Rubberized coatings on a steel deck

Yes. I have used chlorinated rubber on steel, wood and ferro. It is its ease of application with nothing other than washing with clean water and being fast drying with hi-build possible. I would not go back to 2-pack epoxies, at least not on my own boats than might get rough treatment.

 

It must have been a nasty job removing that Line-x!
Did you ever try adding grit to the Linex? Maybe spray with a big airless gun?

 

It was a hopper addition to the poly urea mixing gun that the applicator had adapted. Used increasingly larger grit, all gave a good surface profile but the material was just slick. Best was the smallest grit, but it clogged with virtually any sort of grime and became slick.

Weed burner in short bursts and it peeled off. We left the gunnel coating as it was straight line x and seemed perfect in that application

 

I bought a liter of chlorinated rubber "roadline paint" cheap as chips. I am setting up a test steel panel- chlorinated rubber over coal tar epoxy primer, and polyurethane topcoat over epoxy primer. Using sprinkeled Griptex coarse powder from Awlgrip as my nonskid.

Not sure that Griptex is worth the price, but worked well last time.

 

If your steel is "clean", you can skip the epoxy and go straight on with the chlorinated rubber. Steel structures like oil rigs and ships often get a steam clean, then painted directly. In practical terms, i did not find much difference between the coal tar and chlorinated rubber with regards to scuff and chip abrasion. Might be worth a 3rd test panel.

 

I think it's a viscosity thing more than anything, I know the applicator treated his coil of Hose better than some people treat their wives....

Big swooping coils and heaven help you if you tripped over it or stepped on it.


Weed burner is the answer for peeling most coatings like that. Give it a good quick blast, not enough to heat the steel but enough to gum the substrate. I had pretty good access to the backside of the deck as we were re doing the holds and tanks so easy to do fire watch. Probably would have used another method on a more sensitive area.

If I still had a steel boat I definitely have it done again on the inside of the gunnels right over the top of a good blast. We're just so hard on decks nothing really works long-term it just becomes a game of ease of repair.

 

I let my test panels sit out in the sun and rain for a few months.

Test was a big dirty hammer, then air chisel.
1- cheap chlorinated rubber "roadline marking paint" over blasted steel
Fail- was separating from the steel, rust underneath, hammer blows lifted it off

2- Coal tar epoxy over bare blasted steel
very good. Tight to the base metal, took solid hammering with little effect, air chisel chipped it away, but with effort. Edges of coating had some rust traveling underneath, not good.

3- Jotamastic 80 plus hardtop XP
ok, no lifting, hammer blows took off chunks, air chisel easily removed it all

4 coal tar + chlorinated rubber
mixed. Coal tar as above. Chlorinated rubber did well in the sun, but delaminated from coal tar with hammering

5- Zinc rich MCU, Jotamastic 80 epoxy
good. tight bond to steel. Hammer blows cracked and chipped the Jotun epoxy off from the zinc. Edges had no rust travel.

So far coal tar is the most durable coating, if the topcoat bleed through can be solved it may be my choice.

I will test zinc rich primer with coal tar on top.

 

On blasted steel? This is surprising. What was your film thickness? Not my experience at all, even with hand brushed steel.

 

Thanx guys for sharing; I'm following this thread with great interest, although my focus is on alu structures. Keep it coming!

 

Yes I was surprised.
All I could find locally was Nippon Paints chlorinated rubber roadline marking paint. Applied un-thinned by brush. I did three coats, medium thick, I would think about 4 mils dry each coat, but I did not ping it. The stuff sticks like mad to asphalt, widely used here. I would like to try another product before condemning the system.

 

Im thinking there must be a difference in the compounds between "road paint" and chlorinated rubber for steel. Its used on abrasive outfall pipes, so I reckon must be a chemical difference somewhere.