What is the best media to blast Stainless Bravo 3 props?

If you have barnacles on the OD, try a better OD paint. I use this, never get barnacles.

 

I've only done a little blasting over the years so I'll let others chime in on that - but I can't imagine any of those items being an issue to SS. BUT, another way to do it is to use something like MaryKate's On & Off which is HCl (and some other stuff). That will disolve the remanants of the little critters. If you find HCl or Muriatic Acid at a local hardware store, that will work, too. If you have decent blasting tools already, though, then I guess either way would be good.

 

Muriatic acid from Lowes will clean that all up in 30 seconds.

 

Do not blast the props!
Do not under any circumstances!

Blasting will stress relieve the metal and that in turn will cause the thin metal of the blades to distort. Blasting can also roughen the surface and degrade the performance of the props.

The better choice would be to send them to a prop shop that can clean, tune and balance the props. They can chemically clean the props so they come back all shiny.

For the future you should use a prop specific product like Prop Coat, rather than metal bottom paint. BoatTest did a nice write just recently. It’s well worth a read.

 

Here is my OD after painting with the stuff above, seriously, I may have chipped away a couple barnacles over the years but never felt the need to blast it.
PS. that’s a 30yo (1991) Bravo 1. No corrosion, no pits, it’s a beautiful thing. Well maintained. OD don’t have to be sacrificial parts.

 

If you cannot get Muriatic acid, Believe it or not, grout cleaner (from home depot) will dissolve the barnacles easily. Just wear some very good rubber gloves and goggles.
Scrub with a 3m Blue or Green pad and done!

I have heard of some folks using prop speed to protect against growth. Expensive and requires priming and several coats.

 

As stated above - I always used muriatic acid from Home Depot and scotch bright pads with good rubber gloves. I used a throw-away paint brush and put the props in a pan/bucket. I used to paint them with cold galvanizing compound paint but after getting them tuned, prop shop recommended not painting.

 

If you put them in a tub with barnacle buster covering them, everything will dissolve off them overnight. Then literally just rinse them off with water. I put the the barnacle buster back into the gallon jugs after each use. Use a paint strainer to keep the debris from going into the gallon each.

 

A lot of times, both the diameter and pitch are stamped somewhere along the hub.

 

Acid, and old cookie sheet and a 99 cent chip brush.

Placing the prop on the sheet slows you to collect and reuse the acid as it drips off the prop.

 

What is the black line at the top of the prop? It looks like a crack but could be paint? Is there an imperfection in the prop there?

 

Zooming in, it looks like some paint.

Pretty sloppy there, @Pirate Lady

 

Sorry Late reply, thats paint drip from the brush. I tend to make a mess.

 

Just like I like my women.

 

WAIT A MINUTE! Hit the brakes! AmI reading this right? This is the first time the boat been pulled since 2007?
Please tell me I misread that.