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Gel Coat question


2THEL8K

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Curious if gel coat texhnology has changed in the past 15+ years, or if it's largely still the same stuff?  Are boats any easier to maintain today in terms of water spots?  I get that boats that look great long term start with good routine maintenance, just curious if gel coat is any more "durable" today than it was in 2000.

I need to do some more homework on boat care, I'm sure it's been discussed at length somewhere here, but ultimately looking to find the best exterior protection out of the gate.  I was talking to a mobile detailer today about a ceramic coating for the truck and started thinking about the boat too. 

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7 minutes ago, Sixball said:

No. But then the things we use to keep our boats maintained get better. But still it's work. 

It seems like pretty much everything made with chemicals is getting better through science.  Paint seems like it is way better than it was 10 to 20 years ago.  It would surprise me if gel and gell processes were not improving at least incrementally, but I have also not investigated this.  

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2 hours ago, jjackkrash said:

It seems like pretty much everything made with chemicals is getting better through science.  Paint seems like it is way better than it was 10 to 20 years ago.  It would surprise me if gel and gell processes were not improving at least incrementally, but I have also not investigated this.  

You may be on the money but I know water spots have not changed. Blistering has not improved still get stress cracks, a hit and miss. I would not expect any earth shaking improvements

I don't think its a brand issue just think its gel and glass.  Still one of the best boat material. Well as long as we can not get carbon fiber price down. Work being done on that but not done yet.

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I stopped short of asking what I thought would be a stupid question wondering if any manufacturers were adding a clear coat of some sort over the gel.  I was curious about this because this type of surface is what ceramic coatings need to really adhere well.

  I was told a ceramic coatings could be used on a boat, it just doesn't last as long because of the gel surface, which makes sense.  The detail guy I spoke to thought some boats were starting to do this (clear finish) and I had no idea, though suspected most likely not as getting anything to adhere well to gel is probably a challenge.

Ceramic Pro markets to marine applications.  Looks like a great product, but apparently it would need to be reapplied constantly given the gel surface, and its expensive.  

Edited by 2THEL8K
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Actually gel has changed quite a bit over the past 15 years.

 

Thanks to the EPA one of the main parts that made it a lot more flexible in the past has been almost eliminated to lower emissions from boat factory's, styrene.

 

This is one of the reasons you hear people mentioning that their XXXX model never had a gel crack on it while newer models do have them pop up from time to time.

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13 hours ago, NWBU said:

Yeah, the first coat sprayed in the mold is clear coat, and then the colors are sprayed next.

Curious if it's always been done this way?

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