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Thoughts on PropSpeed?

Discussion in 'Props, Shafts & Seals' started by trmnewt, Mar 7, 2017.

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  1. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Not quite sure what this means...
    Did the spray stay on after ships use and offer easy cleaning? Did the prop speed offer easy cleaning?
    How long did either coating last?
    Prop-speed is supposed to offer wipe off ease in clearing any fouling.
  2. baltimore bob

    baltimore bob Member

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    I was comparing the zinc spray to Pettitt prop coat. I have never tried Prop Speed.
  3. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    O K, Same questions for prop coat..
  4. baltimore bob

    baltimore bob Member

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    Only thing I can say is my last short haul for cleaning was late last August. My first run after wintering in the water had no loss of speed or vibration. I can only assume running gear fouling is minimum.
  5. Norseman

    Norseman Senior Member

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    184283DE-1D0F-4334-A5BB-2EACE7610ED5.jpeg Tried PropSpeed a year ago.
    Worked good for a while, but ridiculously expensive.
    Will try the Petit spray coating now.
  6. Norseman

    Norseman Senior Member

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    F9FAE94C-E121-43F7-B959-8021D68E7ADA.jpeg Tuned and balanced spare prop
  7. Norseman

    Norseman Senior Member

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    3rd coat going on shortly.. 97140089-1EB6-433D-9D3B-B477C156B83A.jpeg
  8. Norseman

    Norseman Senior Member

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    Called the Petit Customer Service: The coating should last 12-18 months he said. We shall see, lots of shallow waters in Florida with silt and sand always mixed in when running Biscayne Bay and the Keys.
    Got a diver booked for Wednesday, going rate is $10 per inch of prop for swapping, does that sound right?
    Full report to follow in 18 months, stay tuned.
  9. CSkipR

    CSkipR Member

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    I've had the Pettit Prop Coat on my props about 15 months. Diver came first time since November 2018 and had no growth on the props of course water was cooler. So far very satisfied with this product. I try to run the boat every 12 days and do it most of the time and this helps a lot to keeping everything pretty clean.
  10. Norseman

    Norseman Senior Member

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    Good news, thx.
    I run my boat once a week, come hell or high water, it should work good then.
    Question: Do you grow slime on the prop with this stuff? Does it hold up to underwater cleaning, as in a diver scraping with a metal blade? (The factory rep assured me it cures to a hard coating and won’t rub off when running the prop @ 1700-2000 rpm 200 hours per year.)
    We shall see, not too impressed with PropSpeed, big money, looked good initially, now gone and growing barnacles on trim tabs and rudder, $800 for the yard applied coating, this spray stuff cost me $26 and promised better performance. (Prop only for now, rudder and trim tabs next haul out, 2 more spray cans, $78 total. Sounds too good to be true, 10% of PropSpeed)
  11. CSkipR

    CSkipR Member

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    Norseman,
    I've had no slime issues. Yes it holds up well not sure a metal blade is necessary but using a plastic scrapper is all my diver uses. It doesn't rub off unless your prop gets in sand. I had 2 coats put on all the running gear & trim tabs. If I remember it took about 7-8 cans.
  12. Norseman

    Norseman Senior Member

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    Ok, good news.
    Thx
  13. bayoubud

    bayoubud Senior Member

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    Heard several coats of Rustoleum cold galvanizing with 93% zinc works well and cost much less without the "Marine" label . +2 on running the boat often.
  14. Norseman

    Norseman Senior Member

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  15. Norseman

    Norseman Senior Member

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    This one?
    Yes, cheaper but thought I would try Petit first, they are the grandmother of antifouling, $14 more for a Petit spray can is probably a good investment, if not, I will do Rust-Oleum next time.
    (Or one of you guys with a twin boat use each product on each prop, then compare 18 months later..:cool:)
    989D6F5D-FC7C-4723-B72F-77F16858B245.jpeg
  16. BoulderGT3

    BoulderGT3 Senior Member

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    Wow. Here's a pic of one of the shafts 7 weeks after prop speed. This is from a couple of weeks ago. It came off easily but I was shocked at the amount of growth after a fresh bottom job. I may get off the prop speed train the next time. I think I've been saying that for about 5 years now.

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    Last edited by a moderator: May 1, 2019
  17. bayoubud

    bayoubud Senior Member

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    Your right Petit makes great antifouling paints. From what I've read Petit is basically the same thing, high zinc content spray paint. This is not antifouling as we know it, it is zinc which erodes over time acting like an ablative paint. Same for rudder and shaft zincs, no barnacles or growth.
  18. motoryachtlover

    motoryachtlover Senior Member

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    I to have had very mixed results with prop speed but keep having it applied. The yard put Petit on in January and dove on it a couple of weeks ago and was still clean. That is with a diver once every 3 months.
  19. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Prop-speed in not an anti-fouling paint. It will collect silt and foul like any other non painted item.
    The trick is the fouling will fall off easy and quickly with a wipe or a lil operation.
    Now once the barnacles get their glue in past the barrier and start forming shells, you lost.
    That is why a diver is important for static boats, just wipes the grass and larvae away with a gloved hand or floor pad.
  20. Norseman

    Norseman Senior Member

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    Paint did not really harden and not sticking to the metal as advertised. Let it dry in the garage 15 hours, then used a piece of dry paper towel this morning to carefully wipe the dust off, and the paint comes off like the skin of a rotten apple. :mad:
    Possible classic case of me spraying on too many coats, or too thick coats.
    Prep was careful with an acetone wash.
    Doubt I will put this prop on if the paint is not hard as rock tomorrow.

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    Last edited by a moderator: May 1, 2019