Using Non-Acid Based Coil Cleaner for Cleaning the bottom of fiberglass boat

RetiredTop

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I have a 22' Stingray that sits in a slip on the river. Bottom is not painted and the kid I had used the last couple years to crawl under her is gone :grumpy:

I bought an older pontoon for a great deal last month that had been sitting in the water for five years (toons were nasty!). Did some research and decided to go with coil cleaner which worked AMAZING :cool: That got myself and others at the marina wondering if it would work on our fiberglass bottoms.

Years past we all have had to scrub - even with using products like "the works" and "hull cleaner" it just does not get the tough spider looking algae off the bottom.

Your comments and experience is greatly appreciated!
 

RetiredTop

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Re: Using Non-Acid Based Coil Cleaner for Cleaning the bottom of fiberglass boat

I have noticed some have had success with toilet bowl cleaner containing oxalic acid and others with muriatic acid (which I am not brave enough to try). I will take a look at the container that the coil cleaner came in to see but I do know it stated "bio-degradable" and "non-acidic"
 

smokeonthewater

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Re: Using Non-Acid Based Coil Cleaner for Cleaning the bottom of fiberglass boat

I don't know how it would do on a bottom but I have used it on the topside of dingy glass boats.... I get a kick out of how it makes ALL of the grease under my nails vanish and takes the stains out of my callouses too... it's a great surfactant but I dunno how much it would do for mineral deposits that make up most of the bottom scum..... guess it would be worth a try
 

UncleWillie

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Re: Using Non-Acid Based Coil Cleaner for Cleaning the bottom of fiberglass boat

If it did not damage the Aluminum Toons, it is even less likely to effect the Gel-coat.

NEVER apply Muriatic/Hydrochloric Acid to Aluminum. It will be last you see of them!

The MSDS for the Non-Acid Coil cleaners list Sodium Hydroxide and a couple of its relatives as the active ingredients. Similar to Drano and Oven Cleaners.
 
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frantically relaxing

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Re: Using Non-Acid Based Coil Cleaner for Cleaning the bottom of fiberglass boat

Some real world experience--

50 series aluminum, which is what they make pontoon logs out of, is completely and utterly unaffected by muriatic acid, at least in my experience. Cast aluminum and 60 series aluminum is another story. I soaked some old props in an acid mix, and got sidetracked, and after about 15 minutes this is what I ended up with:
prop1b.jpgpropclose.jpg

Do not get muriatic acid on your shiny aluiminum trim which is probably 60 series, and DEFINITELY keep it off your stainless. Muriatic acid will permanently darken stainless (so much for "stainless" steel). I've got stains on my SS rub rail from not being careful. (Also I've stained 2 SS kitchen sinks by using too stong a mixture). Muriatic acid is perfectly okay to use on your outdrive and gelcoat, it's safe on paint, BUT, if there's any rust on your trailer, get it rinsed off quickly. Also, fwiw, muriatic acid does nothing to your lawn.

As for coil cleaner, never heard of it but I already know what's in it: Lye (sodium hydroxide). Oven cleaner, drain cleaner, Castrol Superclean, Purple Power, all use lye as the heavy-duty cleaning ingredient. Lye will immediately emulsify oil, including the natural oils on your skin. Cleans your hands real good, but you'd best be for getting some lotion on afterwards.

Aluminum toon logs-- I've used 3:1 mixed "The Works" probably a dozen times on our Party Cruiser logs, and it does absolutely nothing except burn off any calcium deposits. I use a garden sprayer. The calcium boils and smokes when hit with the acid. Spray, wait 5 seconds (that's the half-life of the acid when in contact with calcium), spray again. When you get no boiling smoke, move on. Works exactly the same on gelcoat. I've found that all I have to do is pressure wash the green goo off, then simply spray the calcium with the garden sprayer, no brushing needed. Just spray and let the acid do the work. Rinse the boat and ground with a water hose often. That's it.

Now, put some purple cleaner or Easy-Off on the logs and wait about 30 seconds, and that 50 series aluminum will turn almost white. The lye etches the aluminum and removes the natural dark oxide stains. I did that once to my logs, and it's pretty scary. That was about 5 years ago and the logs now look like they did before...

For fun, put your coil cleaner on white fiberglass, and prepare to lose your lunch as you watch your glass turn yellow. This is assuming there's enough lye in it and no wax on the gelcoat. I know there'e plenty enough lye in Castrol Superclean to yellow 'glass. However, the yellow is temporary, the glass does return to white. The stuff will probably clean off the algae, but I don't think it will affect the calcium, it didn't on my toon logs...

Last word on lye, I did find, on our old Sun Runner, that straight Super Clean is great at removing the dead oxidation from badly oxidized gelcoat. It doesn't shine the gelcoat, it does just the opposite. What it DOES do is removes all the loose, powdery oxidation particles that just soap and water won't touch, and leaves you a with a better surface to start with if you're about to attempt to shine it up.
 
