What Do You Use On Your Iron Keel?

[Joe Mullee]

At the suggestion of my friend Warren Milberg I've been using POR15 for about the last four or five years on my iron keel (1983 H34). I haul out every year or two and go thru the ritual of scrapping, filling, and then painting with the product. Though the POR15 does a better job than the previous product I used (and can't remember) I was wondering what others use and how successful another product might be. I've got no complaints, just wondering if there might be something better.

Thanks for any advice,

Joe Mullee

 

[firehoser75]

Interlux 2000

Don't know how to apply this product to an older keel, except perhaps to grind/sand down to bare metal, but on my boat the vendor (new boat) applied 5 coats of Interlux 2000 (epoxy) and it has stood up very well over the last 6 or more years. You may want to talk to the product manufacturer to find out what would be involved and if it is the right product for you.
Good luck,
Tom

 

[Ducati]

Re: Interlux 2000

Interlux 2000 was the best solution for our older boat that had an iron keel.

I was lazy and slapped the stuff right over the old anti-foul paint. That was over 9 years ago and it still looks perfect.

 

[jibes138]

Most metals are trying to return to a lower energy state and thus try to react with other elements to become things like iron oxide. So best to strip it to bare metal, then coat it with a few coats of West Epoxy or MAS or similar. Next apply a few coats of barrier coat, not so much to seal the keel because the epoxy is doing that, but rather as a good base for the anti-fouling paint. I used this process on my lead keel and it worked out very well.

 

[navigator97]

On my 1990 H-33.5, I have been using Pittitt Rust-Lok on the rusted areas of the iron keel with quite good results. It is a very low viscosity material and it bonds to and seals the iron/iron oxide AFTER I wire brush, sand, and tack wipe the areas that have shown rust. Each year it has been newer areas and fewer areas that need it. Over that I do any faring that it may need, and then apply Pettitt Trinadad-SR antifouling paint. So far (12 seasons with the boat), I'm pretty satisfied. I had heard of the PUR-15 and it looked like a good solution also. When using the Rust-Lok, wear rubber gloves and vary old clothes. If you get it on your hands (or any skin), it will be there for about a week until you molt.

 

[hutch5151]

Clean to bare metal, Prime with Interlux Vinyl-Lux chromate primer and then Interlux 2000. This has kept metal keel on my Elite 37 rust free for a number of years.

 

[Robert9949]

I too have a cast iron keel

When we first got our CS27 the keel was so rusty that we were removing rust with paint scrapers then applied Interlux 2000. Looked great going in.

The second year the rust was back (not as bad; but bad enough) and we used grinders and sanders and finished with Interlux 2000. Looked great going in.

The third year the rust was back (just in some areas with deep voids that couldn't be sanded).

Bought a small sandblasting kit. (compressor and gun) coated with Interlux 2000 as soon as the sandblasting was complete, filled and recoated to smooth the surface. Looked great going in and not bad the following year.

Now only a minor touch-up is required each season. I will not let it get out of hand.

If I had to do it again, I would hire a mobile sandblaster to blast the keel completely. Then be standing by with a good anti-rust primer, and several coats of Interlux 2000 before the exposed cast iron could start to rust.

Good luck Joe
Robert

 

[FourPoints]

Friend of mine has a Catalina 25 with a fiberglass cased iron core keel that was completly compromised and full of water. He took out about 10 lbs of "metal" when removing all the rust...

A couple years ago he took it all the way down to bare metal, wirebrushed everything clean. coated everything in west system, let it cure, then used west system mixed with the 410 microlight filler and rebuilt and refaired the entire shape of the keel (about 2 inches worth in some places), then for extra strength and to help protect in case of impact, he wrapped the entire keel in a layer of fiberglass, with an second layer on the leading edge, and then one more coat of west system with filler to sand down to a smooth surface. Once that was done, he did two coats of interlux barrier coat on the entire bottom of the boat before repainting with ablative.

2 seasons later it still looks like brand new, and probably stronger than when it was new.