noelex
Well-Known Member
The most important step is keep saltwater away from the motor/gearbox as much as possible, but there are some coatings that can provide additional protection.
As you say conventional coatings such as silicon/WD 40 are not likely to do much. The best option is the very thick waxy/oily products that are sprayed into car body cavities such as the inside of doors. These products are designed to provide long term corrosion protection of painted steel and to stay in place with vibration, heat etc even on vertical surfaces. Just what we require. This coating is recommended by some windlass manufacturers.
The second option is Denso tape. I have never used this but other owners report good results.
One cation I would add is that windlass motors generate a lot of heat. You need to be careful that when protecting the motor from salt spray with baffles, and covering the motor in thick goop, that the cooling is still adequate. I installed a bilge blower to force a high volume of air at the windlass motor. This forced cooling is common trick used to convert electric motors from an intermittent to a constant rating (windlass motors are only intermittently rated). As well as improving cooling the blower sucks relatively dry air and blows away salt laden air. The blowers are not expensive, and only consume an amp or so. They can wired to run whenever the windlass circuit breaker is activated, or only when the windlass is running. They are, however, noisy.
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We have blowers in each engine room (sounds grand - room is a euphemism) - the engine noise drowns them out.