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Touchy Touch-ups
by Roger McAfee
When I do paint touchups on my steel boat, sometimes they work well and other times the paint flakes off. Why?
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There are two common causes of the problem you describe. Generally, the first is improper preparation of the area to be painted. Proper prep requires the breach in the paint to be sanded or ground down to bare metal, degreased and then primed. After the primer has dried, the top coat should be applied.
The most likely cause of the problem is a combination of temperature and moisture related to the metal itself. Many paint failures on metal hulls are caused by the metal being too cold or damp, or both, when the paint is applied. Metal, because it is a good conductor of heat, will often cool off quickly at night, and dew will develop on the surface. Until the dew has completely dried, most paints won`t stick. Most normal paints will also have difficulty getting a good hold on cold steel.
The trick that many boaters use to get a good bond on steel is to let the dew evaporate completely and then let the area to be painted sit in the sun for a couple of hours. Boaters who paint their boat while it is still in the water often paint the side to the sun, then turn the boat around, take a break and paint the other side.
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This article first appeared in the March 1, 2010 issue of Sea Magazine. All or parts of the information contained in this article might be outdated. |
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