I have used a prop spray paint for barnacles for 30 years in the Chesapeake Bay. It is no longer effective. By winter haul out, clusters on prop are basket ball size. Any recommendations, spray or brush on.
Heavy barnacle attack on prop and drive shaft.
- Thread starter SeaLuff
- Start date
I just tried Crystal Prop this year and so far have been pleased with it. In the same vein as Prop Speed, but less expensive. Engough to do 2-4 props in one kit.
1 year I had a complete and total failure of my prop spray. I use either Pettit PropCoat #1792 or Interlux Inter Zinc.
Not together, but I alternate every other year or so. It actually comes down to what I have in my paint supplies on the day I’m painting the bottom.
I have been using the same products, year after year but one year I got this:
The only thing I can attribute this failure to was, that year I really got into cleaning the prop. And bringing it back to showroom new shine. It looked marvelous but that is what I got in return.
So now, year after year, using the same two products, I have never had more than 5 or 6 barnacles on the prop and shaft.
Now My prep is, I scrape off any that are there and lightly sand the prop with 150 grit paper. Leaving a roughed up surface of the old paint, getting it almost down to the metal. But never seeing the shining bronze underneath.
It works for me.
Not together, but I alternate every other year or so. It actually comes down to what I have in my paint supplies on the day I’m painting the bottom.
I have been using the same products, year after year but one year I got this:
The only thing I can attribute this failure to was, that year I really got into cleaning the prop. And bringing it back to showroom new shine. It looked marvelous but that is what I got in return.
So now, year after year, using the same two products, I have never had more than 5 or 6 barnacles on the prop and shaft.
Now My prep is, I scrape off any that are there and lightly sand the prop with 150 grit paper. Leaving a roughed up surface of the old paint, getting it almost down to the metal. But never seeing the shining bronze underneath.
It works for me.
Here's my prop after 8 months and 3400 nm using Crystal Prop. The last 2.5 months the boat didn't move. We were in a variety of waters, from freshwater to salt. I'm pretty happy with it.
The variation from year to year is not surprising. Differences in temperature, salinity, the chemical makeup of the water (Mineral content) and use pattern could yield years of barnacle bonanza and vice versa. There are so many variables I think it's difficult to blame one technique or another.
I'm not without the same issue. I wonder if it's a cyclical natural wonder for the Chesapeake Bay? For a few years I had pretty much a clean prop. Last year I noticed a build up. Still have it and I'm sure it's worse. This summer will pull the prop and exchange the anodes and install my newly refurbished three blade prop. I plan to follow Sailcapt 340's approach and see how it works.
It's my understanding from folks I've talked to that it is a specific problem on the Chesapeake. I haven't been here long enough to know personally. It is somewhat cyclic as in there are worse years and not so worse years. There imare also time frames during the sailing season with ebb and flows...
dj
Zinc spray has never worked for us, but perhaps it is more of a location thing, as many people do say they have good results with it.
Like @dlochner we also currently have Crystal Prop on ours. Our results haven't been as positive, but perhaps I should withhold judgement for a bit longer.
I posted the below in another forum. Forgive me for reposting it here, but it seems a good place for it:
In the past couple of years, we have tried two different antifouling/release treatments on our two 18" folding props.
The first was Pettit's Running Gear Guardian: Pettit | Running Gear Guardian
The RGG consists of a primer and an antifouling. The primer looks, smells, and appears to be Primocon, although that is made by Interlux, and the antifouling contains cuprous thiocyanate and zinc pyrithione. The smallest packaging of RGG is enough for many, many props, and has a stable shelf life for future use.
The props were bare metal to begin with, and prepped accordingly by sanding the surface, applying a coat of the primer and two coats of the antifouling. Upon returning to the water and using the engines, the antifouling mostly spun off the primer fairly quickly. It was all spun off within a month. The primer stayed adhered, but provided no antifouling properties.
