Rust...and it's my fault!

[Sea Dreaming]

A few days ago we hung a wind catcher in the cetera hatch over the salon table. The previous owner had left it behind but it appeared to be in good condition.

What follows is a cautionary tale for those new to ocean life

I was sewing a project but it was getting late and decided to go to bed. With no fear of rain we left the hatches open and that wind catcher in place.

In the morning I discovered that a heavy dew had settled over the boat and the wind catcher had funneled it inside, right on top of my sewing machine!

A little moisture on its own is no big deal. But the wind catcher is apparently saturated with salt and left thousands of salt grains all over my machine and in the inner workings!

Yes, though I tried drying off the machine parts and oiling everything there has still been some rust forming

For you former land lubbers - assume nothing is "safe". Assume everything on an ocean going boat is salty!

If anyone has an idea of how to protect the areas that got wet from further rust formation I would love to hear them!

[a64pilot]

Soap and water wash, really.
Wet rag if that is all will work, rinse well, dry and oil with a good preservative, I like Corrosion-X but there are many, likely sewing machine oil is one.
You have to get rid of the salt, salt absorbs moisture from the air and until you get it off, your going to have corrosion.
I am an idiot when it comes to sewing, but know machines in general. I'd bet beside the electric motor there isn't much that giving a good bath would hurt

[captain465]

you can always treat the areas with a small amount of commercial rust inhibitor. OSPHO is one brand.

[JPA Cate]

Spot on with the advice, SD!

We had a little problem with a heavy dew, one time, the new, water based non-skid paint had just been applied, after we had painstakingly repainted the cabin sides and top, and the deck. That night the place where we were had the heaviest dew, and so, it dripped off the top of the boom bag, and melted the new paint. It looked really bad, and to this day, you can see some places where the non-skid doesn't look quite right.

Sorry about your sewing machine. A64pilot is right, it is the salt that is the real enemy, and you gotta get rid of that, and it's hard and fiddly to do. Then oil the heck out of it. make sure to get all the rust out, and if you know someone with a compressor, air dry it carefully in all the little close-together places.

Oh, yeah, take the windscoop and give it a good soak in some laundry detergent and water, and rinse the bejeepers out of it, and don't leave it up when you're somewhere with regular afternoon rains.

If you're interested, I can tell you how to make a hatch dodger that will keep the rain out and let the air in. Send me a pm.

Ann

[bsurvey]

lana coat

[ArmyDaveNY]

Often Distilled water works well to get salt grains out of electronics without damaging them. Also, Nigel Calder had a good discussion about what a single grain of salt did to one of his electronic devices.

Finally, PLID FloatCoat is reported to work wonders for corrosion protection, at least on the internal parts.
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...um+-+Emails%29

https://ship-2-shore.com/products/fl...plid-wet-film/

[Celestialsailor]

PLEASE DO NOT USE OSPHO on that machine it is Ospholic acid and will blacken the metal. For my Machine shop I use LPS 3. It's a rust inhibitor. Use it very sparingly. If your machine is the Sailrite unit, it is a Chinese machine and the surfaces tend not to be a smooth and polished as their American, German and Italian counterparts, so they lend themselves to surface rust easily.

[RaymondR]

Yep, the salts the killer. Get a good sized container and dunk the entire machine in and out letting it drain between dunkings. Drain it well by turning it every which way whilst giving it a good shake then put it into a large cardboard carton with a lit 40W light bulb until it dries out. If you want a corrosion inhibitor some engine coolants include it. Then spray the hell out of the internals with one of the lanolin based spray lubricants.

[Celestialsailor]

Just curious if you have actually tried this yourself.

[RaymondR]

Yep, diesel engines, drowned outboards, electronic gadgets provided they are not switched on when they get dunked.


What you are trying to do is displace the salt water or dissolve any dried salt then completely dry out the wetness and prevent corrosion with some sort of protective coating.


The light bulb thing provides dispersed gentle heating but I have placed small items in an oven set very low or dried them out with a carefully applied hot air gun.