Tuffcoat's Blog

Color Change for New York Fire Department Rescue Boat

tuffcoat — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 20:56:43 +0000

Not all Tuff-Coat applications are restoration projects.

Today we revisit a customer who took possession of a new Attack Zodiac which required a color change from Black to ‘Rescue Red’.

Before Tuff-Coat

New York Firefighters need to ‘restore’ a donated Marine RIB. Their cost effective solution to paint this inflatable to the search and rescue colors was Tuff-Coat.

After Tuff-Coat!

Owls Head – Mt. View Volunteer Fire Department in New York

Tuff-Coat Donation helps Fire Fighters ‘restore’ new donated RIB for search and rescue.

Visit the OHMV Web Site to see the 15 Foot Zodiac rescue craft in action.

These photos are self explanatory as the search and rescue team paint their new boat with Tuff-Coat .

Original Black Tubes on Attack Zodiac

Marine RIB in Original Black Color

Base Coat Applied to Stern Tubes

Tuff-Coat Base Coat Applied

Restored' New Search and Rescue Colors

Newly Finished Tuff-Coat Search and Rescue Colors on Fire Department Trailer!

ECO-TUFF has Arrived!

tuffcoat — Sat, 29 May 2010 23:36:03 +0000

Tuff-Coat has released a new product line that is a one part water based acrylic vinyl paint. The ECO-TUFF RENEW products now allow an inflatable boat to be restored in one step. Synergy SRC announces that this product is for ‘simpler restorations’ for boats that need to be ‘freshened up’.

ECO-TUFF renew

Eco-Tuff Renew can be purchased in 5 popular colors and is available now from the Tuff-Coat online store here.

Cleaning Rub Rails

tuffcoat — Wed, 26 May 2010 16:08:02 +0000

I was recently asked by an inflatable boat owner how to clean the rub rails on his inflatable boat.
Often in a restoration project, the rub rails, which protect the boat pontoons from abrasion, look as tired and worn out as the boat material.
Tuff-Coat boat paint is NOT to be applied to these rub rail areas. The material is usually made from a high impact rubber or plastic composite and unlike Hypalon or PVC, the Tuff paint will not bond to rub rail material.
In extreme cases, if the rub rail is severely damaged, you may be looking at a costly repair – by a certified repair shop. But usually a very simple cleaning trick is all that is necessary to ‘restore’ life to the rub rails.

Simply apply a small amount of Xylene to a rag, and with a little elbow grease, you can rub the rub rail back to a lustre, that actually looks very decent. Make sure you do not use too much Xylene and that you do not abrade the rub rail material with too much aggressive rub/friction action. You will find a little will do just fine.

My Rub Rail Half Cleaned

Tuff-Coat Project creates a ‘HOT’ market.

tuffcoat — Tue, 18 May 2010 14:34:48 +0000

“It looked good enough to steal … so they did!”

Ken's Tuff-Coat Boat

Fortunately for inflatable boat owner Ken H. of White Rock, BC, he had already sold his beautifully restored dinghy to the eventual unfortunate victim, a fellow member of his local yacht club.

“The dinghy appeared terrific … like brand new” which apparently made it a target to boating crooks casing the yacht club’s dock, Ken explained.

In fact, the restored second-hand inflatable looked so good that Ken sold it for a better price than he first thought possible. “I advertised the dinghy several hundred dollars higher than I originally planned and got it. I was obviously quite pleased at the final price I got.”

So what made this used Zodiac Yachtline 310 so desirable to both thieves and buyers alike? Two fresh coats of Tuff-Coat Inflatable Boat Repair in a Can.

The process started mid-2005 when Ken decided to “spruce up” his aging dinghy. He was already the Zodiac inflatable’s second owner, having bought the used PVC boat several years earlier. The 10-foot inflatable was starting to show wear and tear from extensive Pacific Ocean usage. It was time for a full boat makeover.

“But I didn’t fully realize when I started this restoration project that PVC is potentially trickier than Hypalon when it comes to repairs,” noted the avid boater.

Originally trying to match his Zodiac’s bright white exterior, Ken choose matching white paint as part of the Tuff-Coat two-stage restoration process. Following the clear instructions for application of the Tuff-Coat synthetic rubber coatings, everything went well until the new topcoat started blistering. “Quite frankly it was a bit of a mess,” he recalled.

So Ken immediately called Tuff-Coat inventor Mike Fry, who also happens to live in White Rock. Mike was keen to see the situation first-hand and remedy the problem.

It turned out an earlier generation of white top-coat has been susceptible to some blistering on PVC so Mike immediately gave him a free replacement repair kit, suggesting Ken switch to the popular and original grey top-coat.

The second attempt went well. Because there was no underlying damage to the boat, Ken choose to go with two top-coats instead of the normal two-stage process using separate bottom and top coats. After masking off the areas he wanted protected, Ken brushed on the first coat, and then rolled on the grey finish coat for a smooth like-new appearance.

