A Tale of Two Tread Plates, Update

OK, it's now been two years since the original experiment...

Here's how they look now:

 

As you can see, the untreated tread plate on the left is still groady... in fact it is even worse in real life than the picture shows.

And on the right is the plate which was treated with BAC, still looking clean, tho grey.  I said BAC, but for this experiment I actually used a version of BAC that has some silicone functional groups substituted for some of the carbon-based groups.  This version, called "Gold Shield" (sample provided by Drew - thanks!) is considerably more proof against washing out.  In fact it is used by hospitals to sterilize and keep sterile their bedding, even tho it is frequently washed.

I call this experiment concluded, and a success.  I am going to treat the other tread plate, and our bare teak rub strakes, with Gold Shield.

A Tale of Two Tread Plates, Update

A Tale Of Two Tread Plates

A year later

Some of you out there may recall an experiment I started a year ago - using benzalconium chloride (BAC) as a teak treatment.  Well, here are the two tread plates after a year of exposure and neglect.

Clearly, the BAC made a huge difference - the untreated plate on the left still has algae and lichen growing in the low spots and pores in the wood.  The treated tread plate on the right is free of these pests, except at the very top, where I probably didn't get a full dose of BAC applied.

Score!

This was so successful that I just completed spraying our teak rub rails with BAC - these are being fully colonized by the same characters, especially where the rain water from the deck scuppers drains on them - in those places, the lichen has completely covered the wood.  In fact, the coverage is so complete there that I will probably have to reapply BAC, since most of what I applied probably never made it thru to the wood.

Where you can easily obtain BAC?  See my first post on this handy material.

A Tale Of Two Tread Plates

Another Window Cleaning Answer

After.. and Before

While at anchor, small things that might otherwise just be irritants grow in importance.  Case in point:  the vinyl windows in our dodger.  Last time we were out I tried upping the ante a little and attacked the stubborn stuff on the inside with Windex because I was coming to the conclusion that what was on there was not a water-soluble deposit.  I think it helped.  A little.

Aside:  So what is this deposit?   I think there are two possibilities.

• Grease from the galley cooking, conveyed up there by the mushroom vent, and
• Plasticizer sweating out of the vinyl ("Plasticizer?? What's that?  Remember the old vinyl records? That's what vinyl is like without plasticizer.  Plasticizer is a low volatility oily substance, blended in with the vinyl - are they still using dioctal pthalate?  I don't know.  Low volatility doesn't mean no volatility tho.  If you live in the South, you will find plasticizer baked out of your car's vinyl interior components condensed on the inside of the windshield.)

In either case tho, the substance is apparently  organic-soluble.  So, what the hey, I tried paint thinner.



It worked!  Wonderfully in fact.  Look at the crud on that rag! But the proof is in the seeing...  That first picture shows the left panel cleaned and the right panel still in "as is" condition.  I'm betting that even in the photograph you can see the difference.  In person, it is stunning.

One more substance in the quiver of boat maintenance tools...

Another Window Cleaning Answer

Another Use For BAC

As a prelude to varnishing Eolian's caprail, I always remove the teak tread plates that I made so many years ago.  And this time I looked at them, really looked at them, for perhaps the first time in years.  The bacteria, algae, and worse, lichen had made themselves a very good home in and on the teak.

Now normally I would have just gotten out the sandpaper, but then it dawned on me to try benzalconium chloride.  I've extolled the virtues of this stuff before, and continue to be impressed with it.  So I sprayed some on the right hand tread in the picture above and let it dry in the sun for a day.  Then I gave it a very light (emphasize light) sanding with 220 to remove the corpses.  What a difference!  And because the BAC is now soaked into the wood, I expect it to fend off colonization attempts in the future.  This has now become an annual task.

Next:  I'm going to spray our unfinished teak rub rail with BAC.  It is equally groady looking.

Another Use For BAC

Clumsiness Redeemed

I have sung the praises of Brion Toss' splicing wand before, so I won't repeat that here.  Of course I have one.  But sadly, I am a clumsy oaf.

Sheath, inner brass rod, and snare at the tip of the rod.

