Stripping flaky old antifoul with a...

[Sailing steve]

...hot air gun and a scraper?

With just a little heat I found I could easily scrape several layers off in one go on a test patch and get down to the gellcoat with very little any effort which I like very much.

This looks way too easy compared with faffing about with chemical strippers that don't do what it says on the tin or crippling my arms and shoulders with a Baco scraper whilst dodging lungfuls of toxic dust.

Any reason why not to carry on?

 

[ChromeDome]

Do not inhale the fumes.

 

[Freebee]

wear a mask that is specifically designed to stop fumes

 

[wallacebob]

Fumes, heat damage to gel coat. I used a Bahco to fully strip, easier than you think when you get the knack and rhythm . Spread over several days to minimise aches. Grind off blade corner edges to reduce scoring.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

...hot air gun and a scraper?

With just a little heat I found I could easily scrape several layers off in one go ...

... heat damage to gel coat. ....

Sailing steve's discovery looks far better than scraping. But what temperature is too hot? Could you always touch the gelcoat with finger tips, if so, maybe that is cool enough. Or is resin super sensitive to heat or quite robust against heat?

What type of anti foul Sailing steve?

Interested because this is a task I am facing.

 

[Stemar]

Me too, watching with interest. The last time I did it I used a Bosch power scraper, but they don't seem to make them any more, and I'm 20 years older now, which doesn't help

 

[Sandy]

Ensure you have a pot of money for chiropractor appointments to sort out neck and back problems.

 

[B27]

If the antifoul is flaking already, it may come off a lot easier when it's been ashore a few months.

Antifoul is funny stuff and varies a lot.

 

[PCUK]

...hot air gun and a scraper?

With just a little heat I found I could easily scrape several layers off in one go on a test patch and get down to the gellcoat with very little any effort which I like very much.

This looks way too easy compared with faffing about with chemical strippers that don't do what it says on the tin or crippling my arms and shoulders with a Baco scraper whilst dodging lungfuls of toxic dust.

Any reason why not to carry on?

Carry on, it's a good method. Keep heat to a minimum, GRP stands a lot of heat in temperate climates so you won't have any problems.

 

[KevinV]

After my own recent efforts I wistfully remembered the industrial hot water powerwasher I used at a job many moons ago - I bet one would remove antifouling from gelcoat. Has anyone tried one?

 

[DFL1010]

...hot air gun and a scraper?

With just a little heat I found I could easily scrape several layers off in one go on a test patch and get down to the gellcoat with very little any effort which I like very much.

This looks way too easy compared with faffing about with chemical strippers that don't do what it says on the tin or crippling my arms and shoulders with a Baco scraper whilst dodging lungfuls of toxic dust.

Any reason why not to carry on?

What are you doing on the capture/disposal side?

 

[Snowgoose-1]

Brilliant off piste idea.
Providing it all works out OK.
Like others, watching with interest.

 

[Sailing steve]

Brilliant off piste idea.
Providing it all works out OK.
Like others, watching with interest.

Well more Googling required re fibreglass and gelcoat tolerance to heat obviously before I either turn my boat into a mass of light brown micro cracks or put fire into a heap of smouldering, resin-loaded chemicals in a crowded boatyard.

Disposal is no different to cold scraping or chemical stripping - tarp underneath and bagging and binning the remnants, but the two elephants in the room are toxicity of heated antifoul on my ex-twenty a day lungs and any long term effects on the gellcoat after heating. As far as the first goes then obviously working outside with a bit of a breeze and some facemasky type protection from fumes is a no-brainer but the second clearly needs some more investigation with regards to long term heat effects.

But right here and right now and on my boat a test patch of some 10x10cm on several different colours of crusty antifoul adding up to one or two mm thick came off really easily, and I discovered that almost by accident when I was stripping an old vinyl stripe boot top some bottomless pit of talent had decided to antifoul over on my boat at sometime in the past using no more heat than you'd need for stripping a few coats of oil based domestic paint off some woodwork.

If that works and there's no reason why anybody wouldn't grab a hot air gun then why aren't all the DIY boating magazines promoting the cunning heat and scraper plan rather than taking paid advertising from manufacturers of chemical stripping products and expensive scrapers?

Ah... Right.

Editor got his eye on advertising revenue maybe, or am I going to really regret this?

 

[ProDave]

I am tempted to try this, but powering an electric heat gun would require lots of very long extension leads or a bigger generator than I own.

I do have a gas blowtorch that i use for pipe soldering and have used for paint stripping. Obviously more care needed as it it easier to overdo it.

 

[KAM]

Cheap caustic soda worked for me the last time I did it.

 

[robmcg]

I personally wouldn't apply heat. If you heat it too much (probably by accident) it can cause the fibreglass layup to become brittle. I stripped a 40ft long keeler using a scraper with a tungsten blade as described by others on here. It's tough work but if you do it bit by bit it isn't too bad. Intensive stripping resulted in hands like claws and difficulty raising my arms above my shoulders .

 

[Pete7]

but the two elephants in the room are toxicity of heated antifoul

What makes you think antifoul paint is in anyway toxic

 

[Daydream believer]

What makes you think antifoul paint is in anyway toxic

Makes me ill just looking at it. I have to have Coppercoat on the hull because any sanding of antifoul quickly causes migraine attacks. I can do the keel only, but have to do it in 4 goes, even though it is erodable & less than 4 M2 & easy to get at.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

What makes you think antifoul paint is in anyway toxic

Fertilizer is poisonous too you know