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I derusted and Vactan treated my fresh water tank and intended to now coat it with Armourguard two pack.

Unfortunately Reactive Resins, the manufacturer, tells me that Armourguard PW is not currently available and will not be "for around 10 weeks".

I would be grateful for suggestions as to an alternative two pack product.

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Thanks. But £250 is out of the question! If there were nine other people who wanted to paint their tanks..

My tank was previously coated with bitumen. It appeared to be sound when I bought the boat and for some time afterwards. Then a large chunk fell off. The tank was rusting significantly and invisibly behind the bitumen.

No other alternatives?

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I also investigated this a couple of years ago. In terms of two-pack paints for potable water there is very little choice especially if you're not buying in commercial quantities. 

I'm sorry to say this, but if you're painting the tank with two-pack epoxy I think you've made a mistake by using water-based Vactan as a base coat. The prep has to be done mechanically - i.e. removing the rust rather than chemically converting it. There's nothing wrong with rust conversion per se, it's just that you now have a weaker coat of Vactan which will be under the two-pack. It's the bond strength of the epoxy to the steel and then subsequent interlayer bonding of epoxy to itself which provides the longevity.

Were you intending to use Armourguard ST as your primer (over the vactan)? This is the recommended two pack primer but as you probably know it's not water-potable and must be covered by several coats of water-potable Armourguard PW. Instead of Armourguard ST primer you could use another compatible epoxy such as Jotamastic 87, but that still doesn't solve your problem of getting hold of paint for the top coats which must be suitable for potable water.

Edit: Personally I think you're wasting your time painting two-pack over Vactan. I'm sure it will stick but it's not a tested system so who knows for how long? I think your choices are to either 1) take all the Vactan and converted rust off with an angle grinder and wire wheel and paint with a few coats of Armourguard ST or another epoxy primer. But don't do this until you can get hold of some Armourguard PW because epoxy paints have a maximum cure time after which interlayer bonding is reduced for subsequent coats. 2) Just slap on a few coats of water potable bitumen. 3) Put some more coats of Vactan on and leave it at that. Some people do this on the basis that they will have to get in there and treat the tank more frequently but it's a lot easier than trying to get rid of old bitumen.

Just to give you an idea of the standard of prep you should be looking for when using two-pack epoxy, this is my tank. Armourguard ST (and Jotamasic 87) are both surface tolerant epoxies and can go over the sort of prepped surface shown in the 2nd and 3rd pictures. The first picture shows the top of the forward section of the water tank/bottom of the gas locker and the last picture shows the hoover lines in the dust before I cleaned it properly. The tank was originally coated in a single thick coat of a concrete epoxy product, but after 10 years water had got behind it in places and it all had to come out. Not a pleasant job!

 

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Edited by blackrose
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18 minutes ago, blackrose said:

I'm sure it will stick but it's not a tested system so who knows for how long?

I used Vactan + Armourguard when I did my tank 3 years ago so it certainly has been tested. I'd be interested to know what problems are supposed to occur by using a water-based primer because I inspect the tank regularly and have never seen any sign of problems with adhesion - in fact, no problems whatsoever.

According to their documentation, "Can be applied directly to clean, abraded GRP, existing coatings and bitumen." so there is definitely no need to take the tank back to bare steel.

Based on my experience, I would recommend using Vactan + Armourguard as the results have been excellent - crystal clear water and zero maintenance. And no angle grinders, no sitting in a confined space inhaling solvents, no flushing the tank repeatedly to get rid of the taste.

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1 hour ago, Señor Chris said:

I used Vactan + Armourguard when I did my tank 3 years ago so it certainly has been tested. I'd be interested to know what problems are supposed to occur by using a water-based primer because I inspect the tank regularly and have never seen any sign of problems with adhesion - in fact, no problems whatsoever.

According to their documentation, "Can be applied directly to clean, abraded GRP, existing coatings and bitumen." so there is definitely no need to take the tank back to bare steel.

Based on my experience, I would recommend using Vactan + Armourguard as the results have been excellent - crystal clear water and zero maintenance. And no angle grinders, no sitting in a confined space inhaling solvents, no flushing the tank repeatedly to get rid of the taste.

