CeRam-Kote 54®
Imagine you were looking for the 'ultimate' barrier coat for a steel hull. Where would you begin your search? A search with either
MSN LIVE or
GOOGLE of
rust coating, or
rust paint leaves much to be desired.
In 1997, it was necessary to think "outside of the box." Imagine a marine application where the manufacturer has one - and only one - opportunity to paint an underwater structure, and the structure needs to last for decades in the open sea. Would that be a desirable barrier coat? The obvious answer for a steel vessel moored in salt water was a resounding "Yes!"
The application? An offshore oil-drilling rig. The paint? CeRam-Kote by Freecom. A Freecom representative from Ft. Lauderdale visited the boat. He provided a collection of thin metal strips coated one-side with 12 mils of CeRam-Kote. The paint was very hard, yet when the strips were bent 90 degrees, it did not crack. It was almost impossible to expose bare metal by scratching the coating with a knife, and it just ate sandpaper! It was great insulator, as it was very difficult to start a weld arc through the paint. It is also a bit slick once fully cured.
The representative told a story where a zoo wanted to paint the floor of an elephant pen with a coating that would resist elephant urine. Freecom obtained a sample of elephant urine and immersed one of these sample strips. After a few weeks the steel rusted away (the back side was exposed) leaving a ribbon of paint. Could this be the real thing?
Although the barrier coat on the hull bottom needed to be repaired, experience with the product in a smaller application first seemed like a good idea. A 1 gallon supply of paint (~$130 US) coated the walls, floor and ceiling of the chain locker. The locker contains two 450' shots of 1/2" chain, and it is just large enough for a small adult to crawl into, chip with an needle scaler, and paint with 12+ mils of CeRam-Kote. After 24 hours the paint had not cured. A call to the Freecom representative suggested that Dwight did not adequately mix the catalyst into the paint. The catalyst is as thick as honey, and is very difficult to extract from the can. Acetone does not cut it. Dwight spend a day wiping down the walls, ceiling and floor of the locker. Another gallon was purchased, mixed throughly, and applied. After a day, it also did not cure. Chalk up another day wiping off all the paint. Freecom then arranged for a 'professional' to mix the next gallon. After mixing for 10 minutes in a shaker, the third application cured properly. Note to Dwight: mix means MIX.
A chain locker is a harsh environment with saltwater, heavy chain crashing against the walls, and 10 years later the locker is still rust free. After living with the chain locker for 6 months, it was a done deal!
In the summer of 1998 the boat was hauled at Ocean Technical Services in New Orleans for sandblasting and bottom coating. A copper-based ceramic antifoulant offered by Freecom was also applied. Unfortunately, the New Orleans summer weather was hot - very hot - close to 100 degrees by late afternoon. The yard started painting at 07:00 when the hull was cool. By the time 2 coats, or 12 mils of paint was applied, the hull temperature was greater than 120 degrees F. and the outside temperature was almost 100 degrees. Solvent became trapped beneath the paint; the barrier coat blistered and and did not properly adhere to the steel hull in all locations.
During the 2004 refit at Delta Marine in Seattle, a new bottom job was in order. We contracted a sandblaster and purchased 16 gallons of CeRam-Kote. After a day of sandblasting, and 4 tons of blast-media, we were still not down to white metal. Should we pay for another day of sandblasting and another 4 tons of media, or should we paint? Freecom said if we could not blast it off, it must be adhering quite well, and we have a good profile for the application of the next coat. The next day, Dwight (having frightened the painters with his stories about failures caused by inadequate mixing) personally mixed the CeRam-Kote. Four painters from Diamond Painting applied it via spray. Beautiful!
We are sold on CeRam-Kote as a barrier coat. If you can sandblast your hull and generate an adequate profile for the paint to adhere, it will work very well. In other areas of the boat where you cannot sandblast (e.g., decks, bliges), I have been unable to generate sufficient profile for the paint to adhere. I am told it is FDA approved, and when I next paint the interior of my holding and water tanks, I will sandblast both and paint with CeRam-Kote.
But, what about antifoulant? Interested readers, continue on.....
In the summer of 1997 a coating of copper mixed with the Ce-Ram Kote was applied. The coating was quite effective, but very rough. Since Freecom no longer offers the copper antifoulant, and the fully cured product is slick, I gambled that marine growth would sluff-off after reaching speeds over 7 knots. I had also obtained copies of reports which examined environmentally-friendly alternatives to conventional antifoulents. Regular bottom polishing of hulls painted with CeRam-Kote was reported to effectivly control bottom growth. After 18 months, we were hauled, and you can see from the picture below that the marine growth was substantial.
After pressure washing, and a day of scraping with a prop cleaner, we were ready for antifoluant. I was reassured that the barrier coat was intact, even after aggressive scraping to remove the bottom growth.