For those of you that don't have one of these (why not?), the tool is comprised of a plastic handle, a brass inner rod embedded firmly in the handle, a "snare" made of very thin line that is inserted into the tip of the rod, and a stainless sheath that fits over the rod and snare.  To use, you would slide the sheath out far enough to hide the snare and then you'd tighten the thumbscrew.  Then you'd thread the needle part into the rope and back out at the designated spot.  Loosen the thumbscrew and retract the sheath, exposing the snare.  Trap the end of the portion that needs to be pulled back thru the rope in the snare, extend the sheath far enough so that the rope end is held tightly in the snare, and then withdraw the needle from the rope.  If you've spliced double braid, you can visualize what I am saying.

Now here's my mistake: I picked the tool up by the "needle" part instead of the handle.  This would have been OK except that I hadn't tightened the thumbscrew.  As a consequence, the stainless sheath - the part I was holding - slid right off of the brass rod, leaving me holding just the sheath.  The rest of the tool fell to the cabin sole, hard.  When I picked it up, I found that the tip of the brass rod had broken off, ruining the tool.

I was dismayed.  Splicing wands are not cheap, and no replacement parts are available.

But then I realized that this was an opportunity for another zero-cost experiment!  Attempting to repair the tool would cost nothing.  Ah, but if it succeeded!

Now having a good workshop is a critical part of this - I don't think you could do this with hand tools, at least the third step anyway.  Here's what I did:

• I ground off the ruined end of the brass rod, back to straight unbent metal.  With the broken off end, this meant that I had lost about 1/2" of length of the rod.  This is not critical - if necessary, I could just make a longer snare.
• Center punched the end of the rod.  I really wanted to get this in the very center of the rod - it's only 1/8" in diameter and I could tolerate only a little eccentricity.
• Mounted the rod in my drill press vice vertically, extending it from beneath the table up into the vice.
• Drill a 1/16" pilot hole 1/2" deep in the end of the rod.  Pause and withdraw the bit frequently to clear chips.
• Over drill with a 5/64" bit.
• Now using a Dremmel tool with a small grinding bit, cut away enough of the sidewall to expose the drilled channel and to make a relief cavity for the knot at the end of the snare.  Of course I didn't get the hole exactly in the center (tho it was awfully close...), so I chose the thinner side to cut away,  leaving more meat on the other side.  In fact, I had a lot more meat than the original tip had. 

Sorry it's blurry - my phone camera won't focus this close

Finished, snare installed

The experiment succeeded! For the cost of about 20 minutes delicate work (I'm not counting the cost of the shop or the tools, because: He who dies with the most tools wins...), I got a new splicing wand, saving myself $65 plus tax and shipping.  And because I've got more meat up there in the tip, the tool is sturdier than a factory one.

Clumsiness Redeemed

Experiment Continued

On Thursday, 5/21/2015, I pulled up the NeverWet test coupon that had been submerged since 12/14/2014, approximately 5 months. 

Upon retrieval, there was no longer any visible air film on the coated side of the coupon - the silvery appearance was gone.  Nevertheless, there was a marked difference between the treated side and the control.  The NeverWet had retarded marine growth, if not prevented it:

As retrieved

Although both sides were covered with marine slime, the treated side had only one spot where something more complex than slime had attached (near the bottom).  I decided to see how firmly things were adhering, so I lightly sprayed with a fine spray from a hose.  Almost everything came off of the treated side.

After light water spray

And then, since it looked so good, I returned it to the water, just to see what would happen.  The air film returned:

Air film has returned

The original intent of the experiment was to see if NeverWet could serve as a bottom paint replacement, either for the hull proper, or for the speedo transducers.  I can conclude that, without periodic renewal of the air film by exposure to air, the film will slowly disappear.  And once it is gone, the NeverWet's ability to prevent marine growth is compromised. So, for boats which are continuously in the water, NeverWet cannot serve as a bottom paint.  For boats that are periodically exposed to air however (dinghies perhaps?), it should work.  And I still wonder if the air film will reduce skin drag, but sadly I have no way to test that.

So, tho the original experimental premise was proven false, a secondary experiment continues.  After all, most real experimental discoveries do not come following a cry of "Eureka!", but rather accompanied by, "Hmmm, that's odd..."

