Bill B

From what I've read there is a lot of positive recommendation for ceramic coating on hulls and topsides. Does anyone have any data or tried applying it to props as a anti fouling coating? Also it sounds like it would help with anti-fouling for underwater light lenses. A very hard and smooth coating should help. Any thoughts or comments?

pas

6104696

Seems to me like "hard and smooth" is a perfect substrate for marine growth. Also " hydrophobic" does not mean "growthaphobic," but would also seem to become pretty meaningless when the surface is submerged. Finally, not sure how long the coating would last with the constant/frequent friction of moving through the water.

surely the chemists will chime on in....

CANARIANFISHER

The fact that they advertise it as antifouling sounds suspicious to me, if it where true nobody would use antifouling paints, it would become a world breakthorough something that did not happen, the closest product to a permanant antifouling is Silicone based antifouling, said to last at least 5 years with absolutely no growth ..........

Nauti_Details_CT

I have ceramic pro marine below waterline on my boat outdrives and props as well (bravo 3's) I will also add I am a certified installer for ceramic pro... boat was coated april 2018.

I was curious as to how well the coating work under water so I used my new to me boat 2006 Doral elegante/330. the bottom paint was flaking off so I stripped the old paint off used a white barrier coat and then sealed it with ceramic pro marine. when first launched I noticed getting up on plane was quicker (I have twin 8.1L so it planes quick to begin with) at cruising speed (3200 rpm) I noticed I was about .6-.8 mph faster. not that fast but still a little bit nonetheless.

so after a few weeks the growth starts (I'm docked in fresh/brackish water, waterline cleans up with little to no effort and a soft brush or by hand... but I cant reach the bottom so I wanted to test it out being my first job below the waterline...

So end of the season (in CT) comes and I pull the boat pressure wash the hull everything comes right off with ease... but there is still a good amount of growth and I was clearly wasting fuel pushing it with that growth, I will say on the longer runs in long island sound a good amount of growth was removed but not clean enough to see the white barrier coating. basically you would have to pull the boat 2-3 times per season to clean the bottom...

does it do what it should do...yes it does... that is ease of cleaning growth and scumline
would I do it again... probably not but its on my boat now and I have marina connections to pull the boat.
there was no growth on outdrives/props though... well i'll say 90% clean

above waterline definitely worth it, and below not so much... my real world and honest view on it.

ChrigelKarrer

Any paint buildup on the propeller will alter it's shape and that can/will lead to cavitation.
Extremly thin liquids like nanocoatings seem to work and have no negative impact on propeller performance,
thicker ones have to be applied very careful to not alter the propellers shape, thickness, surface, etc
PropSpeed is a long available and proven product and it seems that it works, there are other similar products too.

Chris

Holy Smoke

Did you have any hard growth and how did that wash off?

305seahunter

I have heard a very shiny prop is slower than one with a satin finish. Also on performance boats, people would scuff up the pad with sand paper to allow it to break the water tension. Smoother is slower

Nauti_Details_CT

fortunately no I did not, but the hard growth does come off relatively easier than when its attached to bare gelcoat, a little on/off or similar and a stiff scrub brush or plastic scraper and time does the job. I wish there was a product where barnacles just slid right off, would make my job a lot easier haha.

Nauti_Details_CT

yes smoother is slower, when you apply the coating below the waterline it is not leveled therefore it is not a "perfectly smooth" surface, I sprayed the coating on my boat which like on an automotive finish you get the orange peel effect, I did not notice any slowing down (until the growth started) but an increase of .6-.8 mph

Nauti_Details_CT

I am also not trying to sell my business simply offering my own .02 cents and actual experience. I definitely do not recommend this for any boat that sits in the water for more than 3-4 weeks, its not worth the price to haul your boat 3 times a season to clean, id definitely go with an ablative after this coating wears off in another year or two.

pas

So for a boat that is lift kept or dry stored, the coating on the bottom should be long lasting and give the speed/mpg improvement you saw. Cruising speed is what MPH to calculate the % improvement based on a .7 mph increase.