Corrosion Control

[Mike Denest]

I removed the boom from Whisper to take care of the numerous corrosion spots.  I was going to grind it away, then treat the area with alodine, primer and paint but there are so many spots, I decided to have it professionally stripped, treated and repainted.  As for the interior of the boom, I'm going to apply a treatment of ACF-50, a anti corrosion compound used in aircraft maintenance.  http://www.corrosion-control.com/acf50.html.  It's also available from Aircraft Spruce and Specialty.  http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/appages/acf50.php

[Ron Hill]

Mike : I believe that you've got a solution.
There are two features that I wish I could change on my C34 :
1. The painted mast - wish it was anodized.
2. Gray Anti skid deck - wish it were white.

The bad part is that I had to pay extra back in 1988 to get those items that I wish I could change!! 
The stock boats came with a anodized mast and a white deck !!   A few thoughts. 

[Mike Denest]

The company I'm considering for refinishing the boom also does power coating.  Anyone have experience with that?  My only concern is to not get the material thickness too heavy as there are clearances to maintain.

[Jon Schneider]

Mike, powder coating is a fantastic effect, but how much does it cost?  I wonder if it wouldn't almost be more cost-effective to buy a new boom. 

[Mike Denest]

That's what I'm going to check.  Media blasting with micro glass beads costs @ $75/hr. then there's the alodine treatment, prime and paint.  I want to compare that to powder coating to see which method will be more effective for the cost.  Watch this space for further updates.

[BillG]

Mike, I had my boom powder coated about 4 years ago and was very happy with the results, I had a local company in Newark do the work and can check on the price if you would like.  The boat is on the hard now on the C&D if you like to take a look for yourself.

[Mike Denest]

It's been a while since this corrosion thead was started so I'll provide a follow up.  As I figured that a powder coat job would be very expensive, I removed all the equipment from the boom then went to town with scotch brite pads in a pneumatic drill, cleaning the corrosion areas down to bare metal.  Then I bead blasted the pitted areas as the pad can only go so far.  After a clean water washdown, I treated the areas with an alodine solution.  After that, several coats of Krylon gray primer was sprayed on then the complete boom was sprayed with Krylon white.  Reinstalled the boom and everything is copacetic.   

[horsemel]

There may be an inexpensive way to do the powder coating.  A number of years ago we had some metal desks at my office that needed to be a color other than orange.  There was a company that came to the office, took the desks out to the parking lot and powder coated them on the spot.  They have lasted well for many years.  You might look for powder coating outfits that do this kind of work.  I know it has been about 12 years, but having 3 desks and a file cabinet coated only cost $125.00 and took them about 1.5 hours.
Mark Mueller

[Ron Hill]

Mark : I'm somewhat familiar with the "electro magnetic" process that you had done to your desks.  Steel desks and file cabnets work OK as they are a ferious metal. 
Not too sure, but I don't believe that process will work on an aluminum alloy boom.  A thought