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running saltwater with conduit cage

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david

Well-known member
Do you guys think it would be ok to run saltwater with a conduit cage that is powdercoated as long as i wash it off when finished
 
Im not an expert on this but I think if you wash it enough it should be fine. Id be more concerned for your motor though.
 
It will last for a while just try to keep it cleaned off . it takes conduit longer to rust than steel because it's galvanized.
just my opinion
 
WASH IT GOOD EVERY TIME ! PAINT YOUR MOTOR EVERY TIME YOU SEE A SCRATCH ! DO A GOOD JOB ! STAINLESS RUSTS TOO, WITH OUT CARE ! SOAP AND A RAG ! JUST WATER WONT GET IT ! BUY SOME WD 40 OR BLASTER :shock:
 
Yeah a good spray of wd or a wipe down of some kind of oil afterward wood help ALOT
 
Corrosion X is an awesome product. Get some and use it before you hit the saltwater. I have senn the difference in boats that used it and didn't.
 
Heres a trick we used in Seismic work. We were in and out of salt marshes and salt water a lot of the time. We had to clean the boat at the end of every day then when we pulled up to the parking area we had to spray the whole exhaust system with WD-40 as soon as we shut down. While it was still hot. In just a month or two you sure could tell who did it religiously and who the slackers were. We literally soaked the exhaust from the headers to the tip of the pipe out the transom, let it smoke if it wants cause tis hot, that means the pores in the metal are open and the oil soaks in deep. Those of us that maintained it daily religiously seldome if ever had to replace anythings on our boats. The slackers went through flex pipe, props, and rigging like it was coming fromt he local 5 & 10 cent store.

Maintenance on any boat is the single one thing that will give it a long life. Touch up the paint, keep things washed down and greased or lubed. When paint blisters, get after it before it gets worse.

Just how I saw it in heavy use boats. :)

Scotty
 
Scotty, is right on but I would be careful spraying WD-40 on anything that hot. That stuff is very flamible. Not worth catching fire.

I tell people to spray a good lubricant on their boat before they ever take it out in salt water. (You should do it on a new boat right away) Then always rinse down afterwards and re-apply.


WD-40 works in a pinch but Corrosion X is ideal.
 
Both Corrosion-X and Saltaway are very good products. A buddy of mine turned me on to Saltaway because he used it for flushing his jet skis. Use it like it says and the salt residue melts right off. The Corrosion-X is the best I have ever used for preventative maintenance and to free something up. Better than PB Blaster, WD-40, you just need to try it. Just like AirboatCapt2 says use it before you hit the water. Spray it everywhere there is a fastener or joint, even your trailer, it works good.
 
WD-40 is flamable. We never burned one down but it certainly could have happened. Just didn't. I have never heard of these other products but they sound like the miracle cure. use what works. Just like your guns, it is more important that you clean them then what poriduct you use, I suspect airboats are no different.

Scotty
 
My understanding on a conduit cage, is that it will rust from the inside out. So no matter what you put on the outside(paint ,wd40,saltaway) its still going to rust.Just another opinion not a expert. :idea:
 
I usually get 8 to 10 years (a few thousand hours of running) before there is nothing left to patch!
Probably could get more with a little more TLC :)

Grant
 
Becktc, that's kind of my experience. My old steel riggin looked pretty good on the outside but it was rusting from the inside out.
If somebody can come up with a solution to that ..... maybe pouring zinc chromate through the tubes before they're cut and welded
or something might help.
Weep holes might help to let the tubing breathe and dry out inside.

Steel riggin should last a long time if it was somehow pre-treated before it was assembled. Just a thought.
 
I guess you could treat the insides with boiled linseed oil like you do for chromoly tubing on aircraft applications!
Just seems if you can get 10 years out of it without doing it you are probably gonna be ready for some changes anyway :)

Grant
 
My old steel riggin looked pretty good on the outside but it was rusting from the inside out.
If somebody can come up with a solution to that ..... maybe pouring zinc chromate through the tubes before they're cut and welded
or something might help.
Click to expand...


I have a solution for the rust, buy stainless! :lol: :lol: :lol:






Just giving you a hard time Olf Art.
 
My prop cage is made out of 3/4 inch chromaloy tube. When I built it 12 years ago, I had it powder coated. We are only allowed to run our boats on the Great Salt Lake so you can imagine how nasty the salt content can get. The powder coat lasted about 8 years with little or no special care. Then I made some modifications, and did a bunch of welding to it so I just re-painted it with black rustoleum. That was about 4 years ago and it is still holding up very well. I made sure that there was absolutly no pinholes anywhere and I really slathered on the paint around the welds. I don't rinse off the boat or cage very often and it is still holding up nicely. However, when I have to run in the deep water, the whole thing gets crusted with a white salty residue, and I rinse that off asap.
 
Duece,
The ACE hardware stores in Sarasota carry it. Marine Max ship stores carry it also.
It was expensive, $20.
 
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