Painting Stainless Yamaha Props

[jimintheair3]

I have the standard Yamaha Stainless painted props. I just Glass beaded them and they are clean and no rust. Has anyone done this and then painted. What did you use and what did you find works. I'm in Saltwater all the time. Thanks Jim

 

[Protek9543]

I would have it powder coated.

 

[gradyfish22]

Why paint it?.... That will cut down on it's efficiency in most cases unless the prop shows signs of age. I'd leave them alone honestly, do not see a viable reason to paint them. The only reason they would need paint is to prevent growth, but growth wipes of SS very easy and is hard to stick to in the first place, plus why would anyone leave an outboard down when stored in the water. I'd leave them how they are, if your worried about rust, add some polish, might cut down on efficiency a small bit in some cases, but in such a small amount you may not even notice it.

 

[Grog]

I don't see any advantage to painting or coating SS. The lesser quality SS will get some surface rust but that will not effect it's integrety.

 

[engineersx2]

Hate to admit it, but with only 10 hrs on our 232 with twin 150's, I was heading to a crabing spot I had been to a few times before in the Lafeyette River in Norfolk Va. Before I knew it, I was in 3 feet of water and the props were digging into the mud. I cut off the motors fast and got out of there with only scratches on the lower skeg of the outboards and yes, my yamaha props lost about 20% of their black paint.

I can not believe I forgot to set an minimum dept alarm on the GPS/Depth finder!!!! urrrr

I was surprised that the next week, I could already see small patches of rust on the bare parts of the props where the pait was missing from the prop. Needless, to say, each time I put the boat in the rack to be cleaned at the dry storage facility, I am reminded of my carelessness of running into such shallow water.

Perhaps I am making too much of this minor mishap, and should take it as a good memory with the family. Just wish it did not happen so early in the life of our boat.

I was waiting to see if there was a response to this post that could just point me to the right paint dealership to get some black paint to cover bare spots on the prop, but if it is not that easy... I can certaily live with the scratchs and smile at the memories of catching a few crabs with the family.

(althought yesterday, I had one of my long time best friends out on the boat for the first time, and yes.. you can guess it, at the end of the day when the boat was pulled out of the water, he asked... what happened to your props?)

 

[gradyfish22]

If they were painted, they are aluminum, aluminum props are painted to keep them from rusting, they are NOT SS then. The advantage to aluminum is that if you hit something the prop itself experiences the damage, SS will harm the shaft if a severe impact happens, but aluminum does not get the efficiency of a SS prop due to flex and a rougher surface that forms bubbles on the surface. If you boat in shallow waters, stick with the aluminum, otherwise switch to SS to save some money if you boat enough and the savings will pay for themselves. Aluminum can be cleaned up and then powder coated, that is the only way to do it, a prop shop could likely get you paint along with Yamaha, but if the boat is kept out of the water it really will not matter, maybe coat the props with a metal polish every once in a while where the metal shows to protect them and keep them from rusting. If it were me, I'd run the props as is and then have them reconditioned at the end of the season or during a down time. If the edges have small nicks you will see a drop in efficiency, I think aluminum props can be refurbish by a prop shop for under $100, I think I got a quote for $75 each for my SS props in case I ever need it done.

 

[gw204]

Yamaha DID paint their SS props black at some point. I'm not sure what their reasoning was but I have heard some people say that it was done to deter theft. Most thieves will pass right by a black prop thinking that it's AL...

 

[plymouthgrady]

paint prop

Yes, the SWS II SS props were painted black. I agree don't paint them.
BTW, by the time your shallow depth alarm sounded, it probably would have been too late, the 'ducer is on the transom.
IF YOU'VE NEVER HIT A SANDBAR...YOU HAVEN'T BEEN BOATING LONG ENOUGH. Good to get it out of the way!

 

[BobP]

There are diference series of stainless props, the black steel Yamaha props were much less expsensive than the SW Series and used on mayny boats like Parkers, and painted black for the reason I recall. They may look awfull if not painted or otherwise polished regularly to stay clear of staining, should you have access like for trailered boats. My OEM OMC stainless props were the same, rust staining (no-damaging) lousy looks.