Pettit Running Gear Guardian was a disaster and a complete waste of money for us.
Next, we applied Crystal Prop, which is a relatively unknown 2-component release-type antifouling for running gear. Crystal Prop — Yard Engineering There aren't many reviews of it, and we took a chance on it because it is much less expensive than others like Prop Speed. I had high hopes for it.
I followed the directions exactly, and used a wire cup brush on a grinder to bring the props to pure clean bare metal from the previous Guardian treatment, then sanded well with 80grit on a RO sander, and washed clean with acetone. The two parts were mixed well, and applied with a foam brush. After curing, the result was a completely smooth, slick, hard coating that looked great.
A couple of observations about the product itself. I bought the smallest amount sold, and that only cost $100. We have two 18" 3-blade props, and this was enough for at least 4 of our props, if not 6. Unfortunately, they say it only has a shelf life once opened of a few months, so this extra left over is of no future use. As for what this product is, it contains 3-(Trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate in one component, and iso-Butyl Methacrylate in the other component. I am familiar with 2-part automotive clear coats, and Crystal Prop looks, smells, mixes, applies, and acts exactly like the 2-part clear coats. I don't know what is in automotive clear coats, but this appears very similar to them.
Forward to being in use. The Crystal Prop coating began to release in small areas, starting at the blade edges within a couple of months. 6 months in, and it is about half released now. It doesn't stop growth, but growth comes off of it pretty easily, and mostly spins off when the props are used. I'm pretty sure it will all be spun off in the near future. The adhesion of this product was a disappointment, but it does seem to help with growth when it is(was) adhered.
I would not buy Crystal Prop again, although if I was seasonally boating and hauling, the kit and the shelf life would allow application in the spring before launch, and reapplication in the fall when hauled out. In this scenario, $100 for clean props over two seasons would be worth it.
Now for something completely unexpected. Our bottom step on each hull always gets grass growing on the gelcoat above the bottom paint line. Doesn't matter how high up we paint the bottom paint, although I suppose if we completely covered them it would stop. But that would look silly and we would get paint residue on us climbing aboard them.
I have some 2" teflon "millionaire's" tape that is normally used for chafe protection and making things slide, and on a whim I applied it to the steps above the bottom paint line. It is a slightly milky clear tape, and applied to the white gelcoat it is completely invisible.
This has worked brilliantly. Nothing sticks to it. Nothing at all. Sometimes it gets a bit of scum from contact adhesion, but this wipes right off. Heck, it sprays off with the stern shower. I'm considering putting it all along the hulls above the bottom paint like a boot stripe (it would actually go over our existing boot stripe). But it will be another few years before we haul out again.
Now if I can figure out how to get it on, and keep it on, the props.
Mark
Like @dlochner we also currently have Crystal Prop on ours. Our results haven't been as positive, but perhaps I should withhold judgement for a bit longer.
I posted the below in another forum. Forgive me for reposting it here, but it seems a good place for it:
In the past couple of years, we have tried two different antifouling/release treatments on our two 18" folding props.
The first was Pettit's Running Gear Guardian: Pettit | Running Gear Guardian
The RGG consists of a primer and an antifouling. The primer looks, smells, and appears to be Primocon, although that is made by Interlux, and the antifouling contains cuprous thiocyanate and zinc pyrithione. The smallest packaging of RGG is enough for many, many props, and has a stable shelf life for future use.
The props were bare metal to begin with, and prepped accordingly by sanding the surface, applying a coat of the primer and two coats of the antifouling. Upon returning to the water and using the engines, the antifouling mostly spun off the primer fairly quickly. It was all spun off within a month. The primer stayed adhered, but provided no antifouling properties.
Pettit Running Gear Guardian was a disaster and a complete waste of money for us.
Next, we applied Crystal Prop, which is a relatively unknown 2-component release-type antifouling for running gear. Crystal Prop — Yard Engineering There aren't many reviews of it, and we took a chance on it because it is much less expensive than others like Prop Speed. I had high hopes for it.
