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Restoring anodised boat windows.


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Are they Caldwell's windows by any chance? They look very like the ones on my boat. Makes me glad I chose a black finish, not anodised gold colour. Still looking good 14 years later. The result you've obtained looks very good.

Edited by Jen-in-Wellies
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57 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Are they Caldwell's windows by any chance? They look very like the ones on my boat. Makes me glad I chose a black finish, not anodised gold colour. Still looking good 14 years later. The result you've obtained looks very good.

Yes they are and as they are only 10 miles away I get to visit and say "Ow Mooch!!!" which usually results in a mighty discount for the rubber parts/fitting foam etc. :)

I'm guessing your black finish is powdercoat? I notice they've adopted that for everything (IIRC) now instead of anodising, but I think for some colours that's always been the option?

Edited by Slow and Steady
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1 hour ago, OldGoat said:

One of the (many) challenges with narrowboating is that you have to compromise with fittings / components.

Caravan windows just don't look right - but they do let the light in!

True, but to be honest leisure narrowboats apart from being long and narrow bear little resemblance to either trad working boats or any kind of "boats" so personally I don't see a small thing like windows being either here or there. If one was really serious one would have a timber back cabin and tarps at which point even portholes would be wrong. Where do you draw the line? :)

 

Having said that I have every intention of filling 3 of mine in and fitting small portholes instead, mainly because of heat loss. :lol:

Edited by Slow and Steady
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50 minutes ago, Slow and Steady said:

Yes they are and as they are only 10 miles away I get to visit and say "Ow Mooch!!!" which usually results in a mighty discount for the rubber parts/fitting foam etc. :)

I'm guessing your black finish is powdercoat? I notice they've adopted that for everything (IIRC) now instead of anodising, but I think for some colours that's always been the option?

 

The aluminium windows and aluminium mushroom vents on my boat were powder coated in gold paint from new. After about seven years it began to flake off in small patches. The same has happened to my aluminium garden furniture after a similar time span.

 

It then becomes a maintence problem as the finish only comes off in certain areas, leaving a lumpy finish after painting and the still attached powder coat is almost impossible to remove without damaging the aluminium.

 

I wish the original owner of the boat had specified anodising.

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2 hours ago, Slow and Steady said:

True, but to be honest leisure narrowboats apart from being long and narrow bear little resemblance to either trad working boats or any kind of "boats" so personally I don't see a small thing like windows being either here or there. If one was really serious one would have a timber back cabin and tarps at which point even portholes would be wrong. Where do you draw the line? :)

 

Having said that I have every intention of filling 3 of mine in and fitting small portholes instead, mainly because of heat loss. :lol:

We like to see the world go by - and The Management (who is a dab hand with a sewing machine made heavy lined curtains to keep the heat in!

 

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3 hours ago, cuthound said:

 

The aluminium windows and aluminium mushroom vents on my boat were powder coated in gold paint from new. After about seven years it began to flake off in small patches. The same has happened to my aluminium garden furniture after a similar time span.

 

It then becomes a maintence problem as the finish only comes off in certain areas, leaving a lumpy finish after painting and the still attached powder coat is almost impossible to remove without damaging the aluminium.

 

I wish the original owner of the boat had specified anodising.

Do you know who manufactured the windows? Asking because powder coating vs. anodising (double-glazed portholes from Caldwell) is a decision I need to make in the near future...

 

(if you don't want to name names publicly, please PM me)

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4 hours ago, cuthound said:

 

The aluminium windows and aluminium mushroom vents on my boat were powder coated in gold paint from new. After about seven years it began to flake off in small patches. The same has happened to my aluminium garden furniture after a similar time span.

 

It then becomes a maintence problem as the finish only comes off in certain areas, leaving a lumpy finish after painting and the still attached powder coat is almost impossible to remove without damaging the aluminium.

 

I wish the original owner of the boat had specified anodising.

That is indeed disappointing! It seems like there's no good answer to protecting aluminium and maybe the best finish is one that can be easily removed. At least anodising is very thin so my repaint looks perfectly flat. Mine were approx 14 years old but must have been looking rather scruffy for a good few years before I bought the boat. TBH I would have lived with them if I hadn't been repainting the boat as they matched the scruffy paint and rust! There is something to be said for an "overall" look.

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1 hour ago, IanD said:

Do you know who manufactured the windows? Asking because powder coating vs. anodising (double-glazed portholes from Caldwell) is a decision I need to make in the near future...

 

(if you don't want to name names publicly, please PM me)

I think my black finished Caldwell windows are powder coated and they are fine after 14 years. Feels like a plastic coating of some sort, rather than anodising, though anodised black finish is a thing. They also seem to be more resistant to condensation on the frames inside than anodised ones often are. I may be wrong and it might be that the technique and/or subcontractor Caldwell's are using now for powder coating is different from back then. I just said I wanted black frames and Piper's ordered them in and fitted them. I didn't know to ask who the manufacturer was, or the colouring method. I got lucky!

Jen

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13 hours ago, IanD said:

Do you know who manufactured the windows? Asking because powder coating vs. anodising (double-glazed portholes from Caldwell) is a decision I need to make in the near future...

 

(if you don't want to name names publicly, please PM me)

 

Worcester, who have gone out of business.

 

I have seen a few other boats with flaking powder coating. It just doesn't seem to adhere as well to aluminium as well as it does to brass.

 

If you just wipe the anodising with a damp cloth it lasts forever. If however you try to polish it with metal polish, as someone did on my first shareboat, then it is quickly polished through...

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2 minutes ago, cuthound said:

 

Worcester, who have gone out of business.

 

I have seen a few other boats with flaking powder coating. It just doesn't seem to adhere as well to aluminium as well as it does to brass.

 

If you just wipe the anodising with a damp cloth it lasts forever. If however you try to polish it with metal polish, as someone did on my first shareboat, then it is quickly polished through...

Thanks for the info. I've asked Caldwells what their view is on the long-term durability of their powder coating, it'll be interesting to see what they say.

Edited by IanD
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