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SML Ballastic EPOXY


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I have. Last summer I used 2 coats of Ballastic Epoxy on a throughly hand prepped hull, followed by 2 coats of Jotun 90 as recommend by SML. When I read Jotun's own blurb about how surface tolerant 90 was I wondered why I'd needed the SML, but perhaps it's more resistant to any residual bitumen. My hull looked excellent when the job was completed, and it had over a week to cure before it  went back in the water.

 

I'll know more definitively next year as my plans to have her out to check the hull this year were overtaken by events, but I'd say that the epoxy is not as resilient to the inevitable bumps and scrapes as the Rylards bitumen products I previously used. I have picked up some chalky marks from less damaging scrapes, but also some rusty gashes from things like sticky out wrong way round bolts in lock gates and dodgy Armco at lock landings. Grrr.

 

If I did it again I'd also not have used Vactan in the prep as (as @TheBiscuits pointed out) I think it may be a weaker bond with the hull than the epoxy would have been, so that's a niggling doubt I have. Jotun seem to suggest that a bit of light residual rust or gingering isn't a problem for 90. Another plus point for Jotun 90 is that it's still black where most epoxies, including SML it appears, tend to go off grey.

 

Maybe not quite as settled an opinion as you were hoping for, but I hope the above is useful. Turn up with a scraper, a brush and a bucket of enthusiasm when she's next out of the water and I'll generously allow you to gain some hands on experience... :D

Edited by Sea Dog
Removed a spare "an"
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I used a lot of Jotun/SML paints and they are of good quality but I don't like the idea of painting anything over bitumen. The adhesion between the new paint is only as good as that to the bitumen. Whilst it may stay in place if the boat doesn't contact anything you are going to get a right mess when it does. Long term some of these epoxy coatings become brittle so if not well attached will flake off especially if attached to something like bitumen. Bitumen contains all sorts of crap so you don't know what reactions are going to take place since it doesn't cure like paint just evaporates the solvent or some of it. The only way to get rid of bitumen is by shotblasting!

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My. Boat was two pack 

 epoxy when new.

I bought it when it was on the hard, clean as a whistle.

Owner was supposed to two pack epoxy before going back in, but failed.

I Pulled it out after eighteen months, still clean..asked SML for advice,three coats Jotun 90

 

 

 

 

Edited by LadyG
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1 hour ago, Mike Adams said:

...I don't like the idea of painting anything over bitumen. The adhesion between the new paint is only as good as that to the bitumen.

I don't think the idea is that it goes on top of bitumen, rather that it does not react if there are any traces left after hand prep rather than SA2.5 blasting. Certainly that was the level of prep I understood was required and aimed for. 

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It says 'This advanced product bridges the gap between having to sand, or blast back, a steel canal boat to bare metal before applying a two-pack epoxy primer, for a 10 year paint system and having to apply a bitumen-based product every year or so. Ballastic Epoxy is a two-pack primer but it can be applied over existing bitumen paint and has all the protection of an epoxy primer which will allow the use of better quality two-pack topcoats.' on the website.

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1 minute ago, Mike Adams said:

It says 'This advanced product bridges the gap between having to sand, or blast back, a steel canal boat to bare metal before applying a two-pack epoxy primer, for a 10 year paint system and having to apply a bitumen-based product every year or so. Ballastic Epoxy is a two-pack primer but it can be applied over existing bitumen paint and has all the protection of an epoxy primer which will allow the use of better quality two-pack topcoats.' on the website.

Well then, like you, I'd not be entirely comfortable with doing that. I considered it worth a go as it ought to be more forgiving with bare metal hand prep as mentioned above.

That said, it doesn't cost a lot more than many bitumen based products, so some will consider it worth a slosh over their bitumen blacking I suppose. Time will tell.

