Coppercoat Application

[shamrock]

Originally Posted by Guy

Where did this idea of a copper bottom being such a good thing come from? Stuff grows on copper like crazy. Old wood ships had copper bottoms to stave off worms and maybe hard growth, not slime, sea weed etc. etc.

I think before you go to such great length you should drop a strip of copper over the side on a bit of line and watch how quickly stuff grows on it.

It's the main ingredient in most bottom paints


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[fstbttms]

99% of anti fouling paint in use today is copper-based. Copper is an effective biocide.

The big selling point for copper-loaded epoxies (like Copperpoxy) is that they claim a 10-year lifespan. The downside is that copper-loaded epoxies, by their nature, do not release enough biocide to be effective anti fouling coatings in regions of moderate or high fouling. It's hard to imagine that simply dumping some copper powder into a pot of epoxy will perform any better.

[stillbuilding]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

99% of anti fouling paint in use today is copper-based. Copper is an effective biocide.

The big selling point for copper-loaded epoxies (like Copperpoxy) is that they claim a 10-year lifespan. The downside is that copper-loaded epoxies, by their nature, do not release enough biocide to be effective anti fouling coatings in regions of moderate or high fouling. It's hard to imagine that simply dumping some copper powder into a pot of epoxy will perform any better.

I can understand the issues with getting enough copper exposed. In your experience, you must have come across many cupro-nickel heat exchangers - does that material have the same issues?


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[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by stillbuilding

I can understand the issues with getting enough copper exposed. In your experience, you must have come across many cupro-nickel heat exchangers - does that material have the same issues?

Yes. Any uncoated metal is going foul rapidly, regardless of its composition.

[model 10]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

Yes. Any uncoated metal is going foul rapidly, regardless of its composition.

So a copper bottom would foul quickly.

[SailRedemption]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

BoatyardBoy,
Is your copper /epoxy method something that you had seen done before? How do you know it will work? It really looks great. Keep us posted. What was your mix ratio?

Seen after. This was the first time seeing it applied. Well if it's anything like the boat we picked up last year that had an almost 10year identical application of copper epoxy antifouling I will be happy. It was picked up and only needed a pressure wash and still looked great. The guys that helped me apply it were the same to do that sailboat and a few others with good results, plus the first hand experience seeing the boat we picked up.

I'll be sure to keep you updated as time goes on..

Originally Posted by Jentine

I wish you better luck with the copper/epoxy bottom coating than I had with two boats, one sail and the other power. The copper needs to be burnished several times during the year to maintain the product in top performance. The sailboat's copper bottom was so much work that I finally painted over it, finding that ablative paint to be much less work than the constant cleaning and burnishing required of the copper/epoxy application.
The power boat caught fire and burned before I could properly evaluate its performance with that application. Perhaps it was the sea gods doing me a favor.
Good luck!

I understand that it will need maintenance and cleaning but so does other bottom paints. The only difference is that I won't have to pick my almost 50' boat up every 2-5 years to reapply more typical bottom paint.

[stillbuilding]

There have been a few boats built of cupro-nickel over the years. Did they foul quickly too? I would have thought that anti foul was the only rationale for building in that expensive material. Seem to remember Colvin had a couple of comments on it but I have no experience of it myself.


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[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by BoatyardBoy

I understand that it will need maintenance and cleaning but so does other bottom paints. The only difference is that I won't have to pick my almost 50' boat up every 2-5 years to reapply more typical bottom paint.

Not the only difference. Another big difference is that copper-loaded epoxies do not retard growth as well as traditional anti fouling paints. Maybe you boat in an area where fouling isn't much of a concern. But here, the kind of coating you are using is an extremely poor performer.

[SailRedemption]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

Not the only difference. Another big difference is that copper-loaded epoxies do not retard growth as well as traditional anti fouling paints. Maybe you boat in an area where fouling isn't much of a concern. But here, the kind of coating you are using is an extremely poor performer.

I have read your posts on that picture before. Understand that that is coming from you(not an offense)so it's not my experience. And from what I remember, you don't know exactly what was used there and that not all "home brews" are created equal. We shall see, time will tell friend. I'll definitely keep you posted on it. I plan to head to more fertile waters next year so, from what I read, that will be a great test.

[model 10]

Yes I clearly don't understand how a solid copper bottom does not work but some copper powder mixed with epoxy or paint does work. Perhaps you might explain?

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by BoatyardBoy

I have read your posts on that picture before. Understand that that is coming from you(not an offense)so it's not my experience. And from what I remember, you don't know exactly what was used there and that not all "home brews" are created equal. We shall see, time will tell friend. I'll definitely keep you posted on it. I plan to head to more fertile waters next year so, from what I read, that will be a great test.

That is a picture of Coppercoat in action on Hallberg Rassey 43 in the Berkeley Marina. And my experience is that these coatings perform poorly here. So poorly that they are rarely seen here anymore.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Guy

Yes I clearly don't understand how a solid copper bottom does not work but some copper powder mixed with epoxy or paint does work. Perhaps you might explain?

Copper powder in epoxy does not work, or works very poorly at best. That is my point.

[Southernwing]

We have 7 coats of Coppercoat on our catamaran. It is now 18 months since application and we are swimming around the boat once a week to clean it. We are sailing SE Asia, tropical waters. From my observation Coppercoat does not appear to work very well in warm waters. A lot of the successful posts I have read are from people in the colder climes. For the cost.... I would not recommend it.

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[biker6977]

So what is recommended for southern or tropical waters- way Gulf of Mexico and south? Don't mind diving and cleaning once a month to keep it clean but don't want to have to hual every year to repaint.

[David M]

Epoxy does not ablate. So how does it keep exposing new copper?

Would it be better to mix it with a paint that does ablate?