Powder Coating on boats

C

Catch 22

New member
I'm just curious, does anyone have experience with powder coated items on boats. I just installed my fuel tanks which i had powder coated and am really happy with them thus far, but they are fairly protected, im thinking about building an aluminum rack on top of the boat (because i can do it myself, thus reducing the cost) for rod holders and antennas and kayaks and everything else you put on top of a boat. I see this area as being a highly abused area on the boat with salty spray and gear, and people grabbing onto it, how well does powder coat paint stand up on boats. I think it would be neat to powder coat the rack to match the green accents of the boat too. I know stainless is probably the best, but is powder coat good enough? Thoughts, ideas, experience...
 
Kevin I've used PC on numerous places/items on my VW restorations. To me it's basically thick, baked-on paint. But those parts are not exposed to salt/UV etc on a continuous basis. It can be gouged/scratched etc, but is much thicker than sprayed on paint. I know PC is used on various exterior items like chairs/lounges around pools, BBQs etc, so I can only assume UV is not that big an issue.

I'd call the PCoater and ask what his opinion is.
 
I have white powder coating on radar tower and dinghy davit and after 1 year I can see no deterioration at all from the bright sunlight up here in PNW :twisted: Of course that may be because of my dark sun glasses :smiled
It does scratch but it seems much thicker than normal paint and could easily be touched up.

Since these parts were made in Anacortes by someone who does such "stuff" for big $ boats I have to believe it's a pretty standard practice.

Merv
 
The only problem we have seen long term on powder coated items is that if the coating is scratched, and salt crystals get to the aluminum, the coating will bubble and fail at that point. Kinda ugly at that point, and very hard to fix.
 
I powder coated a rear bumper on my truck. It's now bubbling up some small rust spots, which they warned me about. It's just like paint, in that it has to be maintained.

Boris
 
We have a powder coated rod rack in the cockpit...there's a pic in our "Projects" album. It's been there 8 years and looks like new. Before we installed the arch, there was a powder coated mast for the radar antenna and it looked like new as well.

Rick
 
I believe that the frames on the door and windows of my 06 are powder coated. There are a couple of spots of blistering on the door frame.
 
All the railing around my deck at home is powder coated aluminum and it's in the elements all year. I've had it for about 6 years now and it still looks great (with the occasional pressure washing to knock the mildew off).

Another possibility might be to have the parts hard anodized or 2-step colorized. Both provide excellent hardness and good corrosion resistance. Also, you can get stuff anodized in a variety of colors.
 
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