im re-doing the bottom of my boat and want opinions on the best way to tackle the keel. it has the usual pitting. I am barrier coating the hull so the keel and the hull are stripped allready. I was thinking vinylester with microballons to fair the keel and epoxy over that. what do you think? I like to hear recomendations. thanks mike
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Keel
I did the job on my 31 in 1998. Had the yard sand blast the keel to bright metal and then IMMEDIATELY put a coat of Koppers Industrial Tank Coating #225 on it, followed by the recommended # of recoats at the appropriate intervals. I did whatever fairing on top of the Koppers. I haven't seen any rust thru since.
I did the job on my 31 in 1998. Had the yard sand blast the keel to bright metal and then IMMEDIATELY put a coat of Koppers Industrial Tank Coating #225 on it, followed by the recommended # of recoats at the appropriate intervals. I did whatever fairing on top of the Koppers. I haven't seen any rust thru since.
Iron Keel
I have a Hunter 28.5 with an iron keel. When I bought the boat last fall, the keel had a few rust spots. The surveyor advised me NOT to epoxy or barrier the keel. His particular view was that if the epoxy or barrier coat were to be breached or cracked, by hitting an underwater object, grounding, etc.), water could wick its way under the entire coating and create a nightmare to repair. His advice was to coat the keel with a zinc chromate paint and then apply bottom paint. We both agreed that this would probably be an annual event and that some rust was to be expected, but that it was no big deal. In looking at the archives on this subject, it appears that most people who have boats with iron keels just consider some rust on it as "normal." Sanding and spot painting the rust spots just becomes another part of the spring maintenance ritual.
I have a Hunter 28.5 with an iron keel. When I bought the boat last fall, the keel had a few rust spots. The surveyor advised me NOT to epoxy or barrier the keel. His particular view was that if the epoxy or barrier coat were to be breached or cracked, by hitting an underwater object, grounding, etc.), water could wick its way under the entire coating and create a nightmare to repair. His advice was to coat the keel with a zinc chromate paint and then apply bottom paint. We both agreed that this would probably be an annual event and that some rust was to be expected, but that it was no big deal. In looking at the archives on this subject, it appears that most people who have boats with iron keels just consider some rust on it as "normal." Sanding and spot painting the rust spots just becomes another part of the spring maintenance ritual.
Experienced with Keel Rust
If you haul the boat on a regular basis it makes sense to touch up the rust spots. If you really want to do it right sand blast the iron and coat it within an hour. I had good luck with West epoxy and limited experience with other magic antirust chemicals. Grinding with a power wire brush and coating with VC Tar or Rustlok doesn't work (for long). The rust won't hurt anything, you can't see it when you're in the water and it's only a Hunter so I wouldn't waste much time, energy or money on this non-problem
If you haul the boat on a regular basis it makes sense to touch up the rust spots. If you really want to do it right sand blast the iron and coat it within an hour. I had good luck with West epoxy and limited experience with other magic antirust chemicals. Grinding with a power wire brush and coating with VC Tar or Rustlok doesn't work (for long). The rust won't hurt anything, you can't see it when you're in the water and it's only a Hunter so I wouldn't waste much time, energy or money on this non-problem
Iron Keel
I had the same problem last year on our Hunter 28.5. We grinded down the keel and then applied faring compound as well as the 2 part Interlux (2000/2000E). Following the directions on the 2 part, we applied 5 coats ansd covered with Micron CSC bottom paint. When we pulled the boat in the fall it looked great. Although everone said to us that the rust wasn't a big deal (we'd be long gone before the keel was) I couldn't stand the way it looked. Now there is not a rust spot to be found. We also compared our job to that of a friend that used Maine Tex only (kind of a fued over which would be better) and his looks great too.
I had the same problem last year on our Hunter 28.5. We grinded down the keel and then applied faring compound as well as the 2 part Interlux (2000/2000E). Following the directions on the 2 part, we applied 5 coats ansd covered with Micron CSC bottom paint. When we pulled the boat in the fall it looked great. Although everone said to us that the rust wasn't a big deal (we'd be long gone before the keel was) I couldn't stand the way it looked. Now there is not a rust spot to be found. We also compared our job to that of a friend that used Maine Tex only (kind of a fued over which would be better) and his looks great too.
So far I've had best results from...
Interlux 360R. Other responses to this show good results with other products too. I Tried zinc chromate, but was not impressed with the results.
Interlux 360R. Other responses to this show good results with other products too. I Tried zinc chromate, but was not impressed with the results.
Did it last year
Check the archives. I did mine last year---gound down the rust spots to bare metal, treated with West System, and painted with bottom paint. Checked this spring, and it looked great.
Check the archives. I did mine last year---gound down the rust spots to bare metal, treated with West System, and painted with bottom paint. Checked this spring, and it looked great.
No one's mentioned this method,
Many years ago, in the seventies, a friend and I used fiberglass mat with plain 'ol polyester resin to encapsulate an iron keel on his boat. After 9 years, when he sold it, the work was still perfect. And just for info, on my H34, the iron keel is still the first thing I would change and only because of the maintenance time needed during haul-out. If you tore the many treatments off of my keel, you would find everyone of the afore mentioned repair methods. They all work. No failures. But the fiberglass holds up better to rocks. P.S. except the Koppers.
Many years ago, in the seventies, a friend and I used fiberglass mat with plain 'ol polyester resin to encapsulate an iron keel on his boat. After 9 years, when he sold it, the work was still perfect. And just for info, on my H34, the iron keel is still the first thing I would change and only because of the maintenance time needed during haul-out. If you tore the many treatments off of my keel, you would find everyone of the afore mentioned repair methods. They all work. No failures. But the fiberglass holds up better to rocks. P.S. except the Koppers.
FRP Iron Keel Cover
Absolutely right, Fred. I had a 26' T-Bird with a fiberglassed iron keel. I did have to do some minor re-glassing after 15 years. It took about 20 minutes. I imagine they don't do that now for fear they will get stuck with warranty repairs, but it sure worked well on those old boats. I suspect that with epoxy resin, it might even be better. Rick D.
Absolutely right, Fred. I had a 26' T-Bird with a fiberglassed iron keel. I did have to do some minor re-glassing after 15 years. It took about 20 minutes. I imagine they don't do that now for fear they will get stuck with warranty repairs, but it sure worked well on those old boats. I suspect that with epoxy resin, it might even be better. Rick D.
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