Rust repairs to my trailer , Postscript

[Geoff]

Reference my post , http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.php?showtopic=61028

Following lots of research into products suitable for rust control & repair on boat trailers I thought a summary may be of interest.

I ended up using Penetrol painted with Penetrol Aluminium (silver). More about that below.

There are 6 products most commonly used that fall into 3 catagories,

Re galvanising , painting , penetrating oils

Re Galvanising. This is by far the best as it gets inside the frame but requires a complete strip down of the trailer.

Painting. The two products I looked at were Galmet & POR 15. I'm sure both are good products & do what the manufactures claim but it's a 3 course application , Rust Converter , Primer & Paint.

They tend not to have good penetrating qualities so a strip down including U bolts etc should be done.

Penetrating Oil. I wanted a product that would migrate into areas beyond the brush , eg , behind U bolts.

Three products were considered , Fishoil , Penetrol & Tectyl 506.

The guy from the Fishoil manufacture advised that whilst FO is a great product for controlling rust it is not suitable for boat trailers regulary dipped into water so scratch that one.

Tectyl , Does the job but dries with an amber tinge. OK if it's to be overpainted but if just being sprayed onto Gal may look a bit strange.

Penetrol. Dries clear & when overpainted with a pure turps based product (Killrust has solvents) should provide many years of protection.

The only down side I could find was it is not UV stable & areas just with Penetrol oil & not overpainted may need a fresh coat every 6 - 12 months for trailers stored outside.

I finished the job today. Time will tell the degree of sucess

Hope this is of interest to Raiders looking at doing some rust maintance on their

trailer.

Geoff

[Little Hooker]

Geoff, Thanks for posting up some great info on rust repairs. My trailer is showing up abit of rust and im goin to treat it b4 it gets out of hand. Ive brought some products from the hardware which killrush primer was one of them. So you reckon that wont do the job for the boat trailer? SO solvents isnt good for the trailer?

cheers, Lh

[Geoff]

Geoff, Thanks for posting up some great info on rust repairs. My trailer is showing up abit of rust and im goin to treat it b4 it gets out of hand. Ive brought some products from the hardware which killrust primer was one of them. So you reckon that wont do the job for the boat trailer? SO solvents isnt good for the trailer?

cheers, Lh

LH Killrust is a good product but like all paints is only as good as the preperation & undercoats.

After removing as much rust as possible I suspect the surface will need to be treated with a rust converter then a primer , then top coat.

If not sure of the process from the directions on the can then Google Killrust. There should be a lot of info on the web.

In respect to my comment about Killrust , it is in direct relation to incompatability between KR & Penetrol. From what I understand overcoating Penetrol oil with any product that is not 100% turps base can effect the life of the protection.

If applied correctly I'm sure you will be happy with the result from Killrust.

Geoff

[Little Hooker]

Cheers for clearing that up. I see how my repairs go over time and will definitley write up about it IF it goes wrong and doesnt do the job for long. hahaha

[Paikea]

I coated the last trailer that I bought with Lanolin, after about 3 months white furry patches appeared all over the trailer and it was evident that the steel was corroding under the Lanolin coating.

After initially blaming the Lanolin the trailer manufacturer came to the party and replaced the trailer.

There is another product that is very very good but looks like crap. A mate coated his trailer with it 8 years ago and the galvanising is still as good as the day that he bought the trailer. I will post details of the product when I can get a look at the can.

Cheers

Paikea