rigorous cleaning and abrading. I wondered if there was residual grease on the blades. I shared the primer and paint with two other club members with fixed blade propellers and they had no trouble with it.
 
Exactly radice.
I also follow instructions very carefully. I use gloves and a new brush for each coat. Still no success.....
 
You need to make sure the prop is grease free - abrading it simply rubs the grease into the same pores you want to use to key the primer.

There are enough people who get the primer to work to suggest it is possible - though no-one suggests its easy nor do we know why some are successful and some not.

Jonathan
 
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