paint stainless prop?

[cddetelich]

Time for a new prop. I bought a stainless prop and will install for next year.
I leave my outboard down in salt water all season for a multitude of reasons. I have used the lower unit anti-fouling spay paint with relative success. Should I paint the new stainless prop next year? Or leave it alone? Does marine growth affect stainless?

 

[Scaaty]

Re: paint stainless prop?

I wouldn't touch it.......SS some tough stuff. Why you leave an outboard down in salt water though is beyond me

 

[Chris1956]

Re: paint stainless prop?

There is no reason to paint the prop with antifouling paint. There will be no buildup of barnacles on the prop, if you use it. Even If you were to let the boat sit for the entire season, most of the growth would come off the prop when you finally crank her up.

 

[tommays]

Re: paint stainless prop?

Your going to RAMP-UP the galvinac reaction big time with the SS prop in the water full time


Tommays

 

[deejaycee_2000]

Re: paint stainless prop?

never paint a stainless prop ......

 

[Texasmark]

Re: paint stainless prop?

If you have the typical highly polished SS prop you would have to really rough up the surface and probably paint with several coats of 2 part epoxy paint to get something that might stay on there.

SS props are made of steel so there is some iron in it and in time the little iron molecules will rust.....so you will see little red specks in it. The rest of it is Nickel and that is highly resistant to corrosion and retains it's integrity indefinitely.

Outboard mfgrs have gone to a lot of trouble to get the 75ish degrees of tilt in their engines so that you can tilt the lower unit up and out of the water. Might think about that.

Mark

 

[Texasmark]

Re: paint stainless prop?

Jumped out of bed with this revelation. d

Been in fresh water last 36 years. Before that I used to hang around boat yards on the Texas coast when visiting my grandpa. Had the big inboards (full inboards) up on blocks and all with their antifouling bottom paint being replaced and all.

I think I recall some ( a few) barnacles on the prop shaft holders/supports as they were made out of some porous sort of cast material, but don't recall seeing any on prop shafts or props (which were slick- non porous). Shafts were SS I guess since it was silver colored, and the props were yellow so they must have been bronze. Some of these boats were liveaboards where they just sat in the boat basin all the time. Don't know how often they were taken out for a spin.

HTH.

Mark