Fiberglass heat-induced delamination

[AlabamaNewbie]

At what temp does fiberglass begin to delaminate from heat? I have these rectangular areas on the cap that are painted, then they edges are trimmed in adhesive striping. I want to remove it, so I need to sand the paint, but before that I have to remove the striping. The only way I have found to do it so far is with a heat gun and razor blade, but I want to make sure I don't damage the fiberglass with too much heat.

 

[MTboatguy]

I have used a 1500 watt heat gun on fiberglass boats in the past will no ill effects, you don't want to leave it in one place for any time at all or you will burn the gel coat, just keep it moving 6-8" off the surface and start peeling and never use it longer than is needed to accomplish the task at hand.

 

[AlabamaNewbie]

Thanks! I was smelling something and didn't know if it was the striping, the paint, or the resin cooking. So I stopped before I screwed it up. That's what I have is a 1500 watt gun that is supposed to be 1112 degrees on high. But I was moving it around and not letting it beat down heat in one spot, so it was probably just the striping adhesive I was burning.

 

[MTboatguy]

Depending on what glue they used on it, it can smell like a dead body when it gets heated up. If you get it to lift, you can just keep moving the heat gun down the stripe and it won't take much to lift the whole thing, we used to use them on fiberglass sided RV's all the time to get them off and they stink!

 

[AlabamaNewbie]

You got that right. It smelled *almost* as bad as the gear lube we drained from the outdrive, which I suspect by its color and viscosity hadn't seen daylight since Bush was in office.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Go to an automotive paint store and get a pin stripe eraser. Chuck it up in the cordless drill and go nuts.

I simply use a razor and acetone. I wouldnt use a heat gun

 

[MTboatguy]

Go to an automotive paint store and get a pin stripe eraser. Chuck it up in the cordless drill and go nuts.

I simply use a razor and acetone. I wouldnt use a heat gun

If you do it correctly, then there is no fear to be had, I would far more afraid of acetone than I would a short exposure to heat on gelcoat, paint and fiberglass.

 

[SkiGuy1980]

Goo-gone gel is a really good adhesive remover (after you get the tape away) and doesn't have the harsh properties of acetone.

 

[JoLin]

I used Easy-Off oven cleaner and a scotchbrite pad to remove the 22-year old boat name on mine. Worked like a charm. Spray it n and let it sit for a few minutes. No hard scrubbing needed.

I've used the heat gun/scraper method. Easy-Off was much easier.

My .02

 

[SkiGuy1980]

I used Easy-Off oven cleaner and a scotchbrite pad to remove the 22-year old boat name on mine. Worked like a charm. Spray it n and let it sit for a few minutes. No hard scrubbing needed.

I've used the heat gun/scraper method. Easy-Off was much easier.

My .02

I've used Easy Off to clean the vinyl in the boat... works like a charm! Cleaned the white grain in my old boat and kept me from a very expensive upholtstery job!

 

[AlabamaNewbie]

I've used Easy Off to clean the vinyl in the boat... works like a charm! Cleaned the white grain in my old boat and kept me from a very expensive upholtstery job!

Did it doe anything to soften the vinyl?

I have 31 year old vinyl that I am replacing. I want to use the old vinyl as patterns, but the seam edges have become hard and won't lay out flat. I know I could draw out the pattern and then add a little for seam, but it would be easier if I could soften the old vinyl a little bit and have it lay out flat. And obviously I don't care if it ruins the old vinyl since after patterning, it's going in the garbage anyway.

 

[SkiGuy1980]

Did it doe anything to soften the vinyl?

I

I didn't notice any change. Mine wasn't quite that old, but it wasn't brittle except in the areas where it was torn and I didn't clean that. You could give it a shot and see how it goes...