dull ally on new boat

[lippa]

hi folks, in need of some assistance, my pride and joy (5.25 stacer seahorse) is only 6 months old but looks like its 60! there is alot of spoting marks over the whole boat, it is alway s washed sfter use, (exept the week at stanage) any help would be appreciated.

cheers

lippa

[Seahorse]

bad luck mate. just miss 1 wash and that salt really gets to it. prob alibrite, but will need few polishes. i just got mine painted instead. solved all the problems

[sid_fishes]

you dont say whether it,s on the painted sufaces or just on the ally surface, but the is a product called allybrite[i think thats right] its like a mild acid, pickle paste ]just brush or wipe ot on wash it off[ not on the grass or your driveway ok] cheers ian

[Owen]

Alibrite is indeed an acid depending on the tarnishing on the boat, it will clean it up.
Do ever treat it as "mild" though. It's based on sulphuric and hydroflouric acid. It's the hydroflouric that does the bulk of the cleaning but which is extremely dangerous in concentrated form. Alibrite isn't concentrated, but it still deserves respect.
If the details below put you, simple steel wool and soap does a pretty good job :)

cheers,

Owen


Symptoms of skin exposure to dilute HF are not felt immediately, but exposure of less than 10% of the body to it can be fatal, even with immediate medical treatment. Highly concentrated solutions may lead to acute hypocalcemia, followed by heart attack and death, and will usually be fatal in as little as 2% body exposure (about the size of the sole of the foot). This substance is extremely toxic and has the capacity to kill upon exposure rather than simply damage skin and eyes. It should be handled with extreme care, beyond what is given to hydrochloric, sulfuric, or other mineral acids.

Due to low dissociation constant, HF can penetrate tissues quickly like a small non-polar particle. Hydrofluoric acid which comes into direct contact with the fingers can severely damage or destroy the tissue underneath the nail without causing any damage to the nail itself. It is this ability to cause little harm to outer tissues but considerable harm to inner tissues which can produce dangerous delays in treatment of hydrofluoric acid exposure. Once the pain starts, it is out of proportion to the burns produced. Patients often describe the feeling as if they have struck their fingers with a hammer. HF that penetrates under the skin causes later development of painful ulcers, which heal slowly.

Solutions of less than 20% HF can produce pain and redness with delay up to 24 hours after skin exposure. 20 to 50% HF produces pain and redness within 8 hours, and solutions of more than 50% produce immediate burning, redness and blister formation. Contact of the skin with the anhydrous liquid produces severe burns.

In the body, hydrofluoric acid reacts with the ubiquitous ions of calcium and magnesium and so can disable tissues and organs whose proper function depends on these metal ions. Exposure to hydrofluoric acid may not be initially painful, and symptoms may not occur until several hours later, when the acid begins to react with calcium in the bones. Under most circumstances, hydrofluoric acid exposure results in severe or even lethal damage to the heart, liver, kidneys, and nerves. Initial treatment to hydrofluoric acid exposure usually involves applying calcium gluconate gel to the exposed areas. If exposure is high, or too much time has passed, a calcium solution may be injected directly into a local artery or surrounding tissues. In all cases, hydrofluoric acid exposure requires immediate professional medical attention. If coming in contact with human skin or bone, the acid can severely burn and then decompose the bone.

The highest concentration of HF in air that can be tolerated by man for 1 minute is 100 mg/cu. meter. This causes a definite smarting of skin, a definite sour taste, and some degree of eye and respiratory irritation. If the air contains 50 mg/cu. meter, the sour taste is apparent and there is irritation of the eyes and nose, but no smarting of the skin. The concentration of 26 mg/cu. meter can be tolerated for several minutes, but the sour taste becomes evident after a short time, and there is mild smarting of the nose and eyes. The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists has adopted 2 mg/cu. meter as the threshold limit for hydrogen fluoride. This comes to about 3 ppm (parts per million). Inhalational exposure to concentrated HF for as little as 5 minutes is usually fatal, producing death within 2-10 hours.

