Blacking

[james13]

Hi

Will be taking the boat out for blacking soon and it was previously covered with comastic and i understand you cant get this any more.Has any body any experience blacking over this and what did you use i don,t fancy having it blasted back to bare metal ..Any suggestions

[blackrose]

Blacking basically sticks to anything, just not for long enough - only for a couple of years before you need to do it again.

 

Can you really not get comastic anymore?

[james13]

No something to do with the EU and the chemicals in comastic

[Tonka]

Just now, blackrose said:

Blacking basically sticks to anything, just not for long enough - only for a couple of years before you need to do it again.

 

Can you really not get comastic anymore?

comastic has been banned by the EU. I coated mine after a jetwash with Keelblack.

[james13]

Did yours have comastic on and how is the keelblack holding out.

have read a bit about keelblack but it sounds a bit new/untested and to good to be true

[Alan de Enfield]

26 minutes ago, james13 said:

Hi

Will be taking the boat out for blacking soon and it was previously covered with comastic and i understand you cant get this any more.Has any body any experience blacking over this and what did you use i don,t fancy having it blasted back to bare metal ..Any suggestions

Are you having done outside, or indoors in a heated dock ?

[james13]

will be outside

[WotEver]

10 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Are you having done outside, or indoors in a heated dock ?

 

4 minutes ago, james13 said:

will be outside

 

There will now follow a bunch of posts to explain why this is a BAD idea at this time of year. 

[Mike Hurley]

2 minutes ago, WotEver said:

 

 

There will now follow a bunch of posts to explain why this is a BAD idea at this time of year. 

Beer, popcorn.

[Alan de Enfield]

Just now, WotEver said:

 

 

There will now follow a bunch of posts to explain why this is a BAD idea at this time of year. 

 

That's up to the OP, its his money, if he wants to do it "at this time of year" and again in the Summer he is entitled to.

I'm sure he has taken into account the environment, the average daytime temperatures, the dew point, the drying time and the overnight temperatures, the manufacturers instructions and recommendations and made an informed decision.

[Tonka]

32 minutes ago, james13 said:

Did yours have comastic on and how is the keelblack holding out.

have read a bit about keelblack but it sounds a bit new/untested and to good to be true

Yes it was previously done with Comastic. I am not overly convinced with the Keelblack but not sure if it the product, time of year that the boat was done. Nov 2018 and the Tiller got frozen stuck at one point or the fact that the marina messed me about having taken the boat out for a coat of paint, then put it back to do a survey on a another boat, to then pull the boat back out for some more paint.

[james13]

So would you say it has held up well for a year then would you trey it again under better conditions

[matty40s]

Speak to Dacrylate, they have a coating which goes over comastic, and does not become degraded like normal bitumen does when diesel is spilt.  Off the top of me head it's called Epidac. I will be trying it in the Spring. 

Like all the bitumen, two packs and comastic in the past, it shouldn't be applied below 10 deg C unless you have weeks to let it dry off.

[Tonka]

1 hour ago, james13 said:

So would you say it has held up well for a year then would you trey it again under better conditions

If I had the money I would like to epoxy her, especially as she is now 25 years old

[Detling]

 

50 minutes ago, Tonka said:

If I had the money I would like to epoxy her, especially as she is now 25 years old

 

The grit blasting requires beforehand has been known to find weak points in older boats, make sure it is a good yard doing the work who will check after blasting and before applying the epoxy. I have heard of pinholes not being found and boats sinking, my friends 30 year old developed some tiny holes in the uxter plate near the prop, probably helped by the 29 years of stone bashing when navigating the canals, the yard spotted them and filled with weld before they applied the paint.

[Tonka]

45 minutes ago, Detling said:

 

 

The grit blasting requires beforehand has been known to find weak points in older boats, make sure it is a good yard doing the work who will check after blasting and before applying the epoxy. I have heard of pinholes not being found and boats sinking, my friends 30 year old developed some tiny holes in the uxter plate near the prop, probably helped by the 29 years of stone bashing when navigating the canals, the yard spotted them and filled with weld before they applied the paint.

Surely a good yard does a survey before grit blasting which is what Debdale wharf do.

[james13]

Thanks i will  have a loot at the Dacrylate site and see whats what

[Sea Dog]

3 hours ago, Tonka said:

comastic has been banned by the EU. I coated mine after a jetwash with Keelblack.