Experiment Continued

Chemistry Experiment: Results

When I did this experiment, I promised you the results. Here they are:

Before

After

The benzalkonium chlorides definitely killed the lichen.  But it did take a mild scrubbing with a brush to remove the corpses.  Please note that previous scrubbing with the same brush and bleach had no effect on the spots.  I apologize that I used a washer for the sizing comparison - I didn't have a dime in my pocket.  The washer is a little bigger than a dime and a little smaller than a nickle.

I also applied the 5% benzalkonium chloride solution to a portion of our dodger canvas.  Please note that this canvas is more than 10 years old, and has lost most of its water repellant qualities.

Untreated

Treated

The "After" photograph does not do the results justice.  The mold, mildew and algae are all dead.  A couple of rainstorms washed the bulk of the corpses away, except at the seams.  But more rain is coming (of course).

Conclusion

This stuff works!  And Jane tried it on the moss on our driveway at a 3% concentration, as another experiment.  It worked there too - the moss is all dead.  In fact, using a 5% solution was probably overkill - my next application on Eolian's canvas will be at 3%, but I think I'll retain the 5% level for the tough-to-kill lichen on the decks.

Chemistry Experiment: Results

Another Chemistry Experiment

Remember these spots?

Look close - there's algae there too

Well, I did some research - it is such a wonderful thing to have the bulk of Man's knowledge at your fingertips!

Guess what?  Algae, moss and lichens suffer grave bodily harm when exposed to a particular class of chemicals.  Well I guess that part is not a surprise.  But this part is:  that family of chemicals is relatively harmless to virtually everything else.  In fact, it is the active ingredient in Bactine:  benzalkonium chlorides.

Now here's the next surprise.  No, you don't have to buy 100 bottles of Bactine and distill it to get the benzalkonium chloride - all you have to do is go to the pool/spa section of your local hardware store and buy a bottle of HTH Algae Guard:

And it was less than $10!

This is a 30% solution, and yet a 2% solution is supposed to be adequate for killing algae/moss/lichen.  

So, the first test is a kind Hippocratic one.  Does this stuff harm the Sunbrella canvas on the boat?  I uncapped the bottle and put some of the straight 30% solution directly on a scrap of our Sunbrella and left it to dry.  After rinsing it out 24 hours later, there was no detectable effect on the canvas.  At 30%, the solution has a blue tint - I suspect this is just a dye for appearances, given its intended use. Our canvas is green - if yours is white, you might want to repeat this test.

The next test is underway right now.  I made up a 6:1 dilution (5%) solution in a hand spray bottle and applied it to a section of the deck with the lichen, and a portion of our canvas which has a liberal infestation of winter algae on the outside.  I also applied it to the inside of the canvas directly over our galley vent where we get the most amazing colonies of...  well, life I guess, apparently feeding on whatever the vent delivers to the canvas.

I'll let you know how this works out...

Update:  Results are here.

Another Chemistry Experiment

Nano-tech Experiment #3 (and reports on #1 and #2)

This is the third experiment with the Rustoleum nano-tech product called "NeverWet" - a super hydrophobic coating that can be applied from a spray can.  (Experiments #1 and #2 are here and here.)

For this experiment, we will be seeing how long the retained air film persists, and if the nano-coating has any anti-biological properties in sea water.  I think it might, since the retained air film could make barnacles and such uncomfortable, or might even prevent them from touching and attaching to the actual surface.  We'll see.  

Here's what I did:

• I took a scrap of fiber-reinforced ABS plastic (left over from the refrigerator refurbishment) and masked off one side of it.  The other side got the NeverWet treatment.  I suspended it (from the hole you can see, partially covered with blue tape) in the water off our finger pier at Anacortes on December 21, 2014.  The finger pier is a floating one, so the coupon will never be exposed to air, except when I lift it up for inspection.

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Report on Experiment #1

Experiment #1, as of Dec 2014

Experiment #1 began more than a year ago, in October, 2013.  For this test, I applied the NeverWet to our canvas sea hood. All was well until Nature's own nano-tech (pine pollen) arrived on the scene.  It coated and buried the NeverWet, and allowed water to once again wet the surface.  In an attempt to remove the pollen, I gently wiped part of the surface with a sponge damped in soapy water.  As you can see, that portion of the surface never recovered its hydrophobic properties.  Whether it was the mechanical action of the sponge or the surface tension-destroying property of the soap, I will never know.  But the portion of the sea hood that did not suffer from pollen accumulation or the soapy sponge is still every bit as water-repellent as ever.  From this I can propose that the coating is not strongly affected by UV.

