what to do about a deteriorating keel

[traktorgenius]

a friend an I recently bought a santana 22, and the keel is not in the best of shape, besides all the rust, there are chunks falling off. some people we have talked to say we should fill the chunks with weld (its a steel keel) others say to fill it with epoxy. does anyone have any ideas? anything will help.

 

[SolingSailor]

Re: what to do about a deteriorating keel

There are shortcuts which mostly don't work well, but here's the right way to do it:
Sandblast the keel to bright metal, clearing out all the pits.
Immediately coat with epoxy barrier (I like West System products -- check out their website).
Fill the depressions with epoxy filler, fair, sand, and paint.
It's a lot of unpleasant work, but will last many years.

 

[chris.olson]

Re: what to do about a deteriorating keel

The keel is actually cast iron and it is epoxy'd. I would suspect that what you are seeing is the old epoxy coming off so the keel is rusting. You can sandblast it like SolingSailor said. However you can also clean it up with a hand grinder with a wire brush and hammer and chisel to chip the old epoxy off it. Then re-epoxy it and paint.

One thing that you will probably want to look at is the keel bolts under the cabin sole. They are probably badly corroded and should be replaced. They are 316 stainless but you'll probably end up drilling them out due to severe corrosion (just basing that on the fact that if the keel is starting to deteriorate the chances of the keel bolts being sound are nil to none).

 

[gunnerasch]

Re: what to do about a deteriorating keel

The keel is actually cast iron and it is epoxy'd. I would suspect that what you are seeing is the old epoxy coming off so the keel is rusting. You can sandblast it like SolingSailor said. However you can also clean it up with a hand grinder with a wire brush and hammer and chisel to chip the old epoxy off it. Then re-epoxy it and paint.

One thing that you will probably want to look at is the keel bolts under the cabin sole. They are probably badly corroded and should be replaced. They are 316 stainless but you'll probably end up drilling them out due to severe corrosion (just basing that on the fact that if the keel is starting to deteriorate the chances of the keel bolts being sound are nil to none).

I agree with both posters. Thats about all you can do and it will indeed last many many years. Im doing the same thing to a Ensenada 20 swing keel.

 

[chris.olson]

Re: what to do about a deteriorating keel

I agree with both posters. Thats about all you can do and it will indeed last many many years. Im doing the same thing to a Ensenada 20 swing keel.

Even without doing anything to the keel, chances are that chunk of cast iron will outlast you. What will eventually become a problem is that it will start leaking into the bilge and could come loose if the bolts fail. If you find the keel bolts badly corroded I would recommend dropping the keel completely off to reseal it when you recondition it.

 

[SolingSailor]

Re: what to do about a deteriorating keel

I was about halfway through grinding and wirebrushing my iron keel, when I was warned by others more experienced than I, that you can polish up the rust to look pretty nice, but you have to sandblast to dig it out of the pits. It was more work, but 20 years later I am still glad that I took that advice. So I think it is a matter of effort vs. longevity.

 

[chris.olson]

Re: what to do about a deteriorating keel

I was about halfway through grinding and wirebrushing my iron keel, when I was warned by others more experienced than I, that you can polish up the rust to look pretty nice, but you have to sandblast to dig it out of the pits. It was more work, but 20 years later I am still glad that I took that advice. So I think it is a matter of effort vs. longevity.

Actually, after cleaning up all the loose scale you can seal the rust inside with POR-15 and it will be the last time in your lifetime that it ever needs attention again.
--
Chris