What is “Mussel Buster Propeller Protection^®”?

Mussel Buster Prop Coating is an environmentally friendly and very effective way to keep your boat’s propellers in “Ready to Run” condition. This “keeps you in your boat instead of under it,” which should be the goal of every boat owner. Make sure any light growth is removed with a Scotchbrite® pad or wet/dry sand paper once a month. Some customers’ report that based on their usage, when they check the props, there is nothing to clean. The amount of cleaning is totally dependant on individual situations. There are to many variables to correlate into useable data. The only statement we can make is that the faster you cruise the more self cleaning and slower you cruise the more cleaning may be necessary once a month. Along that line, some boats that are cruising 30+ knots experience cavitation erosion through the coating to the base metal. Cavitation erosion is not a failure; see “Cavitation Erosion.” The areas of bare metal are due to cavitation issues. Our experience shows that barnacles and tube coral do not foul these areas because of the severe erosion occurring there. Cavitation has many differing causes and combinations of causes, but Mussel Buster does not catastrophically fail because of eroded areas, it has a superior bond to the propeller. Mussel Buster Propeller Coatings routinely experiences 2 years of protection, equaling the more effective bottom paints. Because of Mussel Buster’s unique technology, it is not sold to the general public, as an over the counter running gear coating. The application of Mussel Buster Propeller Coating requires some unique equipment only coating professionals have access to. Therefore, what we offer is the applied coating. We recommend a computerized scan such as: Propscan® (http://www.props.com.au/ ) or MRI (http://www.halepropeller.com ), at a certified facility. To find out more about computerized scanning visit one of these websites. Having your props scanned will optimize the shape of the propeller for your specific situation usually Class 1 or Class S. Once we apply the Mussel Buster Propeller Coating, you truly will have an optimized propeller. Most of our users report: lower engine loads, more prop/engine RPM, higher cruising speeds, light to no maintenance, cathodic protection and better fuel economy. As we expand our network, check the home page for the states where we have a certified applicator. If there is no certified applicator in your area, call us, we may be able to assist you. Computerized scanning and strict quality standards are what make Mussel Buster® coated propellers unmatched in performance and durability. Once a propeller is coated with Mussel Buster, eight years of testing has shown that it increases a propeller’s performance and reduces the maintenance compared to an uncoated one.

Since 2005, Mussel Buster has undergone EPA testing for the appearance of marine and freshwater Acute Toxicity and/or Chronic Toxicity. Mussel Buster Propeller Coating was not shown to be toxic to aquatic environments during these tests. Also, during the application of the Mussel Buster Prop Coating coating, there are no Volatile Organic Compounds (V.O.C.) emitted to the environment, unlike virtually all prior technology, which contain several pounds of V.O.C.s that evaporate as solvents into our air, and contribute to the greenhouse gas effect.

Mussel Buster Prop Coatings can be applied to propellers, rudders, trim tabs, suction screens, scoops and metallic bow thruster props to list a few, made from all types of materials except fiberglass and plastics. Mussel Buster Propeller Coating has proven to reduce the load on your engines because the finish is so smooth it reduces the frictional resistance of propellers through the water. This trait has been proven many times, over eight years of testing. In December 2005, Power & Motoryacht Magazine confirmed it by writing an article chronicling a summer long test on a 41’ Luhrs convertible. During this head to head comparison of two propellers, one polished and one polished then coated with Mussel Buster Prop Coats, they experienced five to seven percent less engine load on the engine with the Mussel Buster coated propeller. This was indicated by their Cummins electronic load readouts (see the article in “News Releases” on this site).

On top of the load reductions that you experience, Mussel Buster® also is resistant to marine organism fouling; so when you get into your boat after a couple of weeks or a month of sitting and you roll over the throttles, most everything that has settled on the props washes off. Some boat owners have reported their boat sat for 2, even as high as 3 months and washed the wheels clean after a short run down the inter coastal waterway. I cannot say that every boat owner will experience this, because gear reduction weighs heavily in this equation. Testing has shown that less reduction cleans better than lots of reduction, in other words faster spinning wheels clean better than slow turning wheels. I can say though that the vast majority should be able to leave their boat for 2 to 4 weeks with excellent “Get in the boat and go” results. Over this testing period, some boat owners have treated Mussel Buster® like a “set it and forget it” coating and have left it untouched and not run for 6 to 9 months or more without using the boat or cleaning the propellers, believe me its not a pretty picture. Mussel Buster® is extremely durable and effective, but it does have limitations (see Care & Maintenance and Cavitation erosion on this site). The following lists some of the major attributes of the Mussel Buster® coating:

1) “Saves you money, because the wheels are always clean”-Tom Uer, 65’ Hatteras, “Jade,” Palm Beach, Florida

2) Reduces frictional resistance of the propeller through the water by approximately five to seven percent”-Power & Motoryacht Magazine, December, 2005 “PMY Tries Mussel Buster”

3) Reduces fuel consumption

4) Environmentally friendly and EPA aquatic toxicity compliant

5) Significantly reduces cleaning time

6) Reduces engine loads, increases shaft RPM

7) Eliminates electrolysis erosion from props and rudders

8) Reduces general boat electrolysis by encapsulating major metal surfaces exposed to seawater

9) Makes cleaning bow thrusters A snap

“The Warranty”

Mussel Buster® is warranted against catastrophic failure, a complete delamination or non-bonding of the coating from at least one face of one blade on a propeller to bare metal, not to be confused with “Cavitation Erosion.” If this happens warranty work will be performed at the facility that applied the original coating to the respective propeller/s. The delamination of the coating would be attributed to contamination either on the surface or subsurface. The Mussel Buster® coating process is designed to clean significant contamination, from years of boat owner’s having used everything from STP® to motor oil and grease to Vasoline® and much more to try to prevent fouling. These preventatives only serve to make the propeller more contaminated. If warranty coating is applied, and the propeller experiences the similar delamination, the warranty would be void due to subsurface contamination that the normal Mussel Buster® pre-treatments are not cleaning from the metal. This creates a situation that is outside the coating applicator’s ability to control it. Keep in mind this has not happened in eight years of testing.

