A silicon based paint ?

[PeterSibley]

I'm building a trailer for my boat, an 18 foot canoe yawl .I'm welding everything up including the adjustable supports.They're painted and it seems obvious that the paint will scratch in the support sleeves. If the trailer works well I may get it galvanised but not yet.

What I'd like is a paint that won't scratch off and it seems possible that thinned silicon, the bathroom type would make a good paint as the stuff is remarkably tenacious!

Does anyone know what solvent I could use to thin silicon to a brushable consistency?

[Phil Y]

Have a look in the toiletries aisle at your local supermarket.

[PeterSibley]

What am I looking for ?

[Phil Y]

No, just being silly really. Silicon lube. I wouldn't have thought silicon would make a durable enough film to survive metal to metal friction and keep salt water out?

[PeterSibley]

I've got 2 coats of primer and gloss top coat on now Phil, this is for a protective layer.

It looks as if Diggers 1L Xylene Solvent will do the job.

[Peerie Maa]

Peter, your idea won't work, your FB thread talks of paint being scraped off by a metal edge. No paint will survive that, including silicon, that is what paint scrapers do.
Galvanising on the other hand is a chemical bond, the zinc alloys with the iron. Furthermore as you talk of galvanising at some time in the future, all paint must be removed, either by heat or more sensibly by shot blasting. So you do not want to put on paint that makes the shot blasting difficult and so exorbitantly expensive.

[Ron Williamson]

I'd probably use grease.
R

[PeterSibley]

You have it Nick, I'll talk to my local welding shop next time I'm in town and find out when he's sending the next lot to the galvanisers.

[Peerie Maa]

Do you remember these pictures from an old thread.
One I made earlier

[PeterSibley]

Mine look very much like that, lots of paint !

[Larks]

Peter, you could try Metho’/white spirits as the thinner

[PeterSibley]

I've got white spirit, I'm pretty sure that would work but I think Nick's gallvanising advice is spot on.

[Canoeyawl]

I would just use it with paint for the first season, No matter what it will have to be sand blasted "white" and if you need to make any alterations it will be easy while it was still in paint.
(note... I have successfully used cold galvanizing (paint) for many years on the same trailer, you have to touch it up once in a while)

[Peerie Maa]

I would just use it with paint for the first season, No matter what it will have to be sand blasted "white" and if you need to make any alterations it will be easy while it was still in paint.
(note... I have successfully used cold galvanizing (paint) for many years on the same trailer, you have to touch it up once in a while)

Before I sent that trailer for galvanising I loaded the boat on and made sure that everything worked and was in the correct place. The supports for the builge rollers are adjustable, using plated exhaust pipe U bolts.
If Peter wants to use it for a bit to gain confidence don't paint it, galvanizing can deal with light rusting, but paint is a total killer for the process.

[jpatrick]

Peter, I reckon it's moot point now. But long ago I wanted to thin some silicon caulk for another purpose. I used xylene. This works just fine. However, anyone using xylene ought to be really careful. It's particularly nasty stuff to breath or get on your skin. No contact in any form. Causes cancer and the fumes will give one a fast and painful headache.

Some materials are just not worth messing with. Life is too short as it is.

Jeff

[skaraborgcraft]

I once painted the decks of a 30ft boat under a tent with xylene based chlorinated rubber compound, despite wearing a mask with the supposed correct filters.......after 4 hours painting, it was not until i left the tent into the "real world" to discover i was seriously tripping......no headache though, still use it but lung fulls of it are best avoided.
I would not bother putting anymore paint on it, would have been best left bare, surface rust itself is a barrier coat for a short term.

[David G]

Peter, I reckon it's moot point now. But long ago I wanted to thin some silicon caulk for another purpose. I used xylene. This works just fine. However, anyone using xylene ought to be really careful. It's particularly nasty stuff to breath or get on your skin. No contact in any form. Causes cancer and the fumes will give one a fast and painful headache.

Some materials are just not worth messing with. Life is too short as it is.

Jeff

Any finisher will curse your name if you put such a product on.

[Larks]

Agreed re galvanising Peter. I think I’ve been lucky with my Hartley trailer, built in 1967, never galvanised but still going strong. I shot blasted it myself in Darwin about 15 years ago and repainted it and, although it needs touching up now, the paint from then is still in pretty good shape (I wish I could remember what it was).

[Peerie Maa]

^Paint is good if the trailer is made from angle or channel bar.
I had to rebuild Peerie Maa's trailer even though it had been shot-blasted, zinc sprayed and painted. The main box section spine rusted out from the inside, even though it had end caps welded on.
The new trailer box sections are not capped off, so the galvanising has coated the internal surfaces as well.

[PeterSibley]

Mine's RHS so lots of holes to drill if I get it galvanised.

[Peerie Maa]

Mine's RHS so lots of holes to drill if I get it galvanised.

Just do not cap the ends. You only need a hole at each end of each box, how many can that be, especially when you consider the bolt holes for the mechanical bits.

[Todd Bradshaw]

Some of the folks on bushwhacking and camping forums have used various paint thinners (most likely mineral spirits) to thin silicone sealer down to brush-able consistency for use on fabric. In many cases, they aren't aware that it really is not very compatible with the factory finish that is already on the cloth, but they're mostly doing it because they are really frugal, not because it makes a great product. I can't recall anybody thinning it to use on hard surfaces like paint though, and I suspect it won't be very durable.

[PeterSibley]

Just do not cap the ends. You only need a hole at each end of each box, how many can that be, especially when you consider the bolt holes for the mechanical bits.

Here it is. No bolt holes, with a paint finish I wanted it sealed.

[MN Dave]

In the day late and a dollar short department, there is one siloxane based, not silicone, that is unbelievably scratch resistant. http://www.adv-polymer.com/MarineLine-coatings-784.asp You can't grit blast the stuff off. It makes Ceram Kote look soft. http://ceram-kote.com/products/

Silicone is a soft material and it will not form a tough coating.

For a practical trailer paint, I would look at Pettit trailer coat for something more obtainable and user friendly. http://www.pettitpaint.com/product.asp?id=96

[Canoeyawl]

When it is all sorted out and working the way you want, hitch it up and tow it to the galvanizers. First to the sand balsters, then the galvanizers, unbolt the axles and springs and have them dunk it whole. Pick it up in a week...
My galvanizer has a sandblasting outfit next door!