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Winterising against rust & woodwork damp


Cancunia

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It's probably too late to think about sanding  & painting the steelwork & varnishing the woodwork, so I'd like to protect some rust spots on parts of the hull and seal some woodwork against damp. I'd also like to touch up some of the blacking areas where going through locks has taken it's toll. 

 

Are there any products that'll keep things under control until it starts to get warm again?

 

I'm hoping that there might be some suggestions for the following:

 

1, Rust Converters

2, Spray or quick drying exterior varnish

3, Small quantities of Blacking paint

 

Thanks

 

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30 minutes ago, Cancunia said:

It's probably too late to think about sanding  & painting the steelwork & varnishing the woodwork, so I'd like to protect some rust spots on parts of the hull and seal some woodwork against damp. I'd also like to touch up some of the blacking areas where going through locks has taken it's toll. 

 

Are there any products that'll keep things under control until it starts to get warm again?

 

I'm hoping that there might be some suggestions for the following:

 

1, Rust Converters

2, Spray or quick drying exterior varnish

3, Small quantities of Blacking paint

 

Thanks

 

What was it blacked with

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I tend to slap some Vactan on anything that looks too rusty, then leave it till spring. The rust will almost certainly come through again. If the blacking is bitumen, any brand of the stuff will do. Good quality exterior varnish will protect woodwork - not sure the quick drying stuff copes with serious weather. I use exterior quality on the inside woodwork too, as half the time the old tub's almost as damp inside as it is out.

Then I ignore it till March when I remove the mould from the worktops, fish out what I accidentally left in the fridge, give the sides a rub, more Vactan, and a coat of Weathershieid, and try not to look at the state of the roof! A lot depends on how old and battered your boat is, or whether you've just paid someone ten grand to paint it properly.

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I always have both Vactan and Owatrol readily to hand. I mainly use Vactan on the steel if rust is already forming or Owatrol if it isn't. I have also used Owatrol on wood occasionally, as it soaks in and then hardens, but not enough to have reached any firm conclusion on effectiveness.

 

I sometimes use Vactan where blacking has been scraped deeply enough for rust to form. When it cures it goes black so it blends in quite well. I'd prefer to touch up with blacking if possible but usually find that it's become unusable by the time I need it.

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In addition to your plan for the exterior, it is worth mentioning that boats rust, rot, freeze and go mouldy on the inside. Freezing water damage to mixer taps and a shower head have been my most costly winter damage but then most of my boating experience was with GRP boats.

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I would recommend treating any exposed steelwork with a product XCP you can buy it as a spray-on, paint, cloth application. 

It was worked well on old vintage vehicles that have not been garaged over winter.

It comes in a few different covering formulas,  I use the clear, the standard tends to leave a yellow finish.

 

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For us the best protection was always to stay on the boat over winter - these days we have alternative accommodation so we set a couple of oil filled electric radiators on frost protection and visit the boat once a week just to make sure it is all OK.

In our experience boats need to be loved and they don't like being left alone for any length of time . . .

 

Edited by NB Alnwick
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16 hours ago, NB Alnwick said:

For us the best protection was always to stay on the boat over winter - these days we have alternative accommodation so we set a couple of oil filled electric radiators on frost protection and visit the boat once a week just to make sure it is all OK.

In our experience boats need to be loved and they don't like being left alone for any length of time . . .

 

 

That is what I do, but I also plug in a Meaco DDL8 dehumidifier after blocking the vents and closing the windows ..

 

This seems to keep the boat dry over winter and is quickly removable if I want to go out for a winter cruise.

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I have variable results with Vactan. I have concluded it doesn't work if you do too much prep but works brilliantly if you are lazy. I have a boat awaiting restoration where I went over the outside with an angle grinder mounted wire brush to scrub the loose rust off and then coated it with Vactan quite a few years ago - it is still as good as the day I did it. By contrast, it doesn't work if you break through to bare steel. On Oates, which has been 2-pack epoxied since we bought it, we just touch in with more epoxy. Jotamastic 90 is surface tolerant so a simple wire brush and paint is as good as anything, and it will cure eventually whatever the weather.

 

Woodwork - I have given up and decide I like grey!

 

Inside - from this point of the year we put down three trays of cat litter when we leave the boat. No mould since we started doing this.

