Cast Iron Keel

[Esperanza1]

Hi,
Just wondering who might have had great success with a particulat cast iron keel protectant and coating system.
Alfred

 

[Jackdaw]

easy. POR-15

http://www.por15.com/

 

[py26129]

easy. POR-15

http://www.por15.com/

A BIG +1 on POR-15.

Follow the instructions and make sure you get none on your hands. if you do, make sure you like the colour because it will be there for a while.

Matt

 

[sailingandsuch]

Wow! That stuff looks pretty good to me! I will have to buy some. It's pricey but I guess it's worth the cost?

 

[Richard Bryer]

I used POR-15 on one side of my keel 3 years ago this spring. I used a wire wheel on an angle grinder first- very messy job. I did my best to get down to bare metal as much as possible. After 2 summers in fresh water, there are some places where rust is starting to seep through. I would suggest sand blasting to make sure NO rust is still there. I am not sure how well POR-15 will serve as a base for fairing compound as you will need to fair the hull after sandblasting and coating. I would use one of their prep products- probably the Marine Clean before applying the POR-15

 

[kloudie1]

Did my cast iron keel 5 years ago with Interprotect 2000 .. No rust so far in bayou, brackish, and salty waters. Key of any of these coatings is to get to the DFC (dry final coat) dimension specified.. Interprotect is 10 mills or about 4 coats.

 

[Warren Milberg]

I used to use, and recommend, POR-15 on the cast iron keel of my H28.5. It was ok for a few years then the rust began to return in a number of places. This may have been due to the fact that I was unable to remove all of the old coatings on my keel, sand it down to bare metal, etch it, before I applied the POR-15. In subsequent conversations with some techs at Interlux, they convinced me that POR-15 was not an adequate underwater protectant and that their Primocon would be a better choice. While I wondered about their objectivity, I did try the Primocon and it was worked somewhat better than the POR-15. I think the key with any kind of paint project is how complete and appropriate your prep work is.

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

I've had excellent results with Coal Tar Epoxy. It's used as a coating on offshore platforms, rigs and buoys.

 

[kloudie1]

TSBB yup.. We used coal tar epoxy around barges and stuff to keep 'em from rusting. I had blisters on my Spirit 23 back when blisters were just beginning to be understood (1983 ish). I used coal tar epoxy to coat the bottom after blister repair and never had another blister. Good stuff.. very tough coating

 

[Tim R.]

I used to use that on the frame of my race Spitfire. Stuff is amazing if it can stop British steel from rusting!

 

[hutch5151]

I have tried many products on the cast iron keel of my Elite 37. The one with the longest durability (going on 8 years now, with only a few pinhole rust spots on each haul out) is the Interlux Interprotect system. First with their recommend vinyl-lux chromate primer and then the Interprotect 2000 system.

 

[Cool Beans]

I've had issues on truck parts with POR-15 or other "paint over rust" paint processes. . .what I've read is the wire wheel polishes the under lying rust/metal and doesn't give the coating much to convert/bite into. . .

For the keel, has anyone thought of having it sand blasted and then Herculined? Untextured of course

 

[TLW]

I used VC-Tar - coal tar epoxy - on my Merit 25 racer in 1984. Smooth as glass (sprayed) and still there in 1996 when I sold the boat. In our shop we used Interprotect 2000 on customers' iron keels with good success. I appreciate the earlier post concerning arriving at an acceptable thickness. I don't know how many ads Ive seen for used boats bragging about "3 coats of Int 2000!" A complete waste of money. If you don't put on enough, you might as well not put on any.

 

[TLW]

I should quickly add that that was a number of years ago. Primocon didn't exist at that time, to my knowledge. Probably a better product if I'lux recommends it for that specific purpose.

 

[Harlan]

Took mine to bare metal with grinder and coarse wire brush on grinder for areas with casting pits. Wipe down and IMMEDIATELY coat with Interprotect 2000. Coat within in few hours and did this on a low humidity dry day. Faired with West System and then more coats of Interprotect. Baltoplate and wet sand. Several years later it still looks beautiful.

 

[saildog]

I used VC Tar on my keel over 6 years ago and it's still as good as day one. Surface prep is very important too. I used a product called Ospho to clean and etch the surface before applying the VC Tar. It's self leveling so the surface was nice and smooth after 4-5 coats. I put the bottom paint right over the tar and it's been in very salty water for 6 years.