My copper coat has failed again. Prime before antifoul yes/no?

Buck Turgidson

Buck Turgidson

Well-Known Member
Joined
10 Apr 2012
Messages
3,628
Location
Zürich
Visit site
OK so for the second year since application my copper coated hull has more life than the Great Barrier Reef and rather than having it "reactivated" as I did last year I'm moving on.
So it's back to traditional antifoul this year.
The question is why use primer over the top? The CC website suggests using an epoxy primer but I've also read that there is no chemical bond. Given that CC is epoxy based what's the point of using primer with eroding antifoul? surely if I abrade the CC it would be the same as antifouling over primer?

This is definitely not my area of expertise so all comments and suggestions welcome. Cost is not the issue nor time. Just practicality.

Edit to add some media links:
 
I used seajet 033 shogun over coppercoat on my keel & just put the antifoul straight on to it. No issue whatsoever after a light abrading.
I started by only doing the deepest 600mm as that was the bit that stuck in the mud in the marina. However, as you have proved CC does not work. So I later did all the keel, because of rust spot issues. Then lift the boat mid season for a jet wash all over as well as the clean hull at the start of the season. The seajet 033 performs very well & rarely needs jet washing. Only the cc coated hull. I do prime the keel rust spots prior to antifoul most years with 2 pack primer, then paint
 
I've just done the same on my Southerly 46RS.
I tested putting International micro 350 on the bottom of the lifting keel over 2 years. I discovered that if you abrade the copper coat it adheres well, if you just jet wash it, it doesn't.
I wasn't entirely unhappy with he coppercoat, it was first applied in 2012, and worked Ok for a while.
The problem has been maintaining it. Patches require 5 coats of coppercoat, wet on tack, with a minimum temperature of 10C to get it to go off in a reasonable time, and dry weather.
In NW Scotland that's a big ask, in 2023 and 24, I struggled to get the patches dry enough to launch in early April, resorting to a hot air gun to try and hurry it along, which was only partially successful.
This year I put 2 coats of very expensive Micro 350 on after sanding the coppercoat back, in beautiful weather ..... I think that the weather goods were having a good laugh:rolleyes:
 
In my case, the CopperCoat was first applied over the winter of 2012/13.
It didn't suddenly stop working, it just became less effective and harder to maintain. I first noticed it around the end of the 2022 season.
 
Buck Turgidson said:
OK so for the second year since application my copper coated hull has more life than the Great Barrier Reef and rather than having it "reactivated" as I did last year I'm moving on.
So it's back to traditional antifoul this year.
The question is why use primer over the top? The CC website suggests using an epoxy primer but I've also read that there is no chemical bond. Given that CC is epoxy based what's the point of using primer with eroding antifoul? surely if I abrade the CC it would be the same as antifouling over primer?

This is definitely not my area of expertise so all comments and suggestions welcome. Cost is not the issue nor time. Just practicality.

Edit to add some media links:
Click to expand...
Coppercoat is proven to work and haven’t changed the formula since inception. So the first question is what did you do wrong and how can you fix it?
If you really want to antifoul over the top then follow the anifoul manufacturers instructions. The fact that you are going over Coppercoat is irrelevant.
 
Elessar said:
Coppercoat is proven to work and haven’t changed the formula since inception. So the first question is what did you do wrong and how can you fix it?
If you really want to antifoul over the top then follow the anifoul manufacturers instructions. The fact that you are going over Coppercoat is irrelevant.
Click to expand...
I think what I did wrong was get a professional boatyard and official copper coat distributer to put it on at great expense! But thank's for your input.
 
Graham_Wright said:
Did you com[lain to Coppercoat?fied & ended up antifouling over the stuff
Click to expand...
I complained & they were so up their own rear end that they would not listen. Just kept saying that their product works. I tried to point out that numerous yards who do jet washing say to the contrary & that I know owners who are very dissatisfied & end up painting over it.
 
I find it’s not any form of miracle. It works for me as it’s no worse than conventional antifoul but it’s much more scrubbable. And I’m prepared to scrub it. Freshly scrubbed, it’s super smooth and very fast. If you’re going to park your boat for weeks at a time, it’s going to be a disappointment. You need to be moving, or scrubbing.
 
Chiara’s slave said:
I find it’s not any form of miracle. It works for me as it’s no worse than conventional antifoul but it’s much more scrubbable. And I’m prepared to scrub it. Freshly scrubbed, it’s super smooth and very fast. If you’re going to park your boat for weeks at a time, it’s going to be a disappointment. You need to be moving, or scrubbing.
Click to expand...
Exactly.
And when it comes to your lift out you can just do a lift and overnight hold, change your anodes, paint your stern gear and splash again.
Maximises boating time.
 
Buck Turgidson said:
I think what I did wrong was get a professional boatyard and official copper coat distributer to put it on at great expense! But thank's for your input.
Click to expand...
Then they should be helping you because presumably you gave them a lot of money.

It doesn’t work straight away. It takes 3 months to get to full strength. So the first year is always the worst.

If you launch when the water is warm, sometime slime can form before it corrodes. That’s a problem and you need a jet wash or diver scrub.
Some people sand it back every year. And have a year 1 every year. Nowhere in the instructions does it say to do that. You may need to do it after year 6 or 7.

Activation means taking the shine off with a scotchbrite pad. Not hard sanding. All you are doing is taking the shiny resin off the top of some copper particles so they are in contact with the water and can start to corrode.

What colour is it. Brown, black or green?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top