Removing water scale from aluminum potoons.

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If you don't care so much how pretty they are, Hydrochloric Acid aka Muriatic Acid in a pump sprayer. (the sprayer is usually good one time) You can wear rubber gloves and a respirator with purple cartridges if you want, maybe a Tyvek suit too. It will dull the aluminum overall but it will get it clean, all organics dissolved! IDC about shine, I want less drag and more speed, crud really slows down a pontoon. The pontoons wont be shiny in time anyway, get it over with and get them clean. IMO
 
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I'm with Marina Bum with regard to the protective equipment.

HCl is a strong acid with an undiluted pH (depending on what purity you buy) around 0-1. Aluma-Bright contains hydrofluoric acid and has a pH also of around 1. Vinegar has a a pH around 2-3 and hot sauce should have a pH somewhat higher - depending on the canning process.

Aluminum does react with acids - but not quickly. The Aluma Bright supposedly contains chemicals that reduce the reactivity of the acid with aluminum.

Don't breathe any of this stuff......not even the hot sauce.
 
go to the hardware store and go to pool supply section , buy muriatic acid for pools(it's hyrdochloric acid ) and go home , mix 1/2 gal of acid to 1 gallon water and add 1/2 cup dawn dish soap , stir up well , apply with soft bristle brush in small sections , let sit about a minute brush again , hose off. don't do more than 2-3 foot section at a time so you can control it easier.
 
Star bride aluminum cleaner. Spray on and easy wipe off. Just like Aluma Briight, but cheaper. Amazon

I’ve used it on boats that have been in the ocean with barnacles, etc. Pressure washed at 3500psi with no results, and easy clean with growth falling right off. You have to soak pretty heavy with thick growth.
 
Marina Bum said:
If you don't care so much how pretty they are, Hydrochloric Acid aka Muriatic Acid in a pump sprayer. (the sprayer is usually good one time) You can wear rubber gloves and a respirator with purple cartridges if you want, maybe a Tyvek suit too. It will dull the aluminum overall but it will get it clean, all organics dissolved! IDC about shine, I want less drag and more speed, crud really slows down a pontoon. The pontoons wont be shiny in time anyway, get it over with and get them clean. IMO
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@Marina Bum.I like the way you think. Functionality and performance over appearance, like a rat rod.
She's a 1980 Boatel and shiny pontoons don't fit with the rat rod look.😉20240430_132034.jpg
 
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Are those aluminum pontoons on a 1980 Boatel? I’m curious what it cost to do the steel-to-aluminum conversion?

We blasted and ‘skinned’ our 1980 Kayot steel pontoons in 2015. Coated with fresh 3M Coal Tar Epoxy. She sits on a trailer year round…in the water maybe 40-50 days a year.

As you surely know, a steel boat always rusts from the inside, even if it’s sitting high and dry on land. We’ve had to do some patches the last couple of years. So far we’ve been keeping up with it for relatively little cost.

But at some point aluminum conversion may be the longer term solution. And yes, we KNOW it’ll cost FAR MORE than the boat’s total worth. But to us, Yachtzee has been and always will be our low-cost, fun-as-hell mobile campsite so common sense goes out the window.

Curious to hear your take…
 
Rivergoer said:
Are those aluminum pontoons on a 1980 Boatel? I’m curious what it cost to do the steel-to-aluminum conversion?

We blasted and ‘skinned’ our 1980 Kayot steel pontoons in 2015. Coated with fresh 3M Coal Tar Epoxy. She sits on a trailer year round…in the water maybe 40-50 days a year.

As you surely know, a steel boat always rusts from the inside, even if it’s sitting high and dry on land. We’ve had to do some patches the last couple of years. So far we’ve been keeping up with it for relatively little cost.

But at some point aluminum conversion may be the longer term solution. And yes, we KNOW it’ll cost FAR MORE than the boat’s total worth. But to us, Yachtzee has been and always will be our low-cost, fun-as-hell mobile campsite so common sense goes out the window.

Curious to hear your take…
Click to expand...
1000004539.jpgA Yachtzee passing last May!!!! 😄
 
After years of trying to find a method for cleaning the hull of my 19' alum., fishing boat, I have found one that really works! I found it on a you-tube video. Go to the dollar store and purchase the toilet bowl cleaner they sell, (its about a dollar ). I dumped it into a small pump sprayer . Wet an area spray on the cleaner and agitate with a 3m sponge, rinse off. I was amazed at how well it owrks, better that anything else I tried?
 
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