i noticed a huge blister in my keel after this cold winter. i thought this keel was solid lead? has anyone ever seen this before and how to fix it?
thank you!
thank you!
keel blister need help!
- Thread starter brizad13
- Start date
That keel is cast iron. Was there some sort of a patch applied,to that keel previously. It looks as though it had water intrusion that froze and blew out that blister. Most of what I have encountered is dime to penny sized blisters in the outer coating which are a result of the original coating under the bottom paint detaching from the cast iron. Your photo appears to be more severe than that.
In any case it definitely needs repair. Grind down to bare iron fair it out and recoat with several coats of Interprotect 2000 according to instructions before applying bottom paint.
In any case it definitely needs repair. Grind down to bare iron fair it out and recoat with several coats of Interprotect 2000 according to instructions before applying bottom paint.
There has been a ton of info on this site and others on patching or re coating cast iron keels. The keys are:
Remove the loose area - not just the blister. A small hammer tapping around the area and a scrapper will help
Get to clean BRIGHT' metal. Generally with a wire brush.
Immediately coat the bright metal with a primer such as interlux pimeocon (sp?)
4-5 coats on interlux 2000 or anothe barrier coat
Then anti fouling.
Since the barrier coat can't be saved (2 part mix) it'll be worth your while to catch any other areas. Since I had some much left over I cleaned and barrier coated my keel as a preventive measure.
Remove the loose area - not just the blister. A small hammer tapping around the area and a scrapper will help
Get to clean BRIGHT' metal. Generally with a wire brush.
Immediately coat the bright metal with a primer such as interlux pimeocon (sp?)
4-5 coats on interlux 2000 or anothe barrier coat
Then anti fouling.
Since the barrier coat can't be saved (2 part mix) it'll be worth your while to catch any other areas. Since I had some much left over I cleaned and barrier coated my keel as a preventive measure.
Whatever you do, don't use your extra barrier coat over existing bottom paint, except as necessary to feather in your repair. I missed that warning when I did a minor blister repair a few years ago, and the haulout I just finished required 28 work days in the yard (along with 40 drying days) to deal with the 3000 odd blisters I got due to water getting trapped under the barrier coat, which separated from the old ablative paint. If you have hard bottom paint, it won't be as bad but still not recommended.