Prop protection and Lanolin

[SABREMAN]

Just a reminder (and possibly an item for debate). Took the boat out of the water on Monday and the antifouling had worked fine here in Milford Haven. Just a even layer of green slime over the hull which was easily removed to leave a clean, well attached layer of antifouling showing minimal wear. On the prop however I'd tried using the old wool fat/Lanolin as acquired from the chemists, and so this was the genuine article. Result --- a thick layer of barnacles all fighting for any left over space to attach themselves to the blade. I wondered why my chugging up and down the creek had seemed different over the last few weeks. Next year I'm back to several coats of Awlgrip to stop the little bu**ers.
Also the prop shaft anode had worked so well one of the bolts had fallen out and the anode was left rattling on the shaft!!!!!!
Ah the joys of discovering jobs for the winter.

 

[Krusty]

[ QUOTE ]
.....possibly an item for debate. ............Ah the joys of discovering jobs for the winter.

[/ QUOTE ]
I had a few scattered barnacles on the hull this year, all in the vicinity of the sterngear. I have never antifouled the propeller, and occasionally had a few on it, so this Spring, while using some ACF lubricant in the vicinity, I gave it a coating. This year, not a single barnacle on it.

 

[Madeo]

100%in agreement concerning the lanolin...it doesn't work!

Anyone want to buy a pot of lanolin??

 

[ex-Gladys]

Oi, join the queue!! My lanolin has been for sale for three years!

 

[Goldie]

My neighbour and I tried an experiment. Our boats are moored 50yds apart; I bright polished my prop and he used the heat/lanolin treatment. I win /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I reckon he had at least 3 times the growth I had (Portsmouth Hr).

 

[Slowtack]

Lanolin worked very well for me last two years. After about 8 weeks I dried out the boat and re-applied as it had thinned out somewhat on the blades. At the end of the season there was some light growth in a few spots but nothing like what I experienced using a proprietary antifoul aerosol spray, can't remember the name.

 

[jerryat]

Yep, same result down here in Devon. I always burnish my prop to a real mirror finish and then finish with a couple of coats of Starbrite Teflon polish. The prop came out totally clear of any fouling. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

But then it does that every year!! Friends have tried all sorts of methods, including lanolin, but nothing has yet beaten the mirror finish. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Impaler]

Some say mix the lanolin with chilli powder!

 

[doug748]

I agree, last winter I burnished to a high shine and it worked very well. Strangely, it had a thin layer of green but when scraped off still held a mirror finish.

 

[Poignard]

Until 2006 my prop was always antifouled. In the spring of 2006 I thought I'd better scrape it and check that it wasn't suffering from de-zincification; it wasn't. As an experiment, I decided to polish it and coat with Lanocoat.

The fouling on the prop when lifted out at the end of 2006 was terrible, whereas the hull only had a slight coating of slime.

So I've gone back to anti-fouling it.

 

[wiggy]

how do you polish the prop?

 

[Poignard]

I scraped off the antifoul paint, then wirebrushed the prop using an twist-knot brush in an angle grinder, then went at it with wet-dry- abrasive paper.

 

[Trundlebug]

To really polish it to a mirror finish, the best way is to use a polishing mop in a drill or flexi-drive.
When I say polishing mop, I don't mean those soft fluffy woollen things for cars, I mean the industrial metal polishing mop, with a bar of polishing "soap". They're used extensively in the metal polishing industry prior to plating (e.g. chrome plating) and it works really well on brass and quite well on bronze props too.
Screwfix or other suppliers sell the kits, well worth the money, useful for all sorts of things (inc. polishing the wife's wedding ring!)

 

[Miker]

I've burnished my Autoprop over the years, perhaps not vigorously enough. Last Autumn I noticed that the engine revs and performance were decreasing, and on lifting out I found that the prop blades were very badly encrusted with clumps of limpets on top of limpets. This Spring I coated the blades with PropShield, a lanolin based gung. On lifting out this Autumn, there were only three small limpets on the blades. The body of the prop and the prop shaft which were left burnished were badly encrusted and the limpets had also encrusted the bottom of the keel, despite antifouling.
I noticed that the prop anode was badly worn, I suspect because the prop itself remained clean.