Cavitation erosion is not a warranty item, due to the extreme range of propeller dynamics that cause the cavitations and subsequent erosion. Also, the erosion has not shown a detrimental side effect to the coating’s overall ability to resist fouling.

Mussel Buster® Care & Maintenance

The best way to keep a propeller coated with Mussel Buster Propeller Coating in “Get in the boat and go condition” is monthly routine maintenance and running mixed. This keeps the surface polished and keeps the active ingredients on the surface, where they can do their job.

If you are unable to run the boat at least once a month, someone needs to go under the boat and use a Scotchbrite® pad, nylon dish scrubber or brush to remove the algae/slime film from the propeller/s. This accomplishes two things. First, it also removes any loosely adhered barnacles, tube corals, mussels and the algae layer between the organisms and the propeller, which is how barnacles, tube corals or mussels get started in the first place. Second, it manually abrades/scuffs the surface slightly, so that fresh components in the coating are brought to the surface, in order to continue protecting your propeller/s.

When you haul out, depending on how much coating is still present, clean the wheel by hand or pressure washer to remove any loosely adhered organisms. Once the wheel/s have been cleaned, take 220 grit emery cloth or sand paper and scuff sand all surfaces coated with Mussel Buster®. This will freshen the surface and make it possible to get extra seasons from the coating. If the wheel/s have cavitation burn through, this doesn’t mean they need to be recoated. Numerous times we have scuff sanded cavitation burned props to eventually see two years/two seasons of use. If the coating appears to be in good shape, other than the cavitation burn through areas (see “Cavitaion Erosion” on this site), treat it the same as stated above. Based on feedback from our test boats, it is reasonable to expect one to two years of life from Mussel Buster Propeller Protection®. In some cases, the test boats went over two years of service. The service life of the Mussel Buster® coating cannot be predicted for every case, due to the wide variety of variables involved, but far more boat owners report two-year life cycles vs. one-year.

Light damage to the outside edges can be repaired locally without the need for stripping and recoating. We have accomplished this repair many times over eight years with outstanding results. The outside area of each blade is very highly self-cleaning and normally does not require coating to stay clean.

If removal of the Mussel Buster Propeller coating is needed, the coating can be removed by applying and aggressive paint stripper that you can purchase at your local hardware store or building supply store. Stripper such as “Dad’s Easy Spray Paint, Varnish and Stain remover” has been used successfully to remove Mussel Buster®. The key to removal is patience. Because Mussel Buster Prop Coating is so hard, it takes about 12 to 24 hours for the stripper fully attack the coating. Also, keep the stripper wet, do not let the stripper dry out. Grinding or sanding the coating off is not recommended due to air born dusts. If the coating must be ground or sanded off, due to time constraints, wear a nuisance dust respirator/mask.

“CAVITATION EROSION”

The term cavitation implies cavities or holes in the water that flow over the propellers. These holes can also be described as bubbles, so cavitation is really about the formation of bubbles and their collapse. Bubbles form whenever liquid boils, and boiling points have a direct relationship to pressure. Depending on which side of the propeller we are talking about, the pressure can be higher or lower. Cavitation bubbles can form on either the low-pressure side (suction side) or the high-pressure side (discharge side). These bubbles can form on the suction side as low as 180° Fahrenheit to as high as 300° Fahrenheit on the discharge side. These bubbles can have varying degrees of effects, such as: reduction in thrust, noise that can be heard when the propellers are spinning a high rpm and damaged that can be seen on the propellers after even short amounts of run time. The reason Mussel Buster Propeller Protection® experiences this cavitation burn through is the formation of these cavitation bubbles and temperatures approaching, and possibly exceeding, 300° Fahrenheit. Mussel Buster Propeller Coating is fused at 450° Fahrenheit, and this means that at elevated temperature the coating material looses some of its hardness. The loss of hardness allows the cavitation bubbles to have varying destructive effects on the coating. So, propellers with temperatures down to 180° Fahrenheit would have much less erosion, probably none, compared to a propeller that sees 300° Fahrenheit or more. The relativity of all this is that a boat like a 31’ Rampage, with a 25 knot cruising speed, will never experience 300° Fahrenheit, but a boat like a 65’ Viking, with a 30+ knot cruising speed, definitely does experience these elevated temperatures. The only way to make heavy boat go fast is to throw horsepower at it. One side effect of horsepower is heat, plain and simple. So we are talking about 400-horsepower vs. 2000-horsepower with similar gear reductions. This range of performance has been well documented over eight years of testing. The good news for boat owners is that even though some boats experience the cavitation erosion, this only occurs where the cavitation is most severe. In the areas of cavitation burn through, if the cavitation is so severe that it erodes the Mussel Buster Propeller Coating, no fouling has been seen. Meaning, cavitation is severe enough to keep that area clean. If it can take off Mussel Buster®, no barnacle, tube coral or mussel is going to survive there either. Also, it has been well documented that even though a boat might experience cavitation erosion, the reduction in engine load is still maintained at approximately five to seven percent (see Power & Motoryacht Magazine, December, 2005 article in “News Releases” on this site).

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