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Report on Experiment #2

Experiment #2 began in April of 2014, when I applied NeverWet to our dinghy propeller. It was amazing to see that the submerged prop looked like it was made of polished silver due to the thin layer of air it retained while submerged.

We used the dinghy normally for the entire 2014 season, giving no further thought or special attention to the prop.

By the end of the season, the nano-tech coating had ablated off the outer 1/2 of the propeller blades, but was still active on the inner half.

From this I conclude that NeverWet is not suitable as an anti-barnacle coating for boat props (guess we're still stuck with Barnacle Ban), but it could likely serve well on things that do not suffer from the abrasion of high-speed turbulent water contact.

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The Future

It is the results of Experiment #2 that led to Experiment #3. Experiment #2 showed that the air film persisted while submerged over periods of days, and even in the presence of extreme turbulence. Will it be retained for months on end? And if indeed the retained air film is effective at retarding or preventing biological growth, NeverWet could serve for difficult-to-protect items such as depth sounder or speedo transducers.  And if the price could be gotten down low enough, perhaps NeverWet could even serve as a bottom paint alternative (for sailboats at least).

Nano-tech Experiment #3 (and reports on #1 and #2)

Nano-tech Experiment #2: Initial Observations

Looks like silver, doesn't it?

 I've tried out the nano-tech superhydrophobic coated prop on our thundering 3 HP dinghy motor.  Here are some initial observations:

• The air film is retained when the prop is completely submerged.  As the picture shows, it makes the prop look like it is made of silver.
• The prop does not cavitate due to the retained air film
• The film of air remained intact over a half-dozen trips to shore and a day of submersion.  Perhaps it is maintained by gases captured from the exhaust, or perhaps the air is simply retained well enough to withstand the surface turbulence.

Nano-tech Experiment #2: Initial Observations

Another experiment, and a report

Experiment #1:  Six months on

You may recall that I bought a package of NeverWet nano-tech hydrophobic coating for experimentation.  And that I tried an experiment where I coated our canvas "seahood" with it to see how it would fare in this difficult environment.

A review:  the canvas covers our sliding hatch when it is open; when it is closed, the canvas collapses into a perfect water reservoir about an inch deep.  And since it is winter, the hatch is closed most of the time, which means that the canvas spent most of the winter under an inch of water.  So what happened?

The water repellency remained unbelievably powerful all winter.  Whenever there was water present on the canvas, there was always a layer of air visible underneath it.  Even bird crap didn't affect it for long - just until the next rain washed it off.  Amazing, right?

Well almost.  NeverWet met its match with a natural nano-tech material:  pine pollen.  When the pine pollen arrived, the NeverWet became, well, wet.   But in its defense, the wetness pattern at least partly follows the spray pattern that was evident in my application of the material last fall, so perhaps it was not that the pollen caused the failure, but instead it revealed it.

Experiment #2

I mentioned in the original post that I was going to try the NeverWet on my dinghy prop - trust me, it's on there in the picture.

What will happen?  Will the prop just cavitate?  Will the thin layer of air trapped by the nano-tech layer just be ejected by the violent motion of the prop?   Will the nano-tech layer itself just erode away?  I can't wait to see.

Another experiment, and a report

Nano experiment

I'm excited to try this nano stuff.  

For the experiment, I chose the subject to be our fabric sea hood.  (Yeah, I know what you're gonna say.  Building a real, solid sea hood is on the agenda.  But that's why this is such a good candidate for the test.)

When the hatch is closed, there is no support for the fabric so it collapses into a shallow depression that holds water. And because the hatch is closed, and its wet all winter, mildew runs rampant on it. Opening and closing the hatch, which will also go on all winter, will give it some good mechanical exercise too. 

Applying NeverWet is a two-step process.  Following the directions, I applied Part One and waited 30 minutes for it to dry.  Part One was completely clear.  It smelled suspiciously like an acrylic enamel going on, and it stiffened the fabric - just like an acrylic enamel would.  At this point I was really happy that I had chosen a part of the dodger that is scheduled for removal as the experimental subject.

