400: To chrome or to powder coat??

[MARMCA400]

Hello all...

I am looking for thoughts on corrosion prevention on a mild steel rudder stop.
The tiller arm and rudder stop on the Lagoon 400 appears to be steel and rusts badly.
Bought new ones but want to either chrome or powder coat before install.
Any thoughts as to which would stand up better in the Caribbean??

[feebs]

What year is your L400?

Prevention might be a better option - that is stopping ingress of salt water.

On my L400 (hull #90) I have spayed this area with Lanox, which has prevented most rust from forming. Admittedly, my boat was a few years old when I purchased it & there was some minor rusting of these components. I found engine bay hatch hinges were bent, which meant hatch seals were not aligned correctly. I have replaced hinges and advise all not to use hatch lids (when open) as grab holds when moving around this area.

Hope this helps, Brett

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, MARMCA.

[Sos]

Prevention is best as already mentioned but if not then I would powder coat.
Chrome looks good. I would say getting remade in stainless maybe best but the tiller arm looks quite involved.

[RaymondR]

Begs the question of why they were not manufactured from SS on an expensive multihull. I'd go with hot dipped galvanizing.

[Reefmagnet]

Any good powder coater will advise against powder coating steel for corrosion resistance purposes. It just doesn't work that well as an anti corrosion barrier. A simple solution is paint and a layer of self healing wax anti corrosion coating like "Tectyl". Galvanising as mentioned above could work, too.

[Dave_S]

As above, neither are much good, another vote for galvanised.

[Sailmonkey]

Another vote for galvanizing

[MARMCA400]

Thank you all for the replies.
Thank you Feebs for the extra heads up on the hinges...will check them.

The boat is a 2012, hull #191. Going to drop the rudders and change everything out this November. I didn't think of galvanizing, which is a good option, so will look into that.

Cheers,

[Northbound44]

These parts are usually made of bronze, stainless steel or even aluminum but rarely in zinc plated mild steel. That’s the price to pay to help manufacturers to save money...
Chrome plating and powder coating is not as good in salt mist than Galvanized steel. Hot dip galvanized steel perform better and furthermore, if , thereafter, you powder coat it , it will last for very long time.

[SVTatia]

Galvanize for sure. Also, regular maintenance by spraying water displacing oil.

[a64pilot]

Not to be sarcastic, but if your still not sure, think how your anchor and chain are corrosion proofed

[Suijin]

Dear lord. To have those parts be mild steel? Talk about an accident waiting to happen. Good idea to drop the rudders and go over everything.

Given they are so close to the flat bilge area I’d make this part of a regular inspection routine and douse it all with Corrosion-X every time I looked at it, regardless of what it’s made from. I’d also assemble everything with a healthy dose of Tef-gel.

[Saltyhog]

Check out Por15. Its a paint that prevents corrosion. Cures very hard and works really well. It’s not UV safe, but matters not here. The web site details the application. I think it would be perfect for this as you can mask off the bore and other holes to prevent fit issues you may get with galvanizing.

[jhulmer]

A word of caution on galvanizing.

We have a lot of parts galvanized. My business is across the street from the galvanizer.
If you galvanize the tiller arm you will have to re-machine the slot and bores. As well as the holes. The tapped holes will fill and will be very difficult to clean the threads out without ruining them.

The galvanizer can minimize this if they have a centrifuge but you will still have to have them machined.

It will cost you a minimum charge of around $200 us or more.

I would take the parts to a machine shop and have them make you a set out of 316L stainless steel. Much better money spent.