Conference unifix::sailing

    John,
    
    Have never used it on boats, but at one time was refurbishing an old
    brass bed on which the lacquer had turned orange.  After trying lacquer
    thinner, zip-strip, lye bath and other assorted solutions which sort of
    worked after a long time and much elbow grease, tried Easy-Off on a
    whim (actually wife's idea).
    
    It was faster, more predictable and easier to wash off than any of the
    others, and required no rubbing/scouring AS LONG AS IT WAS REMOVED
    BEFORE DRY.  It also did not harm the brass.
    
    By the way, I rinsed the bed in a fiberglass tub with no negative
    result.
    
    Based on that experience, I would imagine it would work as well with
    bottom paint, although it might require several applications to remove
    successive layers and might not have an impact on certain composition
    paints.  If I remember correctly, one can went a long way and will keep
    you spaced out for days without adequate ventilation..
    
    Why not try a small spot and see?
    
    R.
    

    Regular paint remover is said to damage gelcoat. Thats why makers
    like Petit sell a remover formulated for fiberglass boats.
    
    Also, Acetone does a great job removing Micron 33. But Acetone is nasty 
    stuff to work with; the vapors may be even more dangerous when removing 
    bottom paint.

    Do you need to remove the bottom paint every year???  The reason I ask
    is for the last six years I have been using KL990 on my bottom.  Last 
    year for the first time I did nothing but cut in the water line.
    At the end of the year I had about the same amount of growth as I've
    had in previous year.  So my question is why remove the old stuff.
    
    Also I have a question, do you think I can get away with not painting
    agian this year.  Would the old KL990 wear off, exposing still good
    stuff below???
    
    
    Cheers,
    
    Tom
    
    
    

    
    >>  Do you need to remove the bottom paint every year???
    
    In the case of the ablating bottom paints like Micron CSC, the
    answer is no.  According to Interlux you only need to remove a
    thin layer of oxidized paint -- they even recommended doing this
    with a wet, stiff brush.
    
    With non-ablating paints it think the answer depends on how much
    paint has built up, but I think that a coarse sanding ought to 
    remove as much as you put back on each year.
    
       /Jim
    

    You must remove the bottom paint to fair the hull and keel or repair
    blisters and add a barrier coat. Also, if you switch to a new bottom
    paint, it may not be compatible with the old.

    And for those of you that ever wondered....I put a barrier coat on
    Elwing's hull last year and had the bottom sand blasted to remove the
    old gelcoat. It was quick and easy, never saw anything like it. If you
    stood back it appeared the hull was being painted white. The blasting
    was fast and removed just the gelcoat, probably due to the fact that
    the people doing it were professionals. Check with your boat yard as
    they almost always know who is good and who is not and a mistake here
    would be major.
    43' boat took about 1 hr and cost $375.
    
    

    I've never tried it to remove Bottom Paint (Epoxy etc....); but,
    the guy who painted the name on my boat (does it for a living) uses
    Oven Cleaner to remove the old names (Acrylics ..)
    
    I used it to remove a Port of call on my old boat and it works great.
    Spray it on wait a few moments & wipe off the bulk of it -- then
    wash it down.
    
    I'd be carefull not to get it near anything you'd like to stay on
    the boat - like tapeing, caulking, ......
    
    I sure wouldn't be shy of trying it base upon my results on the
    name.
    
    				Take care,
                                            Lou

i
        This note is a question on paint removal, although I need some advice
    on removing paint from the roof of the cabin.  The rest of the deck is
    teak, but over the cabin there is plywood covered with Versatek Epoxy. 
    The work is 12 yrs old, on a 39' Crocker Cutter.  I'm not sure of the
    number of coats of paint, but the surface area is large and we would
    like to get back to the epoxy and get a good bond with some new paint.

    Any ideas on how to remove the paint?  Heat gun?  Blow torch?

    Thanks for any advice,

    Mark

Epoxy is not very heat resistant. If you use a heat gun or blowtorch,
you'll probably seriously damage the epoxy under the paint (to say 
nothing of the fire hazard). What kind of paint are you trying to
remove? Unless the paint-to-epoxy bond is failing, why remove the old
paint? A thorough sanding followed by a good primer might be enough.
Have you tried calling the various paint manufacturers to ask their
recommendations? Some of them have toll-free numbers. 

    If the paint sands off easily, I'd do that.  Otherwise, I'd use paint
    remover (5F5, Sears, etc).
    
    Paints are resistant to one or the other of those two methods but
    rarely to both.
    
    Good timing is the key to success with the paint remover.  Keep it on
    long enough to get what you want off but not long enough to damage the
    substrate.
    
    When the above two methods fail, try a paint scraper - one of the ones
    with a four edged square blade.  This is perhaps a good pre-stripping
    step if the cabin top paint is thick and peeling.  No sense generating
    any more dust or gunk than necessary.
    
