{"id":964,"date":"1999-11-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1999-11-30T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/?p=964"},"modified":"2015-10-16T12:14:12","modified_gmt":"2015-10-16T17:14:12","slug":"copper-shield-anti-fouling-on-aluminum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/copper-shield-anti-fouling-on-aluminum\/","title":{"rendered":"Copper Shield: Anti-Fouling on Aluminum?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Dear Steve, I have bought Your Cruising Encyclopedia & Mariners Weather Handbook from Captain Watt’s in London. I can only say they are a great life work’s to make a boat owner’s life easier with the right kind of knowledge – thank you. Also I met the owners of Condor while they were in Sydney Australia a few years ago – Skip and his wife. What a lovely couple and boat they had built in NZ to your philosophy and design.<\/p>\n
I own a 50′ ex BOC open class yacht build in 1986 called Skoiern IV. She is built from aluminum. Because of the problems of toxicity today’s available anti-fouling are not effective without the tin content. I’m considering using a UK product called Copper Shield, using first a coating of epoxy as a primer to protect the hull, then apply the Copper Shield, which is a copper-rich anti-fouling that does not require redoing for ten years plus. My fear is the risk of using copper on an aluminum boat – is it safe? The company said yes it is. Since I would like to solve this problem once and for all, I’m inclined to try it. but I don’t want to find religion with a holy boat…I look forward to your comment, as I will need to redo the boat’s bottom soon. Kind Regards, and keep up the good work. – John <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Hi John: Copper bottom paint is OK as long as there is an intact barrier, made for the job. Many of the commercial boats in the States are using a system which includes a barrier coat which acts as an anode, so the anode coat is used before the aluminum, in the case of a bare spot.<\/p>\n
The main issue is to make sure the barrier coats are properly applied, are the correct thickness, and that the total paint system is from a single source with a history of this type of work – you do not want to be an experiment for them!<\/p>\n
And then, when the bottom paint is abraided, and bare aluminum shows, when you repair this, you have to be sure the build-up prior to copper-laced paint is done correctly.<\/p>\n
If you go this route let us know how it works out. – Steve<\/p>\n
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