After 30 minutes, I applied Part Two.  This is an entirely different composition, and apparently uses an alcohol as the solvent.  As advertised, it left the fabric with a white, frosted appearance.  Once again, I was glad for the choice of experimental subject.

It will be many months before this test can be declared a success or a failure.  But the results the next morning, were pretty amazing.  The dew was scattered over the surface like a field of diamonds, and a few fat drops had consolidated and swept up their near-microscopic brethren, leaving dry trails behind them. 

Pros:

• Really, really hydrophobic coating!

Cons:

• $18.75 for coating to cover 10 ft².  That's $1.88/ft²
• Substantially stiffens the fabric
• Leaves a white, frosted appearance on the fabric (might be OK for white fabric)

 

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Addendum:  After Rain

If you look closely, you'll see actual air, under the water

Nano experiment

Interior varnish tip

If you have varnished surfaces in your interior, you have probably found that where they are commonly touched the surface has become gummy.  I presume that this is due to skin oils penetrating the surface of the varnish.

I have tried to wipe this gummy surface off with paint thinner before recoating with varnish, but it was ineffective.  Acetone was too effective, softening everything.  And just recoating without removing the gumminess doesn't work either - the gummy surface prevents the new varnish from curing.

So what to do?

And then when wiping down the table after dinner one day, I made a serendipitous discovery.

The ubiquitous scratchy sponge

The fiddles on our saloon table are one of these commonly touched surfaces, and had indeed become gummy to the touch.  As I wiped down the table that nite, I had a brief moment of inspiration (a cosmic ray passed thru my brain?), and I turned the sponge over and vigorously rubbed the soft varnish with the scratchy side of the sponge.  Amazingly, the gumminess was gone!  In some places the gummy layer was deep enough that several round trips of damp sponge side followed by wet sanding with the scratchy side followed by damp sponge were required.  But nowhere did I penetrate the varnish layer.  Even if I had, as a typical zero-cost experiment, that would only have prepped the surface for recoating.

Interior varnish tip

Zero Cost Experiment

Every now and then, life presents you with an opportunity disguised as a problem. The best of these opportunities give you the chance to experiment, with essentially no cost for failure. This is one of them.

When we purchased Eolian, the four opening ports in the aft end had been replaced with Beckson "Rain Drain" ports. They looked pretty good, and far, far better than the original 20-year old ports still in the forward half of the boat (I replaced those in the first 6 months of ownership, also with Rain Drains). But they were showing some age.

And now after an additional 12 years, the molded Lexan opening parts had aged in the sun, as Lexan is wont to do: they had turned cloudy and were taking on a yellowish-brownish tint. In fact, from the inside all four looked like they had been purposely frosted for privacy, except for that yellowish/brownish tint... that part was just plain ugly.

Using a piece of logic that I seem to frequently employ, I decided that they were so bad that replacement was in order. Therefore I had nothing to lose by having a go at polishing them myself - a zero cost experiment! I love those!

Being male, my first idea always involves power tools. So I pulled off one of the Lexan molded windows and took it to my shop, where I applied it to a buffing wheel loaded with rouge. The results were mixed. The buffing wheel put too much energy into too small an area, causing local heating, which caused local surface crazing, if I was not very, very careful. Because of this it was difficult to get an even polish on the surface.

OK, so I was forced to fall back to manual methods. Next, I tried using Meguiar's products - these are specifically designed for polishing plastics. I had read that Lexan was not amenable to hand polishing, but once again, I had nothing to lose. So I started with the #17 cleaning compound (this is actually a polishing compound, containing a very fine abrasive) and a soft rag. The effect was nothing short of stunning. In less than a minute of polishing, all the discoloration and almost all of the frosting was gone! Then I applied the polish (which is an abrasive-free wax), and it got even better! The aft head port in this picture is closed - you are here looking thru what used to look like a frosted privacy window!

I spent perhaps an hour total, and totally changed the appearance of the aft cabin and head.

I must confess that not all my "zero cost experiments" turn out well, but this one succeeded beyond my wildest expectations. If you don't have these two Meguiar's products, you should. Go out and get some. I can't recommend them enough!

Zero Cost Experiment