Left over Antifouling paint Storing?

[Sea Pearl]

Hi,

How would you store some left over antifouling paint. Anyone have experience doing this?

Thanks, Sea Pearl

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Like any other paint, make sure you have a good seal on the can. If you have a small amount relative to the container, see if you can get a quart can brand new from a paint store, they're cheap. The enemy is air in the can allowing a skin to form on the remaining paint.


Depending on the paint, and how long the can has been open, you can also have a thickened paint due to the solvent in the antifouling flashing off.... particularly in paints such as VC17 or Copper bronze. Adding a little bit of the appropriate solvent to the can and stirring before sealing it back up will help keep it liquid over time.

[Breakaway]

^+1

I have also used a balloon to displace the air in a partially empty can. Blow up the balloon, put it in the half-full can, seal the lid tight. Holds the paint for a year, I can say that much.

Kevin

[Larks]

I've been told to shake the can well once it is sealed then store it upside down, the theory supposedly being that you saturate the air in the can. Sounds feasable and is what I have done with all of my left over paints and it seems to work with paints that I've had stored for up to a year and reused. But I can't yet say whether it works with antifouling, I have a 20litre "gifted" tin that is about 90% full but I don't plan on opening it soon. I regularly turn it and give it a bit of a shake though and it still "feels" OK after 18 months.

[Wooden Boat Fittings]

Turning it upside-down for storage, if nothing else, ensures that any air is in the bottom of the can. So, when you open it, the paint is on top of any skin that might have formed over it during storage.

I have a quart can of antifouling about ten years old that I think (I haven't checked) is still okay.

Mike

[fishrswim]

You might try putting a squirt of propane gas in the can just before sealing if. Someone long forgotten recommended it to me and I have used it to keep varnish fresh. Seems to work. I just use a propane grill lighter, but make sure not to create the spark. Don't tell anyone who told you this. Lawyers and all, you know.

[Bob Adams]

Invert the can from time to time. Most antifoul has a high precentage of solids that will fall out of suspension over time. Doing this will keep the sediment from getting too hard making it much easier to mix when the time comes to use it.

[wizbang 13]

paint the bottom of the can if it is being stored aboard. damhikt.

[Sea Pearl]

Thanks, has anyone used vinyl or plastic gallon bottles to store antifouling?

[Bob Adams]

Thanks, has anyone used vinyl or plastic gallon bottles to store antifouling?

NOT recommended!

[JimConlin]

I've been told to shake the can well once it is sealed then store it upside down, the theory supposedly being that you saturate the air in the can. ...

+1
+1 on the small cans, too.

[Michael D. Storey]

I used to keep that old copper stuff for a year by cleaning out the rim, putting the lid on properly and storing it upside down.

[Sea Pearl]

Again, Thanks for all the information.

I have some heavy plastic bottles, but will get a couple of new metal cans from the paint store and store the left over in them. There should be a two to three gallons left from two 20 liter cans. I will store in the garage and turn New Years and July 4th. Let you know in a year or so if they hold up.

The balloon idea is great, I'll use it if I have a partial can.

Sea Pearl

[Figment]

Akin to the balloon idea is the practice of using a bit of plastic food wrap ("saran-wrap" here in the US) gently tucked-down into the surface of the paint so that the top layer "skin" doesn't form due to air exposure.

Just like chocolate pudding in a deli case.

[zertgold]

I like Classico spaghetti sauce jars. Classico is the only spaghetti sauce brand which uses glass jars with a screw tight seal. They are basically mason jars. They can be resealed with a twist and hold their new contents airtight. Eat Classico spaghetti sauce, and send me your jars.

[Canoeyawl]

I have used it for bedding compound...

[BrianM]

I mixleftover paint with Dap painters putty, seal it, and use it for seam compound on the next haulout,

Would also make decent bedding compound

[Ian McColgin]

I've had no problems with paint skimming over even if left for a year or two if I put a bit of thinner in on top. I don't favor turning the can upside down. If you have a good seal you don't need to and if you don't have a good seal it'll drip out. With heavy bottom paints, just the mass laying on the lid can essentially float the can up so that a good seal goes bad in the 18th month or so and you get the drip then.

[J. Dillon]

Breakaway said:

I have also used a balloon to displace the air in a partially empty can. Blow up the balloon, put it in the half-full can, seal the lid tight. Holds the paint for a year, I can say that much.

Seems like a good idea. What happens if the ballon touches the paint? Will the baloon burst or leak eventually ?

Any way, I'm gona try it with a can of varnish. Maybe a good quality prophylactic would do.

JD

[Sea Pearl]

I Like the idea of Painters Putty and antifouling as a seam compound. How has it worked?

[BrianM]

I think the stuff from Interlux probably has MORE copper or other poisons in it, but I love my homebrew and the worms don't.

The painter's putty is so hard and dense in the can, it needs to be thinned with SOMETHING. I add paint 'til it trowels like peanut butter. There is shrinkage after drying, but it DRIES fairly quickly, partly I'm sure due to the quick drying nature of vinyl bottom paints. It's easy enough to skim another coat after the first has dried the next day, then I proceed with bottom paint directly not worrying about waiting for the second layer to dry. It has enough viscosity and stiffness that rolled on bottom paint does not disturb it.

I also use the same painter's putty as my topsides seam compound, but of course, I don't mix bottom paint with it. I've tried seperately, Penetrol, Japan Drier, and even some of the topside paint itself all as "thinners" for the Painter's Putty. All of them make the material flexible enough to trowel. I particularly like the combo of Topside Paint with Putty as when the topside paint inevitably cracks at the seams during the summer, the near-same color of the putty does a good job of camoflauge compared to plain white putty.

Best thing is the Painter's Putty is easy to get to at Big Boxes and marine supply houses generally have more limited hours and are longer drives, especially important when you are 1 1/2 cans into a what turns out to be a 3 can job.

[Sea Pearl]

Have you used it under or with oil based soft ablative antifouling? The nearest 'boat' store is 60 miles away.

Thanks, Sea Pearl