“It turned out just the way I intended!” he exclaimed. “Not only did my dinghy look great, but it was restored to last and stand up well to the elements.”

So although the restoration project had a few hiccups, Ken noted that the Tuff-Coat owner stood behind his product 100 per cent. “As the inventor, Michael clearly wants his product to be the best on the market and is willing to back it with actions not just words.”

Better still, this story has two happy endings. The new owner also recovered his restored Zodiac inflatable – putting it back in the water where it belongs.

So while Tuff-Coat can’t promise the recovery of every stolen inflatable it’s restored, it will deliver on the promise of perfection when you restore your dinghy using Inflatable Boat Repair in a Can.

I love to ‘see’ Tuff-Coat restoration project boats

tuffcoat — Tue, 11 May 2010 07:09:14 +0000

The most remarkable part of a restoration project is seeing the ‘before’ and ‘after’ shots. The results are often so remarkable that the in-between photos of the boat restoration are needed to prove that the finished boat is in fact the original.

One of my favorite restoration projects was taken on by the TUFF team when they actually hauled a PVC Zodiac out of a dumpster – the finished result was amazing. See the entire restoration project here.

The day after boat was pulled from dumpster. Washed and Inflated.

The fully restored Zodiac Boat. Hard to believe it came from a Dumpster!

PVC or Hypalon?

tuffcoat — Mon, 10 May 2010 06:10:27 +0000

We are often asked how to tell the difference between Hypalon and PVC?

For the novice it is not obvious at first. But with a few tips you can become quite good at making the disctinction.

Here is my best attempt to answer this.

Hypalon

- Seams on hypalon boats are glued. They appear much flatter in profile than PVC boats. The seams are simply overlapped and glued. Check around the seams and you will most likely see traces of excess glue that has seeped out. Hypalon boat manufacturers use a ‘contact cement’ type of glue in their seams. PVCs are not glued.

PVC

- Seams on PVC boats are heat welded. They are ‘thicker’ in profile than Hypalon boats. Often the seams are covered with a strip of material which makes it difficult to see the heat welded seam. But look around to other areas of the boat and you will most likely identify the heat welded seams.

This is a PVC Seam

- UV Damage appears brownish and often sticky to the touch

Testing

Find a small area on the boat that is hidden from view and apply a small amount of Acetone or Xylene on a rag and rub the test area.

If area becomes sticky, if the top color rubs or runs, then the material is most likely PVC.

Manufacturer

If your chandlery or marina cannot identify the material, search the web for the boat manufacturers site. They will often carry technical specs that identify the material used to manufacture your boat.

Boat Restoration – where do I get started?

tuffcoat — Sun, 09 May 2010 05:59:15 +0000

You are anxious to restore your inflatable boat with Tuff-Coat but the most important step in achieving excellent results is CLEANING!

Like any other ‘painting’ project, preparing and cleaning the surface to be painted is absolutely vital. If you decide to breeze quickly through this first step your results may not be achieved.

You must remove all dirt, oils, grease, waxes and grime. A power washer (careful not to blast new holes!) or warm soapy water is a good start. UV stickiness, grease, oils and waxes can be removed with a cloth dampened with Xylene (please wear gloves and mask in a well ventilated area). Finally a light sanding of the material surface will help smooth out any bumps and unevenness – for PVC boats this will rough up the surface to help create a ‘mechanical’ bond for the Tuff-Coat Basecoat.

So what is the first vital step? Put your Tuff-Coat Cans on the shelf and get busy cleaning your boat. You will not regret it!

BH
Tuff-Coat

Inflatable Boat: Repair or Restore?

tuffcoat — Sat, 08 May 2010 21:10:41 +0000

A common question I get asked. Repairing a leaking inflatable boat involves patching – using a patch kit and glue. Restoring is refinishing the inflatable fabric (usually hypalon or PVC). The confusion often arises because the restoring the fabric also solves the air leaks cuased by the tiny pinholes in the fabric. We see this damage in tubes that have suffered wear and tear OR by extreme UV damage.

Best to think about REPAIRing when you have a major leak from a single source (hole, tear, seam-rip, valve stem, old patch, etc). Best to think about RESTORing when you have fabric wear/tear, UV damage, etc.

Final note. Repair major leaks first before you begin Restoring your inflatable boat.

As always, the only proven inflatable boat restoration system is available from Tuff-Coat.com.

‘Tuff’ advice back online after 12 months!

tuffcoat — Sat, 08 May 2010 06:21:42 +0000

The ‘Tuff’ advice blog which helped hundreds of boaters with tips and techniques to help restore their inflatable yachts, is now back online. The old advice blog which was served up as a user forum on the parent www.tuff-coat.com site has been offline for over 12 months. Now with our new look web site and new Tuff user advice blog on wordpress, we are thrilled to be back helping our boating community with their hypalon and pvc restoration questions.