Comastic

 

Well, to be fair to the EU, lest anyone should think it's just them being party poopers, the UK would probably have banned it independently anyway.  This is what the US Government says:

 

Occupational exposure to coal tar or coal-tar pitch increases the risk of skin cancer. Other types of cancer, including lung, bladder, kidney, and digestive tract cancer, have also been linked to occupational exposure to coal tar and coal-tar pitch.

 

Whilst I doubt limited exposure during a biannual DIY blacking is likely to be a high risk, I'd not like to think anyone involved in the manufacture of the coating I used had been affected.

 

Keelblack

 

I haven't used Keelblack, but I was hoping it would prove to be as effective as the manufacturer claimed so I could opt use it with confidence.  I found it odd that the manufacturer had not conducted a trial with their coating on narrowboats and published the results, but was hoping that the early adopters would back up the claims with hard evidence from their experience.  However, 2 years ago, I was blacking my boat out on the hard and next to me was a boat being investigated to try to ascertain why the Keelblack coating had failed in a matter of months.  Today, as I type, I'm yards away from a boat Keelblacked within the last year, pulled out due to concerns about the coating having failed. It is now back to bare metal after a simple jet wash with little or no trace of the Keelblack remaining. Looks like Rylards again for me in the spring.

 

 

[Tonka]

5 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Comastic

 

Well, to be fair to the EU, lest anyone should think it's just them being party poopers, the UK would probably have banned it independently anyway.  This is what the US Government says:

 

Occupational exposure to coal tar or coal-tar pitch increases the risk of skin cancer. Other types of cancer, including lung, bladder, kidney, and digestive tract cancer, have also been linked to occupational exposure to coal tar and coal-tar pitch.

 

Whilst I doubt limited exposure during a biannual DIY blacking is likely to be a high risk, I'd not like to think anyone involved in the manufacture of the coating I used had been affected.

 

Keelblack

 

I haven't used Keelblack, but I was hoping it would prove to be as effective as the manufacturer claimed so I could opt use it with confidence.  I found it odd that the manufacturer had not conducted a trial with their coating on narrowboats and published the results, but was hoping that the early adopters would back up the claims with hard evidence from their experience.  However, 2 years ago, I was blacking my boat out on the hard and next to me was a boat being investigated to try to ascertain why the Keelblack coating had failed in a matter of months.  Today, as I type, I'm yards away from a boat Keelblacked within the last year, pulled out due to concerns about the coating having failed. It is now back to bare metal after a simple jet wash with little or no trace of the Keelblack remaining. Looks like Rylards again for me in the spring.

 

 

so what about t/gell shampoo made with coal tar.

[james13]

Shame about the keelblack i quite fancied that maybe in a few years reviews permitting

[Sea Dog]

20 minutes ago, Tonka said:

so what about t/gell shampoo made with coal tar.

Haven't tried it.  I expect it'd go on easily enough, but when cruising won't it  rinse off quite quickly and leave a trail of bubbles?

[ditchcrawler]

25 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Haven't tried it.  I expect it'd go on easily enough, but when cruising won't it  rinse off quite quickly and leave a trail of bubbles?

But they wont be able to see where you have pumped your bilge out

[Alan de Enfield]

49 minutes ago, Tonka said:

so what about t/gell shampoo made with coal tar.

I guess a lot of us will remember Wrights Coal tar Soap - standard soap when I was a child.

It was classed as an antiseptic and had been used as a treatment for Psoriasis, Eczema and Ringworm for over 100 years.

 

Banned by the EU in 2005

[Sea Dog]

4 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

But they wont be able to see where you have pumped your bilge out

I'll have you know my bilge is both clean and dry, thank you! My bilge pump is "as new" and never run apart from the regular check. No sailor worth his salt puts up with a wet and mucky bilge. 

[Mad Harold]

9 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

I guess a lot of us will remember Wrights Coal tar Soap - standard soap when I was a child.

It was classed as an antiseptic and had been used as a treatment for Psoriasis, Eczema and Ringworm for over 100 years.

 

Banned by the EU in 2005

Have used it for years.Don't think it's been banned,it's still sold at Sainsburys at Aspley,Huddersfield.