I followed the directions exactly, and used a wire cup brush on a grinder to bring the props to pure clean bare metal from the previous Guardian treatment, then sanded well with 80grit on a RO sander, and washed clean with acetone. The two parts were mixed well, and applied with a foam brush. After curing, the result was a completely smooth, slick, hard coating that looked great.
A couple of observations about the product itself. I bought the smallest amount sold, and that only cost $100. We have two 18" 3-blade props, and this was enough for at least 4 of our props, if not 6. Unfortunately, they say it only has a shelf life once opened of a few months, so this extra left over is of no future use. As for what this product is, it contains 3-(Trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate in one component, and iso-Butyl Methacrylate in the other component. I am familiar with 2-part automotive clear coats, and Crystal Prop looks, smells, mixes, applies, and acts exactly like the 2-part clear coats. I don't know what is in automotive clear coats, but this appears very similar to them.
Forward to being in use. The Crystal Prop coating began to release in small areas, starting at the blade edges within a couple of months. 6 months in, and it is about half released now. It doesn't stop growth, but growth comes off of it pretty easily, and mostly spins off when the props are used. I'm pretty sure it will all be spun off in the near future. The adhesion of this product was a disappointment, but it does seem to help with growth when it is(was) adhered.
I would not buy Crystal Prop again, although if I was seasonally boating and hauling, the kit and the shelf life would allow application in the spring before launch, and reapplication in the fall when hauled out. In this scenario, $100 for clean props over two seasons would be worth it.
Now for something completely unexpected. Our bottom step on each hull always gets grass growing on the gelcoat above the bottom paint line. Doesn't matter how high up we paint the bottom paint, although I suppose if we completely covered them it would stop. But that would look silly and we would get paint residue on us climbing aboard them.
I have some 2" teflon "millionaire's" tape that is normally used for chafe protection and making things slide, and on a whim I applied it to the steps above the bottom paint line. It is a slightly milky clear tape, and applied to the white gelcoat it is completely invisible.
This has worked brilliantly. Nothing sticks to it. Nothing at all. Sometimes it gets a bit of scum from contact adhesion, but this wipes right off. Heck, it sprays off with the stern shower. I'm considering putting it all along the hulls above the bottom paint like a boot stripe (it would actually go over our existing boot stripe). But it will be another few years before we haul out again.
Now if I can figure out how to get it on, and keep it on, the props.
Mark
Propspeed is a very slick silicone coating. I can't imagine lanocote sticking past the first spin. Or being slicker than propspeed if it did stick.
I've tried all the folklore remedies like magic marker, lanocote, desitin, sex wax, and zinc spray (zinc spray might be more than just folklore), and none have worked for us. I've even treated separate blades and separate props with different remedies to compare and saw no difference among them. However, it wasn't in the Chesapeake, although we spent some time with many of them there.
Mark
I won't know on my boat until after this year.
But the person that told me, and showed me on her boat, was a pretty serious sailor with many years sailing out of the particular location where my boat is at. So is it folklore? I guess, that was a one folk that told me the lore... LOL
dj
Wonder how this works. Maybe prep prop with 80 grit, clean off with Acetone and spray first coat. When tacky, spray second coat and let cure.
In addition to Crystal Prop I have used Pettit prop paint. The issue with the spray on paints is use. The more you use your engine, the shorter the effective time window as the paint wears off.
Crystal Prop and Prop Speed both work on the principle that nothing sticks to them for long and motoring will cause the growth to slide off.
Crystal Prop and Prop Speed both work on the principle that nothing sticks to them for long and motoring will cause the growth to slide off.
You seem to be missing a fundamental part of what I've said. I have not done this yet. I will be doing it for the first time this season. The information was told to me by someone with many years sailing out of my marina.
But the answer was stated that they tried without the lanocote and it was not as effective as with.
dj