3 years isn't really any longer than ordinary bitumen so I'm afraid your test isn't convincing. I've already described the bonding issues - it will stick alright but you simply won't get the sort of bonding that epoxy paints are capable of if you paint a solvent-based epoxy primer on top of water based Vactan. But you haven't described exactly what you did - which Armourguard paint did you use? If you painted water based Armourguard PW topcoats on top of the Vactan I'm sure that's fine. It can be painted on top of other coatings, but you won't get the longevity compared to properly prepping the steel and using Armourguard ST or another solvent-based epoxy primer because you'll be relying in inferior coatings beneath. I have extensive working experience on this subject and have contacts at Reactive Resins and Jotun who can back up what I say, but I can only offer free advice and at the end of the day it's your boat so you can do what you want.

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3 hours ago, blackrose said:

3 years isn't really any longer than ordinary bitumen so I'm afraid your test isn't convincing.

3 years and counting. When I see problems with the bonding emerge, I'll report back with the results.

 

3 hours ago, blackrose said:

If you painted water based Armourguard PW topcoats on top of the Vactan I'm sure that's fine.

That's what I did. Thanks for clarifying.

 

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  • 1 month later...
19 hours ago, Graham and Jo said:

Reactive Resins - the manufacturer of Armourguard have just gone into liquidation.

Graham

That is a shame, I hope someone continues to manufacture their products as many are excellent. 

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It is very sad, Armourguard ST is an excellent epoxy primer. Its also sold by Boatpaint and they do, or at least did, have some in stock. A large tin is on its way to me right now.

................Dave

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  • 3 years later...

That is good news - it always saddens me when I learn that manufacturers of good honest and useful products cease trading.

For what it's worth, the fresh water tank on 'Alnwick' is lined with nothing but rust and after 16 years we are still alive . . .

 

2012tank.jpg.34fbf291ee88dd75cb40489b82fae7fb.jpg

That's me standing upright in the tank (during cleaning) and I am 6 foot tall!

I have wondered about getting it grit blasted and epoxy coated - it is a big tank!

Edited by NB Alnwick
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26 minutes ago, NB Alnwick said:

That is good news - it always saddens me when I learn that manufacturers of good honest and useful products cease trading.

For what it's worth, the fresh water tank on 'Alnwick' is lined with nothing but rust and after 16 years we are still alive . . .

 

2012tank.jpg.34fbf291ee88dd75cb40489b82fae7fb.jpg

That's me standing upright in the tank (during cleaning) and I am 6 foot tall!

I have wondered about getting it grit blasted and epoxy coated - it is a big tank!

 

eek, I know the Northwich Traders are a bit on the deep side but that's impressive, I'm only about 5 foot 7 so I could probably live in there.

Where do the gas bottles go?

 

..............Dave

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5 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

eek, I know the Northwich Traders are a bit on the deep side but that's impressive, I'm only about 5 foot 7 so I could probably live in there.

Where do the gas bottles go?

 

..............Dave

The gas locker is astern of the water tank - the space below the gas locker with fresh water pump and pipework is accessed from inside our bed 'ole under the deck.

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8 hours ago, NB Alnwick said:

 

I have wondered about getting it grit blasted and epoxy coated - it is a big tank!

 

If you can get a man (or woman) in there with a grit blasting lance and full PPE including breathing apparatus then that's your simplest option. All you'd have to do is vacuum it out and clean the steel prior to painting.

 

Otherwise it needs to be done with an angle grinder and wire wheels. Anything above the waterline could be done with sanding discs to speed things up, but you have to be more careful below that you're not removing good steel. If you can't be bothered with all that then I guess it's vactan and blacking, but even with vactan you need to remove loose rust.

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8 hours ago, Bonnie Mann said:

Hi, I just wanted to let you know that Armourguard ST and Armourguard PW is now manufactured by Xymertec. You can see full information at www.xymertec.com 

Armourguard PW.pdf 325.09 kB · 6 downloads

Do you know if they do Timberseal ps? An excellent product made by the same company - their faring filler was first rate too.

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