Rusty laser?!?!?!

sailingmania

New Member
hey guyz, not posted a post lately as boat has been sailing well, until i got queried about my boat!

my laser seems to have rust spots all over the deck theyre tiny ones which seem to be within the gelcoat! it was 1 year old in january, and havent had to do any maintenance on it at all! so cannot understand where the rust is coming from. a friend sugggested it might be in the gelcoat as he has same problem but his laser is 30 yrs old... i have tried using rust stain remover and all sorts but, nothing is shifting it :(

the only thing that works is tip-ex! lol jokes! :)

any suggestions? gonna ask you guyz for opinion before i get onto laser! all i can assume is somone was grinding up some metal (maybe making trolleys) right next to where the gelcoat was being applied or mixed up? its a bloody great laser except the rust! now i may be dim at school but i do know for a fact that gelcoat or fibreglass doesent rust!

HELP! please! :)
 
That is strange, possibly some particles got in the gel coat when it was manufactured.

you should take a pic of it so we can see...
 
hey guyz, not posted a post lately as boat has been sailing well, until i got queried about my boat!

my laser seems to have rust spots all over the deck theyre tiny ones which seem to be within the gelcoat! it was 1 year old in january, and havent had to do any maintenance on it at all! so cannot understand where the rust is coming from. a friend sugggested it might be in the gelcoat as he has same problem but his laser is 30 yrs old... i have tried using rust stain remover and all sorts but, nothing is shifting it :(

the only thing that works is tip-ex! lol jokes! :)

any suggestions? gonna ask you guyz for opinion before i get onto laser! all i can assume is somone was grinding up some metal (maybe making trolleys) right next to where the gelcoat was being applied or mixed up? its a bloody great laser except the rust! now i may be dim at school but i do know for a fact that gelcoat or fibreglass doesent rust!

HELP! please! :)

i have the same problem and my boat is a 2005 i can get the rust off if i scrub it really hard :)
 
not sailing it enough? NOT SAILING IT ENOUGH!!! CORR! if you knew how much i sail that boat you wouldnt be saying this! i sail it 3 times a week every week of the year! since 7th janu 2009 when it was new! beat that! now who's not sailing enough? will try scrubbing really hard... but it didnt seem to work last time... any chemical suggestions?

cheers
 
Still curious about the source. My first thought of "rust" is Iron-Oxide... If you pass a strong magnet across the deck, I assume that you don't pull up small metal fibers. I would imagine that if someone scrubbed the deck with a steel wool pad, it would leave particles that will rust.

If this is really just a surface stain, there are commercially available fiberglass cleaners that claim to remove rust stains. "CLR" (Calcium, Lime, Rust) is one, "FSR" (Fiberglass Stain Remover) is another. They are probably some concentration of citric or acetic acid, but I really don't know for sure. Personally, I would try muriatic acid (very strong, look anywhere that sells pool chemicals), and let the chemical do the hard work, so I wouldn't have to. Be careful and wear gloves and protective clothing. Standard disclaimers apply here. Try it on a small area first. It should not damage the fiberglass at all, neutralize the acid with soap right away when you're finished. Also, don't let it get on your trailer, the fiberglass won't be affected, but a galvanized trailer won't stand up to the acid as well.

Remember, free advice is usually worth every penny.
 

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