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Anti-Fouling Paint on an outboard?

12K views 15 replies 8 participants last post by  Brewgyver 
#1 · (Edited)
Woohoo, first post! I've been thinking...it's a hassle for me to pull my outboard after every use and, realistically, I have nowhere to store it but the trunk of my car. I've been looking at anti-fouling paint in a spray can to paint the the lower so that I can leave it in the water and only pull it once a week to flush and rinse. Are there any downsides to doing this? I would start with a coat of self-etching zinc chromate primer followed by a couple of coats of the anti-fouling in a can.
 
#2 ·
Hi Ericb,

I suspect my situation is different since my boat was in a slip on a freshwater river last year. However -- everything that touches that river for more than a couple hours comes out with a thick brown slime on it.

I had very good luck with the rattle-can anitifouling paint on my Honda outboard. I just sanded the old antifouling paint once over lightly with some 80-grit paper and sprayed. After the power wash in the fall the lower unit of the engine looked as good as, or maybe even better than, everything else below the water line.

Make sure to mask off your zincs first so they remain unpainted, especially in the salt water!

Scott.
 
#4 ·
Woohoo, first post! I've been thinking...it's a hassle for me to pull my outboard after every use and, realistically, I have nowhere to strore it but the truck of my car. I've been looking at anti-fouling paint in a spray can to paint the the lower so that I can leave it in the water and only pull it once a week to flush and rinse. Are there any downsides to doing this? I would start with a coat of self-etching zinc chromate primer followed bu a couple of coats of the ant-fouling in a can.
The only thing I have read about is to make sure the paint you apply is compatible with aluminum, or whatever lower units are made of.

Paul T
 
#5 ·
I take it, your outboard is down in a motor well? There are certainly mechanisms that make it fairly easy to pull one up and hold it there. However, the issue is often being unable to close the hatch over it. Again, a dockside hatch could be fashioned.

That said, if this isn't practical, for sure you should paint the lower unit. I've even seen some paint just the back and lowest part, when they can't tilt it fully out of the water. The effort they seem to go through to match the waterline cracks me up.
 
#11 ·
Looking forward to summer, I spend 3-4 nights a week on the boat, and it's not feasible to store it in the cabin on those nights. A friend suggested that I lay it down in the motor well but I don't know if it will fit that way. Plan to check that out this weekend...
 
#13 ·
I've been looking at anti-fouling paint in a spray can to paint the the lower so that I can leave it in the water and only pull it once a week to flush and rinse. Are there any downsides to doing this? I would start with a coat of self-etching zinc chromate primer followed by a couple of coats of the anti-fouling in a can.
On my saildrives, similar to your application:
Started with ZC, then coated with a Carboline epoxy product, then went over that with West Marine's paint-on. Everything but the really ****ty WM antifoul is working just fine. I emphatically do not recommend West Marine's OB antifouling.

You say you're pulling it every week, so I suppose even if the antifoul is crappy, you'll have the opportunity to clean it off while it's out.

In retrospect, I wish I'd gone with Trilux. That, or I may really spend some time with the epoxy and go over that with the Trinidad PRO bottom paint that is working a treat, but I was hesitant in that Trinidad is copper and that's another argument for another thread
 
#16 ·
+1 on what PDQ said.

Yes, you can kill the critters that WILL grown in your cooling passages by running the engine hot enough for long enough. BUT, the dead critters will still be there, latched onto the metal, and the only way to get them out is acid washing - with an inhibited acid of course.

Talk to a local yard that does outboard work, and ask them.
 
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