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Thanks all. As I suspected - it's perhaps too soon to tell? Anyhow - the diesel seems to chew through our blacking in no time (my partner often says bitumenous blacking is a great big con!), So I think I'll give it a go! Interestingly Uxbridge and Bulls bridge boat yards are now stocking SML Ballastic EPOXY. We'll pull it out in 2 years and see if it was worth while.

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1 hour ago, Colin Brendan said:

Thanks all. As I suspected - it's perhaps too soon to tell? Aaanyhow - the diesel seems to chew through our blacking in no time (my partner often says bitumenous blacking is a great big con!), So I think I'll give it a go! Interestingly Uxbridge and Bulls bridge boat yards are now stocking SML Ballastic EPOXY. We'll pull it out in 2 years and see if it was worth while.

It's all in the prep, I see some boaters just add more black bitumen, which is not ideal, spend a day with a cupped wire brush. Then black with two pack, likely ballistic is best if your boat has any bitumen on it, which is likely.

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  • 1 year later...

Interested in this topic as we are also considered using the Ballastic Epoxy.

 

Having intially used a two pack epoxy system from new, onto shot blasted steel, for the last 30 years we have used a high quality vinyl blacking which we have been very happy with. The performance of an epoxy without the faff of a two pack product. Unfortunately it's been discontinued and we are struggling to find a direct replacement.

 

Hence we're now looking at options for what will go over the vinyl and give the performance we are accustomed too. The Ballastic potentially looks the best for far.

 

I've had conversations with the technical departments of both Sherwin Williams (Liegh's Paints) who previously supplied our paint, and Jotun, who where both nervous about suggesting any of their products. I'm planning to phone SML later today.

 

If the colour retention is better, maybe as suggested above, a coat of the Ballastic for the previous coating tolerance and the a coat of Jotumastic 90 or 87 for colour retention. And in future, just recoat with the Jotumastic every four years.

 

 

On 01/07/2022 at 15:04, Sea Dog said:

I have. Last summer I used 2 coats of Ballastic Epoxy on a throughly hand prepped hull, followed by 2 coats of Jotun 90 as recommend by SML. 

 

I'll know more definitively next year as [I plan] to have her out to check the hull...

Have you had her out to inspect yet?

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On 01/07/2022 at 15:04, Sea Dog said:

I have. Last summer I used 2 coats of Ballastic Epoxy on a throughly hand prepped hull, followed by 2 coats of Jotun 90 as recommend by SML. When I read Jotun's own blurb about how surface tolerant 90 was I wondered why I'd needed the SML, but perhaps it's more resistant to any residual bitumen. My hull looked excellent when the job was completed, and it had over a week to cure before it  went back in the water.

 

I'll know more definitively next year as my plans to have her out to check the hull this year were overtaken by events, but I'd say that the epoxy is not as resilient to the inevitable bumps and scrapes as the Rylards bitumen products I previously used. I have picked up some chalky marks from less damaging scrapes, but also some rusty gashes from things like sticky out wrong way round bolts in lock gates and dodgy Armco at lock landings. Grrr.

 

If I did it again I'd also not have used Vactan in the prep as (as @TheBiscuits pointed out) I think it may be a weaker bond with the hull than the epoxy would have been, so that's a niggling doubt I have. Jotun seem to suggest that a bit of light residual rust or gingering isn't a problem for 90. Another plus point for Jotun 90 is that it's still black where most epoxies, including SML it appears, tend to go off grey.

 

Maybe not quite as settled an opinion as you were hoping for, but I hope the above is useful. Turn up with a scraper, a brush and a bucket of enthusiasm when she's next out of the water and I'll generously allow you to gain some hands on experience... :D

I've gone right off rust converters for the same reason, having had coatings of various types fail to some degree, the only common link being rust treatments. Most successful coating so far being Armourguard ST, but unfortunately the manufacturer has gone under and I have yet to find an alternative. 

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19 minutes ago, BWM said:

I've gone right off rust converters for the same reason, having had coatings of various types fail to some degree, the only common link being rust treatments. Most successful coating so far being Armourguard ST, but unfortunately the manufacturer has gone under and I have yet to find an alternative. 