 

Alec

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In my experience Vactan works well at converting rust to leave a black primer surface - it seems to work best if there is some rust but not too much. Owatrol, on the other hand, seems not to convert the rust but to displace the water and then harden like a clear varnish. It's quite a while before rust starts to form again, probably years rather than months. So when a lump of paint just spontaneously falls off (an annoyingly regular occurrence these days) I'll use Owatrol if it's still shiny steel or Vactan if rusting has started. I think Owatrol also works well on rust a (albeit in a different way) but it leaves the rust still showing so I prefer the black finish that's left by Vactan. I sometimes use both on rusty patches, Vactan initially then after 24 hours (longer in cold weather) a coating of Owatrol in a belt and braces approach. Some of these patches have been left for years without further treatment as I think they blend in with the surrounding (faded burgundy) paint better than patches I've applied paint to. These stick out like a sore thumb as I've failed to find a colour match to the very faded paintwork.

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5 hours ago, Lily Rose said:

I sometimes use both on rusty patches, Vactan initially then after 24 hours (longer in cold weather) a coating of in a belt and braces approach.

 

Is Vactan a similar product to Fertan? We have used Fertan for years and it is brilliant for treating rust on the ancient ironwork in our cottage.

We have also used it on the boat but probably won't need to now that it has been grit-blasted and repainted.

We often do something similar to that quoted - when the Fertan has dried out to a nice black finish, we apply Owatrol. Sometimes we paint over the Owatrol - that works well!

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8 minutes ago, NB Alnwick said:

 

 

Is Vactan a similar product to Fertan? We have used Fertan for years and it is brilliant for treating rust on the ancient ironwork in our cottage.

We have also used it on the boat but probably won't need to now that it has been grit-blasted and repainted.

We often do something similar to that quoted - when the Fertan has dried out to a nice black finish, we apply Owatrol. Sometimes we paint over the Owatrol - that works well!

Vactan is slightly different to Fertan. Both convert the rust to something more stable and black (Vactan converts it to iron tannate), but whereas Fertan is supposed to be washed off, Vactan also contains latex which creates a permanent film over the top which does not have to be washed off. It's slightly less good if you are planning on painting quickly afterwards as you are actually bonding to the latex, but is much better if you are not overcoating. Overcoating Fertan with Owatrol would be equivalent to using Vactan, but takes more steps. The cured out Owatrol film may or may not be more durable than the latex film from Vactan - not sure as I haven't tried it.


Alec

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42 minutes ago, agg221 said:

Vactan is slightly different to Fertan. Both convert the rust to something more stable and black (Vactan converts it to iron tannate), but whereas Fertan is supposed to be washed off, Vactan also contains latex which creates a permanent film over the top which does not have to be washed off. It's slightly less good if you are planning on painting quickly afterwards as you are actually bonding to the latex, but is much better if you are not overcoating. Overcoating Fertan with Owatrol would be equivalent to using Vactan, but takes more steps. The cured out Owatrol film may or may not be more durable than the latex film from Vactan - not sure as I haven't tried it.


Alec

 

I phenomenally useful post if I might say so, seemingly based on experience gained over decades. I have not been interested in narrowboating for long but had already started to equate Vactan with disappointment when it is used as a rust stabiliser/primer then overcoated with conventional above waterline paint.

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I have several rust patches I applied Vactan to a few years ago and then applied a single coat of gloss as a temporary fix that became permanent. No sign of rust coming through yet.

 

Similar story where I used Vactan then Owatrol but no paint.

 

Not saying it won't happen but it hasn't so far.

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12 hours ago, cuthound said:

That is what I do, but I also plug in a Meaco DDL8 dehumidifier after blocking the vents and closing the windows ..

 

This seems to keep the boat dry over winter and is quickly removable if I want to go out for a winter cruise.

Strange, I always left the vents open, drained the pipework and shower head (obviously), stood the cushions on their edge, opened the fire door and went home . Never used heat or dehumidifiers. Never suffered any mold or damp . Not saying that others should do the same but it worked for me.

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51 minutes ago, Slim said:

Strange, I always left the vents open, drained the pipework and shower head (obviously), stood the cushions on their edge, opened the fire door and went home . Never used heat or dehumidifiers. Never suffered any mold or damp . Not saying that others should do the same but it worked for me.

We did the same, and left a couple of the hopper windows open too. We never had a problem with damp, but then we moored in a very sheltered marina. We did have to re-home a few spiders each time we came back to the boat though!

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12 hours ago, Slim said:

Strange, I always left the vents open, drained the pipework and shower head (obviously), stood the cushions on their edge, opened the fire door and went home . Never used heat or dehumidifiers. Never suffered any mold or damp . Not saying that others should do the same but it worked for me.

 

I tried that the first winter we had the boat and found some cupboard doors had swelled, making them difficult to open, so adopted the heaters (controlled by a thermostat set to 4 degrees C) and the dehumidifier.

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