Wow, Sean! You ought to publish this. Lots of hard earned experience speaking here. Larry On Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:12:18 EDT [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > I'll weigh in on the barrier coat discussion with another (long) > opinion > (which is worth exactly what you paid for it!) > > I can tell you from experience that blisters are something that you > do not > want to deal with. Period. It is either an extremely expensive > repair to have > someone else fix the problem, or and expensive, time > consuming,physical,dirty, > nasty job to do yourself. Don't believe me? then check this > link.... > > _http://havasumontgomerys.piczo.com/?g=20711458&cr=1_ > (http://havasumontgomerys.piczo.com/?g=20711458&cr=1) > > Granted...I was dealing with a worse case scenario (26 straight > years in > warm salt water 24/7/365), but nevertheless, you don't want to go > down this road > if you don't have to! I promise you. I was the Asst. Manager of a > West > Marine (Worst Marine???) for three years and helped many a customer > who was > dealing with the blister dilemma over that time. It's a bad deal no > matter what > level you deal with it at. > > One of the problems when dealing with the decision of whether or not > it > barrier coat is that you can't judge the ability of your particular > hull to > resist blistering based upon the performance of your buddy's > similar boat. Every > hull is a different lay-up and may react differently depending on > the > quality control of the rein mixture. The blistering process begins > with osmosis > drawing water behind the gelcoat into microscopic voids or pockets. > The problem > really begins when the water interacts with minute amounts of > uncured resin > or hardener that may be left within the cured resin from minute > variations of > the original hardener/resin mix ratio. If everything was not mixed > exactly > in the right ratios, there may remain miniscule amounts of uncured > resin or > hardener within the cured resin. When the water enters these pockets > there is a > chemical reaction with the uncured resin. Here's where the real > problem > starts. When the water and resin interact they produce an acid that > has a > molecular structure that is larger in size than original water > molecule. So, that > porosity that allowed the water to enter in now acts like a one way > door. Water > can get in, but the newly formed acid cannot get back out. The acid > now > starts to work it's way through the resin which causes the blister > to start to > swell. When the blister swells it causes it to draw more water in, > which causes > more acid, which causes more swelling, which draws more > water....you can > see where this is going. It's a self perpetuating cycle. > > Some boats will resist blistering for years upon years, while others > will > show signs within a season. You just aren't going to know until the > boat sits > in the water. Additionally, hulls that were laid up during the > years of the > first gasoline shortages seem to be more prone to blistering, as > the newer and > more resistant vinylester gelcoats were not in play, and resin > manufacturers > were manipulating formulas to use less petro-chemical products in > the > formulation of the resins to keep costs down. The newer vinylester > resins reportedly > due a superior job of resisting blisters. > > Barrier coat such as Interlux 2000E forms an actual watertight > shell around > your hull. BUT, only if you apply it to the required 10mil dry film > > thickness. That usually requires 4-5 coats. If you want it really > smooth, and you are > applying by roller like I did you will need to apply a couple of > extra coats > so you can come back and remove the roller stipple without taking > the > thickness below the required 10mils. At $120/gallon it's not a > cheap product. In my > opinion applying it in any other manor than that specifically > called for by > the manufacturer is a waste. That includes prepping the area with > the > specified proprietary cleaning products even though they too are > expensive. Why? > 'Cause I can't tell you how many customers I had who were smarter > than the > manufacturer and had their own application methods and shortcuts > which saved them > hundreds of dollars and hours of time. Of course I'm sure you > figured out > already that those were the customers almost every time that > returned to the > store crying the blues about how the product didn't work, didn't > stick, wasn't > worth a darn, etc. Then they had to go through the not-to-enjoyable > process > of removing the mess they had created just to get back to a bare > hull so they > could start over and do it right. Also, if it takes 10 mils to get > it > watertight, which is the goal, why would you even consider applying > it thinner, > thus spending all that money but not getting the protection you > desire? > > One other thing to consider is that working on a lapstrake hull is > MUCH more > labor intensive then a smooth hull. You only want to do it once. > Cleaning > out the angles between the strakes is extremely difficult and > unpleasant work. > > The barrier coat works when applied and applied correctly. It should > prevent > you from having to ever go through the blister process. One caution > though: > Make sure your hull is DRY before applying the barrier coat. > Dauntless was > taken to a boat yard about three years prior to us purchasing her, > for a > blister problem. The boat yard suggested grinding and filling the > large blisters > and then a barrier coat before bottom paint. The previous owner had > this done > and I am sure it wasn't cheap. Well, to a boatyard time is money. > They get > paid when the job is done. Although some blisters were filled, > nothing was > given ample time to dry out. Drying laminate in a humid atmosphere > like Florida > takes a long time.....months. I'm not sure how long they dried her > out but it > wasn't long enough. They sealed her up with barrier coat and applied > bottom > paint. I'm sure she looked great when she went back into the water. > > Unfortunately, she blistered right through the barrier coat from the > backside due to > the laminate not being dry. Do it right the first time. After many > hours of > stripping her hull back to the original gelcoat, we let her sit with > the > blisters ground out in the AZ dessert air. The single digit humidity > eventually got > her dried out but it took months. Then I waited a couple more months > to be > sure before filling the blisters and re-applying the barrier coat. > We are going > on three years now. She is kept in a wet slip for 6 months each > year and > sailed for many extended trips throughout the other 6 months of the > year. We > have not had a single sign of any blisters at all. > > So that's my take on barrier coat. My experience is that applied > correctly > it works. If you are not going to follow the manufacturers > directions exactly, > you might as well throw your money in the garbage can and you'll be > ahead of > the game. The when you hull blisters, you at least won't have to > sand all > that stuff you applied incorrectly off before you start the blister > repair > process. > > Bottom paint.....that's a whole other discussion! However, if you > are not > needing anti-fouling protection you can barrier coat and leave it at > that. I > had another boat that I did that to and it made a nice light grey > bottom. I > conferred with an Interlux rep before doing this and they said it > was no > problem. > > Sure does make keeping the boat on the trailer look more enticing, > doesn't > it? But, you'll never use your boat like you will if it's in the > water, rigged > and ready to go. It's totally worth it. > > Good luck! > > Sean > Montgomery 23 "Dauntless" > **************New MapQuest Local shows what's happening at your > destination. > Dining, Movies, Events, News & more. Try it out > (http://local.mapquest.com/?ncid=emlcntnew00000002) > _______________________________________________ > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats > > ____________________________________________________________ Stuck in a dead end job?? Click to start living your dreams by earning an online degree. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/Ioyw6i3nNfaensoBpkLwwtQPW2X9BZmV0qnVWOLaUqFqEZEIhLotiJ/
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