[backhoe]

Assume it's an unpainted hull. Gonna happen sooner or later. Less reflection and sunburn from the inside hull when it's dull so it has it's advantages. Alibrite will make it shiny again but it's a different shiny to that of the new hole.
Willing to be corrected but I don't think cleaning it with steel wool sould be the best thing to do. Was always told bits of the steel stay in the alloy and then set up reaction->bad news. Like I said though could be wrong on this one but I'm sure someone will know the correct answer.

[troy]

Lippa if it is unpainted and has this spotting i have been told it is the allumnium way of fighting corrosion.
Do not know if this is true but i have owned a few tinnies that have this including my current one.
Troy

[-spiro-]

i use a product called BLITZ but as stated it dont bring it back to the factory look. I find after 2 trips its back to the same condition that i started from. Next time i am going to polish it after i blitz it. The only thing s that the shine on the hull, but i'll be inside so it wont bother me. ;D

[whykickacatalong]

If you look in your Stacer handbook I think you will find that it says this will happen (it did in mine) and is a natural process of oxidisation of the hull which puts a protective coating over the alloy. You will never stop this on an unpainted alloy surface and nor should you really. You can clean, buff it up again but in the long run you would be better leaving it on and spending that time catching fish ;)

[GBC]

Only way to get a nice finish is to acid was it and give it a coat of NYALIC. This stuff isn't cheap, but does amazing things to tin boats. Just google it for distributors.

[Owen]

Willing to be corrected but I don't think cleaning it with steel wool sould be the best thing to do. Was always told bits of the steel stay in the alloy and then set up reaction->bad news.

It's standard practice not to use steel to clean alloy, be it a wire brush or steel wool or whatever. Obviously any steel left behind in scratches or corners etc are going to rust.
So my comment probably isn't the best on a boat.
If you can find a fine enough stainless scourer that'd be better. Scotchbrite does alright too in the right grades.
Either way, it's not going to give back the original mill finish.

cheers,
Owen

[ynotaj]

A mate of mine uses sunlight soap, you know the yellow cake, he puts it on dry using a scurry pad, his aluminium looks like a mirror, its unreal.

cheers
tony

[phewy]

I use and recommend a product that has worked great for me so far.





POLYCRAFT!! ::) ::)


Sorry, someone was going to say it sooner or later.
Our old stacer tinnie did the same thing. Didn't start corroding as such, certainly no holes anyway. We just lived with the dull , spotted finish and never bothered to wash it with anything to get it off. As someone has mentioned, makes it less glarey on the eyes.
And as someone else mentioned, better off spending the time catching fish. Agree ;) :)

[ahoj]

Take it to car wash and use their wax-- good as Gold

Ahoj

[Horrie]

Buy up a heap of lemons when they are on special or find a lemon tree and pick 'em.
Mash them up and freeze until you need them. Thaw the pulp and use it as a scrub on the aluminium.

Horrie

PS. I don't get too worried about keeping her in pristine condition. Usually it's just a cosmetic thing anyway. ::)

[lippa]

thanks guys, i don't really care if she dulls off, but its so blothchy, it pi$$ing me off, the old girl has sugggested i give her a lick of 2 pac. gunna try and avoid it but if gets any worse, guess i'm painting!!!!! any ausfishers like using sand paper!? lol

cheers

lippa

[Thunderbird]

yep! and a lot of elbo grease and autosol ;)

[MILTON]

Paint it mate the only way to go

MILTON

[BlitzBaga]

just paint it

[ahoj]

Whats the best brush-paint for allu?

[lippa]

international paints make a sigle pack brush on poly-urethane. think its called brightside? call jason at northside marine 32658043. would strongy advise spraying a 2 pac poly-urethane though, the results will be far supeior

[rick_k]

you bought a tinnny as opposed to a glass boat because?

Continual polishing without protection from the air and salt will be a cycle of polish, oxidise, polish, oxidise. Each cycle removes metal.

I'm a bit of a grub, and concur with the suggestion to ignore it and keep fishin'.

If you want it pristine, you need to keep the air and water out; paint, or, if it works, Nilac per earlier post.

But, if you paint it, you'll scratch it................(bitter voice of experience having driven a freshly painted f100 too fast up a rough driveway between narrow gate posts; both sides :-/ )