Ultrasonic antifoul

Erin · 26 February 2009, 09:21

Anyone know anything about ultrasonic antifouling? Just wondering whether it would be of use on my drying mooring to avoid antifoul paint and/or monthly scrubbing.

JSP · 26 February 2009, 10:59

I'm trying to find which is the best hard wearing antifoul to as I have the chance of keeping the RIB in the dock for some time. I know from experience boats in this dock (for some reason) foul up allot quicker than most. Someone did explain it to me along time ago but it went in one ear and out 'tother.

PeterM · 26 February 2009, 11:37

Have done a bit of research on this recently , but is on Laptop at home - wehn I get in later I'll dig it out . I THINK international hard is possibly the best one , Blakes took a load of chemicals out of thier white one to make it white , but in doing so it now is not as good an antifoul !

Assume people want white to match thier nice shiny white gel coat ( if you have a white hull ) .

As for doing by sound waves - is it the 1 April yet ?- cant see how that would work at all .......

SeaSkills · 26 February 2009, 11:45

Try www.boatsonic.com for some more information.

There does seem to be some science behind it, and it's more popular in the States than over here, but not for me because;

a) it's rather expensive
b) it needs a permanent power supply and I don't think my batteries would cope

Erin · 26 February 2009, 11:53

I'm not sure about the power supply either. I've looked at http://www.blueandgreenmarine.com/ and http://www.ultrasonic-antifouling.com/ One of them only supposedly takes 60mA to run which a solar panel could supply easily. I emailed both companies a week ago but neither have bothered to reply yet.

Rodan · 26 February 2009, 12:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackroady

Have done a bit of research on this recently , but is on Laptop at home - wehn I get in later I'll dig it out . I THINK international hard is possibly the best one , Blakes took a load of chemicals out of thier white one to make it white , but in doing so it now is not as good an antifoul !

Assume people want white to match thier nice shiny white gel coat ( if you have a white hull ) .

As for doing by sound waves - is it the 1 April yet ?- cant see how that would work at all .......

Maybe this is helpful - international hard, didnt have great results with it in the solent, perhaps badly applied, i dont know. have used Blakes Hard Racing last 3 seasons and no complaints at all (just a little slime after a couple of months).

PeterM · 26 February 2009, 12:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rodan

Maybe this is helpful - international hard, didnt have great results with it in the solent, perhaps badly applied, i dont know. have used Blakes Hard Racing last 3 seasons and no complaints at all (just a little slime after a couple of months).

I use blakes to - again little slime after a few months - but I am in 100% fresh water at the mooring. Heard its not as good in sea water . So much differance in water tem/ salinity etc its hard to tell.

I'm not sure I want to plug any more elctrics into my boat - what I've only works some of the time !

Rodan · 27 February 2009, 21:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackroady

I use blakes to - again little slime after a few months - but I am in 100% fresh water at the mooring. Heard its not as good in sea water . So much differance in water tem/ salinity etc its hard to tell.

I'm not sure I want to plug any more elctrics into my boat - what I've only works some of the time !

no problems with it on the medina from April to November. but its a lottery with these things!

Tony · 21 April 2009, 07:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erin

Anyone know anything about ultrasonic antifouling? Just wondering whether it would be of use on my drying mooring to avoid antifoul paint and/or monthly scrubbing.

Hi Erin
How did you get on with the ultrasonic antifoul?

IBWET · 21 April 2009, 07:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erin

Anyone know anything about ultrasonic antifouling? Just wondering whether it would be of use on my drying mooring to avoid antifoul paint and/or monthly scrubbing.

I've an interest in the ultrasonic side so let's hope someone has experience.On the anti fouling; my experience, as most are saying here, interspeed ultra, pricy but has worked best for me, (I've tried the others mentioned) boat is always afloat in the sea.One thing to remember different manufacturers products don't always match - do a test.

jambo · 21 April 2009, 07:43

Well I amd my mates use Uno on swing moorings on Loch sween which is a sea loch and have had no complaints only slime after 5 months on mooring. I have investigated electronic but like Seaskills the costs and the power supply were not on.
Hope this hlps.
J

IBWET · 21 April 2009, 08:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by jambo

Well I amd my mates use Uno on swing moorings on Loch sween which is a sea loch and have had no complaints only slime after 5 months on mooring. I have investigated electronic but like Seaskills the costs and the power supply were not on.
Hope this hlps.
J

That's surprising,I thought crusier Uno was for sailing boats...no good for high speed hulls as it just washes off over a certain speed. lot cheaper though

DGR · 22 May 2009, 15:29

Did anyone manage to get any information about costs for the Blue & Green Ultrasonic gizmo?

I've e-mailed them, but if their product is as efficient as their sales team, I don't hold out much hope...

60 mA shouldn't be too much of a problem - and if they reckon you get your money back in 2 years............otherwise, I've got to try and decide between Blakes, SeaJet, International etc

Erin · 22 May 2009, 21:22

Neither company ever bothered to reply to my emails. Ultrasonic antifoul Ltd did answer their phone, but not with that company name. The ultrasonic antifoul is obviously a side line. They were about £700 if memory serves me right. They reckoned the blue and green version was not as effective and only used less current because it was 'on' for less time i.e. short bursts as opposed to permanent.

DGR · 24 May 2009, 15:11

I've had a very nice reply from Blue & Green, with some approximate costs...

Quote:

As a guide the system price is likely to be £2395 inc VAT, plus fitting

I've managed to get back on my chair, but I'm struggling to understand how it's supposed to pay for itself within 2 years.

codprawn · 24 May 2009, 21:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by DGR

I've had a very nice reply from Blue & Green, with some approximate costs...

I've managed to get back on my chair, but I'm struggling to understand how it's supposed to pay for itself within 2 years.

At that price a versadock would be a viable option!!!

DGR · 25 May 2009, 20:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by codprawn

At that price a versadock would be a viable option!!!

Yeah - not far off.

I've asked some more questions - and I'll let you know what they come back with.

I suspect that they have aimed the first 'product' at a particular market - larger, v.expensive boats - and they haven't scaled it down yet. If they don't, then they won't sell many to us lot!!

It will be shame if they don't scale it - 'cos I've got a relatively long standing biofouling problem on a hydro-electric intake screen, and it could solve that quite nicely if it works - but the price needs to be right.

D...