    - gene

    re .9, .10

    Thanks for the pointers...

    It looks like I should find out what is on there before proceeding.
    I'll check on the type of paint,  I'm sure the previous owner will
    know.  Glad to know that the heat will do some damage.  I always worry
    about flames and wooden boats.

    I will get back to you...
    Mark

    I am in the middle of stripping my boat, as I have a case of gel coat
    blisters to fix ;>( . The boat has 3 seasons of Petit ACP50/60 on it.
    This amounts to 2 gallons (I only needed a quart to touch up this year).
    
    The ACP ablative is some tough stuff compared to the traditional bottom
    paints. The Interlux Pintoff 299 bottom paint gel has trouble cutting
    through more than a coat at a time (I find it will cut 4-5 coats of
    traditional bottom paint). The Petit fibreglas formulated paint
    remover works better, but this stuff is really strong so, you have to 
    get it on/off quickly. I have been using a 3" chip brush and a stiff
    3" paint scraper.
    
    The trick that has cut my stripping by a factor of 4 is the sander. I am
    using a Porter Cable 5" obital sander with a dust holder. But I have
    attached a 1" to 2.5" adapter along with 12 feet of 2.5" hose to my
    commerical wet/dry shopvac. No residue drops as it sucks dust up to 1 inch
    away from the sanding pad. Because of this, your glases don't crud up, your
    breathing is easier, and at the end of the day, you don't look like
    grampa smurf (<-- been there 1 time too many...). I am currently using
    60 grit, but will final sand with 100. This setup blows away the 
    palm sanders we used 3 years ago.
    
    

    There is a product that has been around for a couple of years that is
    enviornmentally safe and made specifically for bottom paint. Its called
    Strip Ease (me thinks). It is advertised in Boat US and West Marine.
    Sells for about $200/5 gallon can. Looks like paste. You spread it on,
    apply paper (included) to slow drying, and the next day the paint is
    easily removed with a plastic spreader. I've seen this stuff work. Great 
    if you're just removing bottom paint. It will not remove epoxy (West 
    System). 
    
    My boat needs a bottom job, and it is so messed up, that I'm having the 
    paint removed with a tool similar to a power plainer (sp?). The result 
    is a clean hull requiring minimum sanding, that's ready for barrier 
    coating and new paint.
    

    Hauled yesterday......brrrr. It is sub 20deg F here now and snow
    everywhere.  The bottom was immaculate on the side facing east and some
    algae growth on the westward facing side. A quick powerwash and presto 
    ............clean bottom.
    
    In 1988 we, the whole crew, did a sand job on the virgin gel coat.
    Afterward we applied four coats of VC-TAR followed by VC17 when it was
    potent stuff. (TBTF). In 1989, only a light sand touch up was needed. I
    bought a case of the TBTF paint and it lasted two more years. 
    
    VC17 is so thin that I have not sanded since 1989. The bottom is still
    perfectly smooth. VC17 today has no TBTF so I add a tiny little bottle
    of mildewcide available at the hardware store to each quart. It works
    fine. The copper only keeps the zebra mussels at bay, it will not stop
    the algae drowth. Probably the original four years of tin based paint
    is still helping.  
    
    For 1996, I will not even apply bottom paint. Assassin will sit on the
    cradle until our summer "passage" and then will return to the cradle
    afterward.  A rolling stone gathers no moss.......
    
    

    re .13
    
       I have seen and read about the stuff. But I needed only a gallon at
    $27.00 for traditional stripper verus $40-60 a gallon for the 
    "environmentally correct" stripper. 
    
       I put a piece of scrap plywood under the section I am working and then
    transfer the drippings into an old pan.  Next day the stripper has 
    evaporated and has left nice light paint chips to dispose of. The mess
    is very small. I am very careful, as the boat is very close to my
    well.
    
       The problem with traditional paint strippers is they use a chemical
    reaction with the paint. Below 40 degrees, they have trouble doing the
    job. When the wind is up and the temps are around 30, they are not so
    great. Let the sun come out and get it up to 45-60 and if the wind is
    light, they will do the job quick and cheap. Else you can lightly
    stroke an extra coating of stripper on to keep the paint damp until
    you run a scrapper across it. 
    
       With the EC stuff, you need enough paper to go around. I only 
    need a gallon, but have to buy 2-3 extra rolls of the paper, the price
    comes out almost double. And in the end, I have to sand anyways as it
    has to be absolutely clean before I epoxy.
    
       It will be interesting to see what happens in the future. I think
    the ablatives are the way to go if you expect to get more than 2 years
    out of a boat. Like .14 says, you can get lots of years out of an
    ablative that wears well, as it doesn't die when the boat is pulled
    for the season. And best of all, you don't have to be a smurf each 
    spring....