S/S trim tabs - Antifoul or Polish.

[sharpness]

The joy of antifouling is planned for this weekend, and initially i was going to antifoul the stainless steel trim tabs, but i've noticed there seems to be some boats which have their tabs antifouled and others which just have them polished to bare metal. Is there any particular reason why you should not antifoul stainless steel trim tabs ?

P.s Should point out i do have button anode on each trim tab and the boat is on shafts. Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[rafiki_]

Rafiki's are not a/f'd. The fouling jet washed off ok last time she was lifted.

 

[Dill et Bound]

In my case I dont bother with antifoul on the SS tabs, as rafiki says it just washes off..
I have button anodes on mine, bolted through. So they are well protected..
At the end of the season I just release them from the rams, remove the anodes, wire brush them, Wet and Dry sandpaper them [medium], Reassemble.
I do dry out at least twice a month in the summer, and when I do use a scrubbing brush on them as required....Never huge amount on them...But that does make a difference..

 

[Firefly625]

I have ss trim tabs, mine I anti foul. Stayed on all season.

 

[[2068]]

Antifoul the lower surface.
Rub down the upper surface to look good, no mechanical benefit.

 

[MapisM]

I have button anodes on mine, bolted through. So they are well protected..

LOL, I wish anodes were effective for fouling protection...
In answer to the OP question, nope, there's no reason at all.
Yes, polished s/steel might not attract fouling as much as other u/w gear parts, but it's just a matter of taking a bit longer.
If the boat stays in the water for months, it makes sense to have tabs antifouled, even s/steel ones (without painting the anodes, obviously).
The problem might be to prime them properly, in order to make a/f stick on them, but that's a different matter...

 

[paultallett]

I did a test a few years back. One year no antifoul, next year primed then antifouled, final year just antifouled. My advice would be to clean them up, a couple of coats of antifoul and job done. I found it didn't make much difference if I primed or not, the paint was still just about off by the end of the season. At least having some on there slowed the growth down, where as when they were un painted I was constantly scrubbing as best I could to keep them foul free.

At the end of each season when's she's lifted I clean them back to bare stainless and start again. Works for me

 

[CX54WEK]

We just scrape and polish ours. Looks better IMO.

 

[AllanG]

Had the same dilemma last October when antifouling my boat, and decided to try this year without a/f the trim tabs and, so far, they look in reasonable condition, but will have to wait until October for the final result.

 

[sharpness]

Thank you all for the replies and opinions. As it appears there is no issue in doing so, then I'll stick with the original plan and antifoul the trim tabs.

 

[Mymobo]

Can anyone advise the best way to clean and then polish them?

 

[[2068]]

I just used a flap-wheel on a small cordless drill.

 

[jrh_mechs]

Fast Cut by 3m worked wonders on mine polished up a treat

 

[jfm]

I think its personal choice and no big deal, but I don't antifoul my s/s tabs and cylinders, nor my s/s hi-lo platform mechanism. I just don't like to see them glooped up with yukky paint. I usually lift mid season for a jet-wash, and find this method works ok for me. But I can see the opposite point of view too - to antifoul everything.

 

[tcm]

I believe the metallurgical wisdom is to leave stainless steel un-glooped/unpainted, assemble dry, in order to er prevent er summing to do with lack of oxygen buggering up the stainlessness. Massively polishing things is very good as well, to inhibit the crevice corrosion. My dad knew all about this sorta stuff, but he's dead. Nothing to do with stainless steel, he was just old. He wasn't painted with antifoul either and lasted 84 years, so i reckon all things considered and some things disregarded, best don't paint underwater things that are stainless steel.

 

[MapisM]

Well, if that isn't the ultimate thought on this rather old thread, I don't know what else could be...!

 

[Freeloader]

When I bought my boat last year, the surveyor said to just leave them shiny (as they were) as painting them can sometimes cause other issues (electrolisis, I think?).

However, by mid season they were well and truly covered in all sorts of growth - I think that next season I will try antifouling them!

 

[omega2]

Two years worth of crud, Looks like a jungle,

Under water was not bad, so I reckon it's because they offer a nice place for weed to grow?

 

[rafiki_]

I spray mine with the TK antifoul from Force 4. Not perfect by any means, but worth a try.

 

[Portofino]

The guys in the factory A/f ,d all the stern gear when I collected it -so I kinda thought they know best (Med) ie not really thought about it

Here you are tabs -which as worked well -kept this feature

Rest of the stern gear inc bathing platform SSteel supports partially done -just the submerged bits -that's worked well

But at the Easter lift out annual -every body else in the ship yard seemed to have polished stern gear. -so we took if off the props/rudders -I have a diving kit ,but even without holding ones breath with a snorkel takes 20-30 mins to scape up when we arrive ( nice local anchorage I hassen to add )
We left it on and reprinted the flaps ,rams,and submerged frame .
I,am new to this so learning on the job .The props /rudders it stayed on but had a rough surface .Also I wanted the stuff off to properly inspect them ,so we went down the shinny metal route .