Cleaning prop under water - tips?

[Cheechako]

this, a good one with spring steel, not a cheap one that bends. Rounded corners, stainless steel, and solid nylon handle.

[tartansail]

I use a plastic or metal scraper. More important, cheap Kevlar diving gloves were a well spent $10 or $15. They completely eliminated my chopped up hands from the barnacles.

[Simi 60]

BBQ scraper/egg flip for us
Prop is quite large.
Not worried about scratching, it gets hit with a grinder before re antifouling.

[GARRYOWEN]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

Got a link? I couldn't find it from your PropPurr name.

I put Proppurr into google and came up with:
https://www.seabournesolutions.com/

Was the first link.....

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by GARRYOWEN

I put Proppurr into google and came up with:
https://www.seabournesolutions.com/

Was the first link.....

Your link works, but when I used a different search engine, nope.
I tried it again with mine and still nothing related.
Weird.


The stuff sounds like a version of KissCote, a non stick solution sold years ago. It worked on our hull, for about 6 months.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by 2big2small

The reason why I’m so cautious about scratching is that it might put the prop out of balance and then wear the bearing on the one hand, and on the other, far more likely, every little scratch is a nice invitation to more barnacles and what not and really increases their grip on the surface.

None of the above is going to happen. If barnacles are a problem, they will be so whether you have scratched the prop's surface or not.

Here's the tool you want:

[SV DestinyAscen]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

None of the above is going to happen. If barnacles are a problem, they will be so whether you have scratched the prop's surface or not.

Here's the tool you want:

Any prodiver observations re treatment effectiveness? I would have thought the silicon release coatings that Hempel and Akzo/Intl are selling would work even better on moving prop than hulls.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by SV DestinyAscen

Any prodiver observations re treatment effectiveness? I would have thought the silicon release coatings that Hempel and Akzo/Intl are selling would work even better on moving prop than hulls.

Prop Speed is great, but doesn't stay on the metal forever. Zinc-based spray coatings are cheap, easy to apply and are better than nothing, but not by a whole lot. Don't have experience with many other products. I'm not sure the foul release coatings you mentioned are appropriate for use on running gear.

[SV DestinyAscen]

Thanks - as always your experience and expertise is much appreciated

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by 2big2small

Thanks for all the replies so far. (If you want to chime in please remember that this is about under water cleaning, not on the hard.)

The reason why I’m so cautious about scratching is that it might put the prop out of balance and then wear the bearing on the one hand, and on the other, far more likely, every little scratch is a nice invitation to more barnacles and what not and really increases their grip on the surface.

I like the hardwood cleaning method because of that. On my first boat, in the boonies, I used to scrape my hull with the wooden part of a broom and it worked really well. I never had to scrape my prop before however.

All the replies have also piqued my curiosity about metal tools with rounded corners. I’ll make sure I have at least one such tool on board.



Ah! A kindred soul who appreciates my genius! Well, if you do it, let us know how that worked out for you. Likewise if I’m nuts enough to go fumble with a bag under water before you do then I’ll certainly let everyone here know how it went down (pun intended). And I just might because I’m very curious about the feasibility and results.

Many scrapers will work. I use the little spatula as it's flexible blade. A rigid blade wont bend to the twist shape of the propellor blade (or a boat bottom!) as well and scratch/gouge. The spatula I showed with the round corners it came with will not do that.
I have no idea how people use plastic ones, the barnacles I've had would tear that up in 5 minutes.

[grahamb]

...for removing barnacles I use a bricklayers bolster ....the heavy 500gram/I pound blade that bricklayers use to cut bricks with......its got some momentum underwater.......has a cord attached with fishing net floats attached to give positive buoyancy when dropped.....and wear ordinary leather palm gardening gloves.......if there are barnacles on the prop there will be on the shaft too.....so I can hang onto the shaft without cuts.....usually manage the side of one blade per free dive........