Jeanneau 42.1 Keel repairs

[brianfarmer]

Hello Jeanneau owners, My 42.1 keel has a GRP finish which is starting to lift from the steel. Any thoughts on removal and replacement of the GRP or an alternative protective paint finish would be appreciated.

Many thanks for any response Brian

[MartyB]

Most will put an epoxy coating on the steel, then use bottom paint. That will entail a complete grind down, acid or equal style wash, then the epoxy layers, then paint.

Marty

[Seagem]

As MartyB says, you will have to grind it back until you reach decent cast iron then fill with an marine epoxy. I had a small patch of rust showing on my keel, when I ground it back with a angle grinder it seemed like the keel was made of slag rather that cast iron and I ended up taking out an area about 2 inches in diameter. I am told that galvanic corrosion was probably responsible for causing it.

[renegade27]

What tools are needed to really grind the corrosion off? I used the biggest stuff I could get my hands on two years ago, and really only got the epoxy and some surface corrosion out.

Last year it was right back only bigger.

I *love* my Jeanneau, but I "REALLY" miss my Pearson 31 keel, lead - and actually a foil that worked to windward!!

(I've got to admit, I've developed KEEL ENVY )

[Seagem]

I used an angle grinder initially, which because the keel was so badly corroded in that small area and disappeared so quickly it scared the pants of me, so I swapped it for a course wire brush attachment instead of the abrasive wheel. It took slightly longer to reach good metal but I felt more confident about it. You could then treat it with a 'cure rust' type product before epoxying.

[brianfarmer]

Many thanks for the responses and recomendations, has any one tried removing the epoxy cleaning off the rust and just painting with a primer and a two pack paint?
Brian

[Anwen (Deep Joy)]

I had a small spot on my keel last year where the epoxy had been damaged and some corrosion had set in. I ground it back with a wire brush in the drill and then used rust converter to get the last of the rust at the bottom of the pits. I then used Hammerite smooth paint to coat the repaired area - several coats brought the repair back to the surrounding surface, and then primed and antifouled.

[sailbleu]

Grind the area as stated above , fill up the holes you made by grinding with homemade epoxy filler .
Homemade filler is epoxyresin with microballoons or glassbubbles , consistancy of let's say pindabutter .
Epoxy is a waterbarrier , the glassbubbles or balloons will add to the watersealing.
Sand everything down , then give it 5 coats of (dyed) epoxy resin wet in wet and your problem is gone for your remaining time.
This is how I arranged my keel last year (there were spots of casual corrosion due to peeled coating), the boat is on the hard now and all is looking excellent.

But maybe you should also consider installing a zinkanode on the keel , it's commonly done you know.
Galvanic corrosion is a sneeky bastard , and what's worse , it doesn't have to be your setup causing the problem.
A marina neighbour with a wrong electrical installation on his/her boat can give you and others in the vicinity a bad galvanic nightmare also.

Regards

[so40gtb]

Recommendations similar to others, successful year after year on our since-sold SO34.2 - Grind out the rust spots down to the bare iron, clean with solvent, apply Interlux Interprotect 2000E (3-5 coats on the exposed spots), then bottom paint before re-launch.

Being on the Great Lakes, we haul every fall and attack any rust spots immediately. If the temperatures cooperate, most of the Interprotect work can get done before winter and few, if any coats must be applied prior to launch in the spring.

Our SO40 heads to the hard in 9 days and it will be interesting to see how much of her bottom makeover (well, keel portion) from June got scratched over the summer, what with the lake levels so low this year.

--Karl