Masking epoxy primers, remove wet or dry?

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sharmajm

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I am about to apply a number of coats of epoxy primer to my hull prior to antifouling. I am worried that if I leave the masking tape until all the layers are dry I will have problems when I take it off, however, I don't fancy masking up five times.

What has everyone else done?
 
Re: Masking epoxy primers, remove wet or dry?

Yep, agree with John, go to B and Q, or similar DIY outlet and buy the Scotch made '14 day' masking tape. It's long rolls (50 metre) and will last a lot longer than the 14 days without welding itself to your hull!

The last lot I bought, about 5 weeks ago, were on offer - a pack of three rolls for £9.30.

Excellent stuff.

Cheers Jerry
 
Hi

Having done the same in the past it wasn't the masking tape sticking to the hull that was the problem, but the resin drying on the tape. This cause a few tears in the tape as it was taken off and a "ripple" effect to the top edge of the primer. Did the second and third coats taking the tape off straight away. Do you need five coats?


Phil
 
[ QUOTE ]
Do you need five coats?

[/ QUOTE ]


I wondered this when I did my hull a week or so ago, as International, on the side of the Gelshield 200 tins, advise "at least" 6 coats of epoxy.

I put two tins on as far as they would go. About four and half coats - the last one stretched out! I had no osmosis, so this was prevention as opposed to cure.

As for tape, I used the blue fine line long lasting tape, and it came off no problem after the epoxy and two coats of antifouling.
 
Thanks for advice so far. I am definitely more worried about a rough edge to the epoxy primer rather than getting it off the gel coat. I will probably err on the cautious side and take it off after each coat.

I was told to put 5 coats on my steel keels and 3 over the rest of the hull. This was by a guy who mainly worked on industrial vessels.
 
Jon

We had just two coats on the hull and steel keels and it lasted YEARS. We went from UK, through France and into Med and was only re-newed during major refit. There were only two POSSIBLE osmosis bubbles on the entire hull and keel area and when tested by a surveyor werte far below any stage of being a problem. The boat was 23years old at that point and always stayed on the water, not lifted out over winter.

Phil
 
G'day Jon,

It will take only minutes to start curing but several days to reach full hardness, this is when the tape can be difficult to remove.

Bottom line: if you plan to apply all coats in one day, leave the tape on till the last coat has been applied then remove the tape, the paint will be dry to the touch but still soft enough to come away easy.

If you plan to do the application over several days, just remove the tape at the end of each day.

Avagoodweekend......
 
The best way is to do as advised by Wessex and use electricians insulating tape. It's far stronger and much more durable than masking tape and came away clean the day after applying five coats
 
A FINE LINE MASKING TAPE is best as it does not allow any bleeding underneath it and also leaves a very clean paint line after removal.

A range of these tape are available from a company called:

JTAPE on +44 1477 532244

JTAPE
 
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