Neeves
Well-Known Member
I'm not a one fetish person, I have other drives - one of which is AF, including props. We have tried all, or most of the treatments (new ones keep appearing).
Currently the answers appear to be Prop Gold, Speed, Glide or variants and Velox, pending Vyv's results with electro copper coating. Both Velox and Prop Speed, Gold, Glide really rely on movement to keep the prop clean.
Prop Speed's major disadvantage is (was?) that they would only allow appointed applicators to treat ones prop and for some reason costs were horrendous (and you can teach monkeys to apply the product). I know this as in order to test Prop Gold I went through an applicator's induction course and am a certified applicator.
A couple of cautionary notes - Prop Speed is reputed to be possibly carcinogenic and Prop Speed have introduced an acid product for removal (as dust in the air is an issue). This increases costs - but may not meet approval in some yards. Secondly if you apply one of these silicone coatings and then change your mind and want to apply something else (and more conventional) you need to clean and abrade assiduously - as if you leave any silicone on the prop - nothing will stick.
The increased competition appears to have 'forced' a different marketing approach and here, in Oz, you can now buy over the counter (without any applicator training and certification) small applicator kits from both Sea Hawk and Prop Speed. Looking at the Prop Glide brochure it seems their small kit might do 2 or 3 smallish props (buy together with a mate).
I'm not advocating Velox nor one of these silicone coatings - to us they are better than anything else we have tried - but not yet 'perfect' (prop life is less than hull life). I don't know comparative costs. And importantly I don't know if the Oz market reflects what might be happening in Europe - it might be worth checking. I think Prop Gold have sales in Europe, but not necessarily the UK.
I asked International, yesterday, what their recommendation was for props - surprisingly they said speak to Prop Speed, they did not seem to know much about Velox (maybe poor market penetration here).
As with any of these treatments - follow the application instruction religiously as doing it 'your way' might result in poor adhesion. Then keep the prop moving, run the engine as often as possible - at least just for a few minutes. In order to get 2 years life from Velox, to compare with the performance of our hull AF, we beached at one year, lightly abraded and re-coated with Velox (much easier with a cat).
At the 2 year point we will power wash, re-coat with fresh AF (Jotun SeaQuantum Ultra, sadly I do not think allowed in the EC), strip the Velox down to primer for one prop (we have had no issues with the Velox primer) and re-coat with white Velox. The other prop we will be trialling with Prop Glide. We might also run a test panel of Sea Hawk's AFs
Jonathan
Currently the answers appear to be Prop Gold, Speed, Glide or variants and Velox, pending Vyv's results with electro copper coating. Both Velox and Prop Speed, Gold, Glide really rely on movement to keep the prop clean.
Prop Speed's major disadvantage is (was?) that they would only allow appointed applicators to treat ones prop and for some reason costs were horrendous (and you can teach monkeys to apply the product). I know this as in order to test Prop Gold I went through an applicator's induction course and am a certified applicator.
A couple of cautionary notes - Prop Speed is reputed to be possibly carcinogenic and Prop Speed have introduced an acid product for removal (as dust in the air is an issue). This increases costs - but may not meet approval in some yards. Secondly if you apply one of these silicone coatings and then change your mind and want to apply something else (and more conventional) you need to clean and abrade assiduously - as if you leave any silicone on the prop - nothing will stick.
The increased competition appears to have 'forced' a different marketing approach and here, in Oz, you can now buy over the counter (without any applicator training and certification) small applicator kits from both Sea Hawk and Prop Speed. Looking at the Prop Glide brochure it seems their small kit might do 2 or 3 smallish props (buy together with a mate).
I'm not advocating Velox nor one of these silicone coatings - to us they are better than anything else we have tried - but not yet 'perfect' (prop life is less than hull life). I don't know comparative costs. And importantly I don't know if the Oz market reflects what might be happening in Europe - it might be worth checking. I think Prop Gold have sales in Europe, but not necessarily the UK.
I asked International, yesterday, what their recommendation was for props - surprisingly they said speak to Prop Speed, they did not seem to know much about Velox (maybe poor market penetration here).
As with any of these treatments - follow the application instruction religiously as doing it 'your way' might result in poor adhesion. Then keep the prop moving, run the engine as often as possible - at least just for a few minutes. In order to get 2 years life from Velox, to compare with the performance of our hull AF, we beached at one year, lightly abraded and re-coated with Velox (much easier with a cat).
At the 2 year point we will power wash, re-coat with fresh AF (Jotun SeaQuantum Ultra, sadly I do not think allowed in the EC), strip the Velox down to primer for one prop (we have had no issues with the Velox primer) and re-coat with white Velox. The other prop we will be trialling with Prop Glide. We might also run a test panel of Sea Hawk's AFs
Jonathan