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TilliamWe

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Re: Using Non-Acid Based Coil Cleaner for Cleaning the bottom of fiberglass boat

FR, it's stain-LESS, not stain-Proof! ;)

As far as using that coil stuff on fiberglass to clean it, go for it. I mean come on, the stuff that's designed for cleaning hulls is crazy acidic, so you must not be able to hurt gelcoat much!

For me, a 1500psi pressure washer was needed to get the nasty stuff off, BEFORE I used hull cleaner or toilet bowl cleaner.
How fast does this growth appear on the hull? How much is it hurting your top speed/WOT rpms? If it's much, you don't want to keep operating the boat that way, you'll damage the engine. I know, I did it to my 97 5.7LX. (Valves, specifically)
 

Wiser

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Re: Using Non-Acid Based Coil Cleaner for Cleaning the bottom of fiberglass boat

You should check out the acid free cleaners. I have used one with great results. Safe to use and extremely effective.
A lot of products claim to be "green" so make sure they are certified.
The acid products work but are hard on the gel coats and will destroy your trailer.
 

THC1

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Re: Using Non-Acid Based Coil Cleaner for Cleaning the bottom of fiberglass boat

I have lived on or near the lake for 25 years. We have always used muriatic acid to clean algae from the bottom of our fiberglass boats. I use it every year on my pontoons now. You can buy an environmentally friendly version too at your local Lowes store!
 

salty87

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Re: Using Non-Acid Based Coil Cleaner for Cleaning the bottom of fiberglass boat

Last word on lye, I did find, on our old Sun Runner, that straight Super Clean is great at removing the dead oxidation from badly oxidized gelcoat. It doesn't shine the gelcoat, it does just the opposite. What it DOES do is removes all the loose, powdery oxidation particles that just soap and water won't touch, and leaves you a with a better surface to start with if you're about to attempt to shine it up.

great tip, can't wait to try this winter.
 

dingbat

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Re: Using Non-Acid Based Coil Cleaner for Cleaning the bottom of fiberglass boat

50 series aluminum, which is what they make pontoon logs out of, is completely and utterly unaffected by muriatic acid, at least in my experience. Cast aluminum and 60 series aluminum is another story.
Then its not 5XXX series aluminum or it has some sort of coating on them.

Muriaic is another name for hydrochloric acid. Hydrochloric acid has a severe affect on aluminum. 5086 aluminum is [SIZE=-1]93 - 96% aluminum, 6061 is [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]95 - 98%[/SIZE][SIZE=-1] aluminum[/SIZE] The only difference you see in performance is the presence of HCL is.......you'll have 2-5% of your pontoon left when the prop has been totally eaten away.:D
 

Bamaman1

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Re: Using Non-Acid Based Coil Cleaner for Cleaning the bottom of fiberglass boat

Sounds like you need some of that rarely used product--elbow grease. And a number of good ScotchBrite pads.

I usually try a number of products before getting down to the heavy duty cleaners. Awesome in the yellow bottle at Dollar General is very popular stuff for cleaning/degreasing. I also like Zep Orange degreaser (Home Depot & Lowes) for everything, as it'll even remove paint from your hands. Many swear by Mr. Clean's cleaning magic pads, as they're really good at cleaning when nothing else will work.
 

Bamaman1

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Re: Using Non-Acid Based Coil Cleaner for Cleaning the bottom of fiberglass boat

Sounds like you need some of that rarely used product--elbow grease. And a number of good ScotchBrite pads.

I usually try a number of products before getting down to the heavy duty cleaners. Awesome in the yellow bottle at Dollar General is very popular stuff for cleaning/degreasing. I also like Zep Orange degreaser (Home Depot & Lowes) for everything, as it'll even remove paint from your hands. Many swear by Mr. Clean's cleaning magic pads, as they're really good at cleaning when nothing else will work.
 

frantically relaxing

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Re: Using Non-Acid Based Coil Cleaner for Cleaning the bottom of fiberglass boat

Then its not 5XXX series aluminum or it has some sort of coating on them.

Muriaic is another name for hydrochloric acid. Hydrochloric acid has a severe affect on aluminum. 5086 aluminum is [SIZE=-1]93 - 96% aluminum, 6061 is [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]95 - 98%[/SIZE][SIZE=-1] aluminum[/SIZE] The only difference you see in performance is the presence of HCL is.......you'll have 2-5% of your pontoon left when the prop has been totally eaten away.:D

Well-- specifically, and to the best of my knowledge, Tracker (and most other mfr's) use 5052-H32 aluminum to make their pontoon logs, and you're more than welcome to pour as much hydrochloric acid on my logs as you want, because it has zero effect on them. Oven cleaner and Purple stuff with lye on the other hand, DOES-- It etches the logs and turns them white...
 

wgl333

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Re: Using Non-Acid Based Coil Cleaner for Cleaning the bottom of fiberglass boat

Jamestown Distributors makes a great hull cleaner...On and Off Hull Cleaner....spray on...scrub the heavy stuff if needed...wash off (power washer works best)...make sure to wear gloves and protect your aluminum trailer!
 
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