Removing antifoul

[Steve S]

I need to remove a small amount of antifoul to fit a couple of large transducers (they are a foot long)

 

Any suggestions on what to use/ method?

 

Cheers

[Rob]

12" long, you are just showing off Steve!

 

Drift the Shingles at the wrong state of the tide?

 

Sorry, not helpful, i have no idea. But i'm sure if you sand it, you will need some sort of decent mask!

 

Rob

[Kingfisher 126]

If it was me I would use Acetone and plenty of rags, keeps it controlled and ready to reseal new transducers in.

Plenty of fresh air or mask as you do it.

 

Not to sure if it would take off Copperbot.

[Mike Fox]

Hi Steve,

I've scraped 2 boats...and the weapon of choice is a 3/4 inch wood chisel, to be used just after going ashore, when the antifoul is all crumbly still. If you wait, it still works, but is much harder work.

 

The technique to use is to make one long straight clean strip on one side of your chosen area, then using half the width of the chisel blade, take off new rows, so your cleaned area gets progressively wider. Make sure each strip is clean, and then there's no bumps to make the chisel jump.

 

Once the whole required area is clean, thinners and rags will remove the rest. I'd then cut the hole needed, then use an orbital sander to key the gel coat, ready for primer.

 

Typically, you'll remove an area slightly larger than the transducer you're fitting, and make good with underwater epoxy and suitable sealants.

 

The bare gel will need priming, before applying antifoul to the hull again. 

 

There's some specialist antifouls out there now specially for transducers, but they come in small pots and are incredibly expensive.

 

Mike

[gjb]

I have just had my boat serviced and anti fouled plus they did the transducers with a product for them but don't know the name I think force 4 sell this for transducers

 

graham

[Steve S]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, very helpful. The boat is on the hard now, I'll be having a go tomorrow if I can bear the cold.

 

As for Rob's input  I couldn't possibly comment.

 

 

[Maverick Martin]

A cabinet scrapper similar to this cabinet scrapper will remove a small area of antifoul without causing damage. 

I used one to strip all the antifouling of Awol when I had her with no damage

 

[great white]

We use those draw type scrapers at work

 

Excellent for small areas

 

I used one to do the whole of Great White , wouldn't do it again 

[Steve S]

I used the draw scraper as recommended by Martin, did the job in short order, thanks for all the suggestions.

 

The idea of using one to do the whole hull, hmm, not a job I'd fancy doing, life is too short for that. Think I'd get it bead blasted.