 

Armourguard ST is available again but the company (Reactive Resins) has gone and its now made by a different company (though most likely the same man).

Its good stuff and I have used it a lot, but I suspect it does not stick quite as well as Jotun 90, but too early to say conclusively

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19 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

Armourguard ST is available again but the company (Reactive Resins) has gone and its now made by a different company (though most likely the same man).

Its good stuff and I have used it a lot, but I suspect it does not stick quite as well as Jotun 90, but too early to say conclusively

Cheers, I have found the Armourguard excellent but have yet to try Jotun 90.

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2 hours ago, DHutch said:

Have you had her out to inspect yet?

I have Daniel, yes, in June this year which was after 2 years. I have reported the results in one of these threads, but clearly not this one!

The results were mixed. The bow was absolutely as new, well adhered and unscathed. Midships had picked up some battle scars with local whitening where the coating remained intact, but localised rusting where the scrape was through to the steel. Seeing the rusting scrapes below the waterline when in clear water prompted the haul out. The rust here was not serious though and the coating around it still mostly well adhered. However, I did find some areas where moisture had crept in, oddly particularly around the anodes where even though the finish looked good I was able to lift some patches. 

I had a supply of Jotamastic 90 on hand to complete repairs to the scrapes, but a. because of the moisture creep and b. because of the vulnerability to scrape damage (both cosmetically and brittleness) I decided to get busy with the power tools and then reblack using 3 coats of SML's Ballastic Black bitumen blacking. I just think this tends to smudge rather than shatter when it meets underwater nasties, hence for my use I went back to bitumen for DIY work.

Whether the failings were as a result of my prep (bare metal, but not SA2.5 - this is the point of the primer) or the effectiveness of the SML epoxy primer I can't tell, although I can say I saw no evidence of weakness where I'd used Vactan in old pitting and scrapes.

Lastly, apart from white scrapes, the Jotamastic 90 finish was still black, not grey.

 

 

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On 02/07/2022 at 11:27, LadyG said:

It's all in the prep, I see some boaters just add more black bitumen, which is not ideal, spend a day with a cupped wire brush. Then black with two pack, likely ballistic is best if your boat has any bitumen on it, which is likely.

 

Spend a day with a wire brush is very optimistic in my experience. I have just reblacked our boat using Intertuf. Prior to applying it I tried wire brush and polymer abrasive discs in an anglegrinder to remove the rust around the waterline. The wire brushes are effective but polish the metal which isn't good if you want something to stick to it. The discs simply smear what blacking is left. They do get rid of it eventually but you would spend a lot of money to remove all the blacking on an average sized boat. 

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31 minutes ago, Cheshire cat said:

 

Spend a day with a wire brush is very optimistic in my experience. I have just reblacked our boat using Intertuf. Prior to applying it I tried wire brush and polymer abrasive discs in an anglegrinder to remove the rust around the waterline. The wire brushes are effective but polish the metal which isn't good if you want something to stick to it. The discs simply smear what blacking is left. They do get rid of it eventually but you would spend a lot of money to remove all the blacking on an average sized boat. 

I'm not expert as my boat pretty much has no rust, but if you are back to bare steel, but too smooth, I would think a standard wooden handled wire brush would scratch to a rough surface. I paid for a yard (boy) to cup brush, so did not inspect the hull in detail before his efforts.

Edited by LadyG
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3 hours ago, DHutch said:

Interested in this topic as we are also considered using the Ballastic Epoxy.

 

Having intially used a two pack epoxy system from new, into shot blasted steel, for the last 30 years we have used a high quality vinyl blacking which we have bee very happy with. The performance of an epoxy without the faff of a two pack product. Unfortunately it's been discontinued and we are struggling to find a direct replacement.

 

Hence we're now looking at options for what will go over the vinyl and give the performance we are accustomed too. The Ballastic looks the best for far.

