Antifouling a Prop

[seafox]

I did mine last month with lanocoate. I heated it with the heat gun so that the lanocoate flowed smoothly over the prop. Worked a treat. Doubt if it will stop the growth but who know? It was too easy.

She has to come out again in 5 months for a new anode (volvo 3 bladed folding prop owners will understand) and if it hasn't worked I will try CRC soft seal next.

[seafox]

My Volvo anodes are chewing out flat out. The big prop has no signs of electrolysis though so the anodes must be working. Even if they are paper thin after 6 months.

[Steve Pope]

Hi seafox, I got a 20l drum of "sheep grease" from a wool scourer in Napier with the idea of making a bath that I could heat it up in and then pop thr prop in and let it soak for an hour or 2. That was the plan, just havn't actioned it yet. If you would like some let me know and I will send you a jar. Maybe not as pure as lanocote but i'm sure all the active ingredients are in there, maybe even a few sheep pellets added might improve it, could be the "new" generation of antifouling!!

[seafox]

Thanks Steve,
I'll give the lanocoate a few months and let you know how it goes. If it works you have a deal
I reckon it wont though. It just sounds too easy.

I dont think it matters how long you dip it in the grease for. It wont soak in any better with time. Being metal it will just coat it, not soak in.

[Steve Pope]

I agree with you and Alan re the soaking of the heated prop, but it seems to be fixed in folk law up here that that is what you have to do.

[SurfNRG]

I've just used Primicon primer (3 coats) then Trilux antifouling (3 coats) on my props. Held up okay for nearly 2 years on the Intracoastal Waterway / Central Florida. But I periodically dive on the prop and clean if I see any of them barnies taking residence. And yes, the more you use the boat the better. Prop speed sounds good but very expensive for a product that claims will work for up to a year. Primicon w/ Trilux is pretty inexpensive comparitively.

[seafox]

Prop speed is only around $120 NZD. Everyone keeps saying how expensive it is. Boats are expensive.

I would use prop speed but the boat needs to be out of the water for 24 hours to have it applied. Now that is what is expensive.

Until I need to do an antifoul I will just do lift and holds (cheap) and try lanolin and other concoctions.

[Alan Wheeler]

I by the flimsy chance Lanocote did work. There is one even better product. Res-Q-steel by Epiglass/International. I used to sell it for coating on steel winch cables in the water. It sticks like the Proverbial. Don't get it on your clothes, it won't wash off. It is like a water proof grease. Smear that on the prop. I reckon it would last at least twice as long as Lanocote.

[seafox]

Has any one tried the black ink off a marker pen? I forgot to take mine to the boat when I did the lanocoate application. Wanted to give it a try.

[Alan Wheeler]

Here is a post from way back in 2006

25-07-2006, 20:19 #26 swagman
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Profile: Location: On the yacht most times - currently Caribbean.
Boat: Judel & Vrolijk designed Hanse 461, launched 2004, named 'Swagman of Hamble'
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Hi All,
Think I've suggested this before but was taught this long ago in Oz - and it works.
Simply clean then polish the prop so it looks like new (I mean polish - not just scour the surface) and then rub all over with an Permanent Marker Pen.
I've done this now for over 20 years and it seems to keep my props clean of growth - in woarm as well as cold climates - for at least a year.
JOHN
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Read our boring cruising blog via www.Yotblog.com/swagman

[Badsanta]

Hey I tried that marker thing on the boat. It worked great, I have a three blade prop and used differant colors on each blade front and back so six colors. First I dove in and it would not work , didnt cover at all. So I hauled the boat cleaned it up and you gessed it, the markers went on great. And in the past TWO years no barnicals at all. I plan to launch it this spring and see how it holds up in the water.

[billr]

Some of the people that come through the boatyard (Washington state) use the engine oil treatments like STP on their props and claim success. It seems to have a great affinity for metal, even at room temperature. They just paint it on before they put the boat back in the water. The barnacles and mussels don't seem to be able to attach to that stuff. The people using it had mostly displacement vessels, so the speeds were slower.

[Alan Wheeler]

I came across a post about using STP when I was looking for the psot about the marker pen. I still don't think STP will be any different to Lanacote or Res-Q-Steel. Plus the oil slick is surely going to get some one in trouble in the US with the USCG.

[fstbttms]

Attention from the Coasties notwithstanding; I have long maintained that introducing STP (or any other petroleum product) directly into the marine environment is an a**hole thing to do, regardless of its effectiveness as an anti fouling.

[billr]

I suspect that very little of the STP ends up as being a pollutant, since it takes very little of it to cover a prop. And if that came off, then it wouldn't work as a surface protectant against marine life attachment.

Of course that's just logic, not test data. It would be interesting to see some controlled test data for effectiveness and released pollutants, for all the chemicals included in this thread. Then, as a sanity check, the amount of pollutants could be compared to the amounts from bottom paint, and maybe oil products introduced into the enviroment by outboard motors.