painting al boat with copper oxide paint

[georgiaboy]

I have an aluminum boat I leave in the water about 7 months a years. When I was growing up we use to paint wooden boats with copper oxide paint on the bottom ,water line down, and they would stay clean. Think this would work with al. and if so where do I get some. Any and all suggestions would be helpful.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: painting al boat with copper oxide paint

Regular copper bottom paint will react badly with the aluminum hull. We used to use tin-based bottom paint on aluminum hulls, but that was outlawed recently.

There is special copper-based bottom paint for aluminum hulls. Tri-lux III is one such paint. You will find that it is recommended that the aluminum hull be well primed, with a barrier-type primer. Tri-lux and other aluminum bottom paints are available at discount marine stores.

 

[cgBosun3]

Re: painting al boat with copper oxide paint

Roger that-I can't stress enough how important that barrier coat is. Any imperfections in the barrier coat and even brackish water will cause galvanic corrosion to work its magic!
Whatever bottom paint yoiu end up choosing, use the matching barrier coat to ensure compatibility. Modern paints are systems, made to work together. If you try to save a buck or two by using a barier coat/primer from another paint maker, you might find your paint peeling off in one big piece...