 

I've had conversations with the technical departments of both Sherwin Williams (Lights Paints) who previously supplied or paint, and Jotun who are both nervous about suggesting any of their products. I'm planning to phone SML later today.

 

If the colour retention is better, maybe as suggested above, a coat of the Ballastic and the a coat of Jotumastic 90 or 87.

 

 

Have a chat with Northwich Dry dock or Mike Carter 

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On 01/07/2022 at 15:04, Sea Dog said:

 When I read Jotun's own blurb about how surface tolerant 90 was I wondered why I'd needed the SML, 

 

The answer is you didn't. If using Jotun 90 that's all you need and definitely no Vactan.

41 minutes ago, Colin Brendan said:

I think it depends on your enemy. If it's diesel my SML Ballastic Epoxy seems pretty good compared to bitumen. If it's lock landings Bitumen seems a bit tougher/less brittle. Haven't had it out the water yet though... next year...

 

SML ballistic epoxy doesn't sound very good at all if it's shattering as in SeaDog's review above. If people are going to all the trouble of prepping a hull for epoxy then I don't understand why they don't go for a reputable brand? I guess the SML epoxy must be cheaper than Jotun but it sounds like a false economy. Who actually makes the SML stuff anyway? SML are a paint supplier rather than manufacturer.

Edited by blackrose
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Yep Ballastic Epoxy is for going over bitumen. If you're shot blasting use something else. I think SML do make it themselves though and I've heard a few boat yard favour it over bitumen (more expensive product though so...). Mine looks good for a year in. Diesel would normally be getting its way through the bitumen at the waterline by now, and this doesn't seemed to have happened, but I'll know for sure when it comes out next year.

Edited by Colin Brendan
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1 hour ago, Colin Brendan said:

Yep Ballastic Epoxy is for going over bitumen. If you're shot blasting use something else. I think SML do make it themselves though and I've heard a few boat yard favour it over bitumen (more expensive product though so...). Mine looks good for a year in. Diesel would normally be getting its way through the bitumen at the waterline by now, and this doesn't seemed to have happened, but I'll know for sure when it comes out next year.

 

Ok I see. Well arguably any epoxy could be painted over bitumen, but if that's what you're doing then I wouldn't expect it to last much longer than... bitumen! 

 

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

 

But yes, if you're using it for increased diesel resistance it might make sense.

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2 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

Ok I see. Well arguably any epoxy could be painted over bitumen, but if that's what you're doing then I wouldn't expect it to last much longer than... bitumen! 

 

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

 

But yes, if you're using it for increased diesel resistance it might make sense.

When I contacted SML about their ballastic epoxy they advised that it would go on blasted/bare steel with an expected life of up to 10 years, whilst if applied over existing prepared bitumen it would likely last up to 5 years.

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3 hours ago, blackrose said:

SML ballistic epoxy doesn't sound very good at all if it's shattering as in SeaDog's review above. If people are going to all the trouble of prepping a hull for epoxy then I don't understand why they don't go for a reputable brand? I guess the SML epoxy must be cheaper than Jotun but it sounds like a false economy.

As I understand it, the theory is that if you hand prep after having bitumen blacking, their epoxy primer won't react with any residual bitumen 'stains'. This then acts as a good base for normal 2 pack epoxy which usually requires SA2.5 levels of prep.

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1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

As I understand it, the theory is that if you hand prep after having bitumen blacking, their epoxy primer won't react with any residual bitumen 'stains'. This then acts as a good base for normal 2 pack epoxy which usually requires SA2.5 levels of prep.

 

No sorry I don't buy that theory. Most epoxies won't react to old bitumen so that's not the problem. The issue is that any amount of bitumen left on the steel represents a weaker bond to the steel than had the epoxy been applied directly to correctly prepped steel.

 

To me this sounds like a case of an epoxy being marketed as a way to avoid proper steel prep, but as I said, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

Edited by blackrose
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