Transducer antifouling paint

[4fun1]

I am about to install Raymarine RV220 transducers and the instructions say to coat with a water-based antifouling paint.

I have been looking at MDR transducer paint. Has anybody had any experience with it?

Any suggestions for other paints.

 

[Comodave]

I have been using it for 2 years without any problems but I am in freshwater.

 

[rslifkin]

I use it on mine as well. Realistically, any water based bottom paint is fine. The copper in the paint isn't the issue, the concern is the solvents in some paints possibly damaging the transducer surface.

 

[psneeld]

The MDR paint in a small bottle is very thin (it seems, maybe I never shook it enough).

So many coats are needed in my book.

It never seemed to work as well as my other bottom paints. If able to, ask around and see if you could get a few ounces of some water based paint from someone doing a bottom/has an open can.

 

[bottomscraper]

I found the MDR transducer paint to be completely useless. I switched to Pettit Inflatable Boat Bottom Paint #1841, same as I use on my dingy.

 

[jleonard]

I always used regular bottom paint, whatever flavor I was using that spring. I would put it on very thin.

 

[DDW]

I use Pettit Hydrocoat on mine (water based copper bearing anti-fouling) as I did the rest of the bottom. I use MDR on the sailboat, very small transducers. That little MDR bottle with the fingernail polish brush may not do an RV220, and will surely take awhile. It is very thin paint, you need a couple of coats or more. The transducer manufactures admonish against anything with Xylene or Toluene in them as a solvent, which includes many bottom paints - it will attack the potting of the transducer.

 

[Comodave]

I have 2 huge Realvision 3D transducers and used the MDR paint. One coat worked fine. I wasn’t sure how much I would need so I bought 4 bottles but only used about 1.5 the fisrt years so I used the rest this year. Still have about 1/2 bottle for next year. The small brush takes a while to cover them…

 

[4fun1]

Thanks all for the replies. I think I will try the Petit Hydrocoat.

 

[4fun1]

I have 2 huge Realvision 3D transducers and used the MDR paint. One coat worked fine. I wasn’t sure how much I would need so I bought 4 bottles but only used about 1.5 the fisrt years so I used the rest this year. Still have about 1/2 bottle for next year. The small brush takes a while to cover them…

How do you like the realvision? I hope I won't be disappointed.

 

[Garysuds]

I am about to install Raymarine RV220 transducers and the instructions say to coat with a water-based antifouling paint.

I have been looking at MDR transducer paint. Has anybody had any experience with it?

Any suggestions for other paints.

Prop Speed have a coating for Transducers
https://propspeed.com/products/foulfree/product-information

 

[koliver]

I have never differentiated paint for my transducers, of which there are a few that protrude. The ones in use are all inside the hull. The ones that protrude get power washed every year, down to plastic, as the paint falls away there faster than from the adjacent blocks. So far, after more than 30 years for the most recent of those TDs, none appear to have degraded in the slightest degree. I did use water based AntiFouling (Petit Horizon) for a few years, but it didn't keep the hard growth off as well as Interlux CSC, and before water based, all were not.

 

[DDW]

How do you like the realvision? I hope I won't be disappointed.

I found it to be useful, if requiring interpretation sometimes. One of the issues I have with mine is it often thinks the boat is going sideways, at up to about a 45 deg crab angle. This could be because I had to mount the transducers port and starboard near the engine, batteries, and inverter. They have 9 axis MEMS sensors in them, to make sense of any of the returned data they have to maintain an artificial horizon (this accounts for heading, roll, and pitch). Perhaps all the magnetic disturbances around mine affect it.

I'm not unhappy I spent the money, use it routinely to map out the area I am about to anchor in, uncovering some surprises more than a few times.