Removal of coppercoat and gel coat etc

catmandoo

catmandoo

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Have to report that removing copper coat, epoxy layer and gel coat with heat gun and electric scraper working just fine despite opinions of armchair pundits.


Fears about heat gun unjustified due to low wattage . Residual heat afterwards no hotter than adjacent areas heated by afternoon sun in Greece

As noted in previous post purchase of gel peeler at £1450 plus vat and £7.50 for 2 blades for one off operation not a practical proposition .

/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
Bosch type scraper /chisel plus Black and Decker and /or Skil controllable 1 to 1.5 Kw heat guns

Scraper and heat gun must work together . Good means of control for accurate finish but on 9 m catamaran estimate about 10 hrs a hull side taking into account changing profiles , awkward areas and skin fittings . Say 40 hours to clear the lot .

Quite interesting exposing areas where previous repair work some of it poor has been revealed

Not fast but not as heavy or as dusty as holding a grinder which could run away and score the matting when arms sore or concentration wanes
 
yes got high moisture content despite coppercoat protection so removing gel coat and overcoat of gel shield and replacing with 5/6 layers epoxy etc.
For info reckon cost of labour for removal about 850 euros compared with quote from grit blaster of 1500 euros

Reckon its worth it before applying the expensive Jotun static antifoul which the expat liveaboards seem to use out here .

Mind you Coppercoat has been on for 6.5 years and boat has been more in water than out . When I got it about 4 years ago surveyor did not find any high moisture levels so I suppose collapse has been since then possibly in underlying epoxy which I understood from contractor has a life of about 7 years
 
how long have you been in the med,i know you had/have the problem of the coppercoat coming of but that that was on there did it work?
you may have read the ost i n which i'm trying to establish how good coppercoat is in warmer waters and what anti foul works in warmer waters,
have fun,time for a beer now i expect
 
Boat has been in the med since Sept 2002 . In Sardinia initially kept in Marina in river so had only slime on hull . In North Sardinia , Castelsardo while static in month of August had dense encrustations of coral on hull which looked like a hedge hog . Similarly in other years to the present.

Growth at worst when static in hot summer months . In Corfu similar and in Prevesa instead of coral had dense barnacle growth all over . twice in 3 months . So my experience is that it does not work in this environment

A point has been made to me that in general a boat spends more time at berth than moving so I should be looking at a static antifoulant such as Jotun Seaquantum Ultra .

The proof of the pudding is in the eating so they say so we shall see
 
G'day Catmandoo,

Just a tip on epoxy coating the hulls. When treating for boat pox (Osmosis) we first go over the hull and make sure it is smooth and fair, removing any highs and filling any lows then running a torture board over the whole thing.

After cleaning a single coat of epoxy resin is applied and a lightweight layer of roving's is added, this ensures any exposed glass strands are covered; the next coat will have some closed cell balloons added to fill the faint pattern left by the roving layer. This is allowed to cure and after washing, more coats of resin are applied with a roller and tipped off with a good brush or foam tool and more coats added wet on tacky to avoid more sanding.

After the last coat has been applied and cured it gets another wash then a light sanding with a 200 grit, just enough to reduce the very high gloss, another wash and dry, then apply a couple of coats of high build epoxy primer.

Have never a problem after using this method, just make sure you don't start too early in the day or work too long into the afternoon or the humidity will undo all your efforts. I never apply an epoxy with humidity above 72%. In reality this means first mix about 1000 hrs, last mix around 1430 hrs.

I hope this helps.

Avagoodweekend......
 
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