Primer after rust inhibitor

[Wanted]

Hi all,

 

I have spent the day in my engine ole, I have a couple of weeks before my engine is finally thrown in, so I took the opportunity to tart up the bilges.

 

Thus far I have taken the whole compartment back to metal in most places and given it a good coating of rust inhibitor. It's a vactan / feratan knock off from flea bay.

 

The instructions go a bit vague after 'apply liberally and leave 24 hours'

 

Can I go straight over with zinc primer once it's done it's job?

 

Ta

[Paul C]

Short answer: yes

[Wanted]

Perfect, ta

[onionbargee]

Long answer, the zinc dust in the primer won't be in contact with the steel, so it will have no cathodic protection effect. Otherwise crack on old bean.

[Wanted]

Ok, so I can't see what would be better, given that the bilges were pretty rusty I think it makes sense to use this stuff (too late, already have!)

Am I right in saying that the primer will still work, as in stick and act as a base coat, but not in the way it is intended?

[onionbargee]

Yeah, if you already have it.

 

It would be a waste of money paying extra for zinc primer if its not touching the metal. A one Hammerite type paint would probably be better over Vactan, if the two are compatible.

 

If you have wire brushed it clean you don't need Vactan on it, just primer.

[Wanted]

Cool, I didn't get it all back and some was proper rusty so im good with that.

Ta

[blackrose]

Even with a wire brush it's still difficult to get all the rust out of the pits so vactan is good there. I use wire wheels on an angle grinder but it makes a right old mess.

 

Did your rust turn black after you treated it? Just wondering if the knock off products are as good as the real thing?

[Wanted]

Even with a wire brush it's still difficult to get all the rust out of the pits so vactan is good there. I use wire wheels on an angle grinder but it makes a right old mess.

Did your rust turn black after you treated it? Just wondering if the knock off products are as good as the real thing?

Yes, there are loads of bits that I couldn't get at so happy I did it. The product I bought was called Aquasteel, it claims to have been developed for oil rigs. It went on like a thin PVA, almost an ultraviolet purple colour and went black as you would expect when activating. It was a pig to get off of my hands. I don't know if it's a knock off or not but it was £30 for 2.5 litres, which is enough for 24SqrM.

 

I have my water tank to do next, so have enough for that as well.

 

Best

 

Rob

[onionbargee]

Can't say I'm thrilled at having that stuff in a water tank, even though they say its harmless. Its based on Tannic acid, but what else in in it ?

Edited June 6, 2015 by onionbargee

[alan_fincher]

As an aside, my experiences have shown Vactan and Fertan to be very different beasts. Vactan does what it says it does, but our use of Fertan was a rub out. It says if you apply it, and let it convert, it will act as a primer keeping rust at bay until you overcoat. We laboriously stripped down a gunwale and fully coated it with Fertan, which seemed to convert OK. However when we came back the next day, the entire surface had rusted over, and we had to take it all back to metal and start again.

 

The Fertan got binned.

[junior]

It went on like a thin PVA, almost an ultraviolet purple colour and went black as you would expect when activating.

 

 

Sounds like exactly the same as what happened on the few occasions i used Vactan.

 

I thought Vactan (and similar products) acted as a primer? I'd just Vactan it and throw bilge paint everywhere. Although i do have a bit of an obsession with bilge paint at the moment.

[Wanted]

I think I'm being a little precious about it, but I have the luxury of an empty engine ole so want to do a proper job this time. But yes, I think the Aquasteel is a primer as well

[frangar]

I was told that all the rust converters should be applied as thinly as possible even to the point of brushing them out as the colour is changing. They also seem less effective if they take too long to dry such as when the steel is cold or damp.

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

[Wanted]

That was partly my concern, as somebody told me once that you had to wash off feratan after 24 hours. That doesn't sound quite right to me but, I've only seen it used once by a bloke who only did half jobs!

 

The stuff I am using says that in is happy in damp environments..