Microballoon paint additives?

[Canibul]

Since we stripped out the old soft yellowed foam rubber and vinyl wall coverings, we've been stripping and painting the inside fiberglass of some of the interior of this boat.

Removing the old coverings also removed some of the thermal insulation and I am looking at ways of replacing that without putting up sheets of some other kind of material. We're in the tropics and can feel the warmth of the sun through the fiberglass.

I've been looking at these types of products
Insulating Paint Additive Makes Paint Insulate basically ceramic microballoons that can be mixed into paint. Two coats would be somewhat of both a thermal and acoustic deadening layer. We're using acrylic enamel inside the boat and could mix this right in.

I've got past experience with microballoons from back when I was making custom syntactic foam flotation for deep sea instrumentation.

They also have flat aluminum radiant barrier paint, which I am thinking of using on the tops of our cabins, if not the walking deck surfaces.

Anyone here have any actual experience with using the microballoons like this?

[thinwater]

I've used this product in a refinery environment on oil tanks and piping.

1. The surface will be rough.
2. It did not wear well.
3. It will stain terribly and would need to be over coated many times.
4. The insulation effect is probably only worthwhile on a high temperature, highly conductive material such as metal, as a radiant heat block. It is very minimal and would not be measurable on a FRP deck. About like a 1/16" of foam, it would make a surface feel cooler to the touch, but only slow convective losses a tiny amount.

Personally, I wouldn't use it on a boat in 100 years. The stuff was a mess in a refinery and not very effective. It was only used once. We still do lots of insulation projects, but we use conventional products.

But you can try it. Perhaps they have refomulated. However, the fact that there is no R-value rating should suggest that they are pulling your leg.

[Roy M]

I used a simple Reflectix insulating foam sheet, 1/4" thick, as the first layer of insulation under the plywood deck overhead. First I applied one-inch squares of double back tape at convenient spots, then simply pressed the Reflectix in place between the stringers. I did this on a very hot day, so the moment I lifted the Reflectix over my head and pressed it onto the underside of the deck, the temperature dropped 10-15 degrees. Then, for added benefit, I used the tape on the underside of the Reflectix, then applied a one-half inch layer of the pink Foamular rigid insulation. These are covered with a 1/8" thick, epoxy-coated mahogany plywood/Formica headliner, held in with screws and finish washers. It is a great insulator combination, easy to wipe clean of galley grease or any other material.

[Canibul]

Originally Posted by thinwater

I've used this product in a refinery environment on oil tanks and piping.

1. The surface will be rough.
2. It did not wear well.
3. It will stain terribly and would need to be over coated many times.
4. The insulation effect is probably only worthwhile on a high temperature, highly conductive material such as metal, as a radiant heat block. It is very minimal and would not be measurable on a FRP deck. About like a 1/16" of foam, it would make a surface feel cooler to the touch, but only slow convective losses a tiny amount.

Personally, I wouldn't use it on a boat in 100 years. The stuff was a mess in a refinery and not very effective. It was only used once. We still do lots of insulation projects, but we use conventional products.

But you can try it. Perhaps they have refomulated. However, the fact that there is no R-value rating should suggest that they are pulling your leg.

Thanks for the feedback. Did you look at the site? NASA uses the stuff. The explanation about no R value seem valid. R-value is based upon a 1" thick sample layer. Nobody puts an inch of paint on to measure R value. They're saying two coats of this stuff is about a 35% reduction in transmitted heat. I was actually thinking of mixing it with bed liner to paint the topside horizontal surfaces, and mixing it with the acrylic enamel we are painting some of the interior with.

Were your experiences with some commercial product, or did you buy the microballoons and mix them into a paint of your choice?