Prime and finish - see Interlux website.
Like you would for trim tabs, instead no antifouling is required. I used black Krlyon spray, cheap and would last a season. But a good primer.

 

[Grog]

Since you have twins you most likely have SS (I never saw a counter-rotation Al prop). Don't worry about the brown stains.

 

[enfish]

The prop on our Yamaha was painted stainless at one point in time, but the paint was removed more than 10 years ago (prior to our purchase of the boat). Other than it is not as shiny as a polished stainless prop and has a few minor discoloration spots, there's nothing wrong with it.

 

[ocnslr]

Here is the link to Yamaha prop descriptions:
http://www.yamaha-motor.com/outboard/powermatched/Prop_pdfs/Propeller_Desc.pdf

They still have the "Painted SS", formerly called the "Black SS". These are 13.75" diameter and are frequently found on F150s. The greater mass of the SWS series usually caused clunking in the F150 gear train when shifting. The "Reliance" props were introduced to provide a polished SS prop for the F150s, while keeping a lower diameter and weight than the SWS props.

We put 550 hours on our F150s with the Black SS in 17" pitch. Shifted to a pair of Powertech OFS3-16", and had the old ones polished by Bay Prop. They look great and are in the dockbox as spares.

Brian

 

[CJBROWN]

There are diference series of stainless props, the black steel Yamaha props were much less expsensive than the SW Series and used on mayny boats like Parkers, and painted black for the reason I recall. They may look awfull if not painted or otherwise polished regularly to stay clear of staining, should you have access like for trailered boats. My OEM OMC stainless props were the same, rust staining (no-damaging) lousy looks.

Prime and finish - see Interlux website.
Like you would for trim tabs, instead no antifouling is required. I used black Krlyon spray, cheap and would last a season. But a good primer.

This is the only correct answer in the bunch.
The Black SS are a low grade stainless and will rust if left unprotected.
Either refinish them with a high-quality marine paint like Interlux, or just a quick shot with Krylon. The latter probably won't last very long.

If it was me I would have them powder-coated. Will last a long time and look great.

 

[BobP]

I don't know about "low grade".
If the "black steel" is 304 series like my OMCs were. they will get some staining but 304 is harder than 316 and hence may be cut thinner (and lighter) than the more expensive 316(?) SW Series.

I recall getting some handrailing cheap made of 304 a long time ago, and after a week, if you ran your hand along the rail, you would get a brown stain. Didn't really notice it much when looking at it though.

 

[BobP]

And I don't recall ever seeing a SW Series prop painted black, only the "black steel' ones many boat companies install on their yamaha equipped boats.

The SW Series I and II were polished and unpainted, as I recall.

 

[RICHNLE]

I beadblasted my painted SS prop last year and painted it with a clear lacquer. The prop looked very nice but the paint did not last. On the very first use, the paint was removed on the tips of the blades, and it wore off everywhere but the hub as the season went on. The good news is that the prop looks very good, and there are only a couple of small rust spots which you have to look for to notice. The boat was used about 3 days in salt water and used the rest of the year in a lake. I would guess the rusting would be much worse in constant salt water use.

 

[ocnslr]

And I don't recall ever seeing a SW Series prop painted black, only the "black steel' ones many boat companies install on their yamaha equipped boats.

The SW Series I and II were polished and unpainted, as I recall.

100% correct.

 

[CJBROWN]

I don't know about "low grade".
If the "black steel" is 304 series like my OMCs were. they will get some staining but 304 is harder than 316 and hence may be cut thinner (and lighter) than the more expensive 316(?) SW Series.

I recall getting some handrailing cheap made of 304 a long time ago, and after a week, if you ran your hand along the rail, you would get a brown stain. Didn't really notice it much when looking at it though.

I only meant 'low-grade' as in resistance to rusting. I'm sure the steel is plenty hard.

Rusty props would drive me nuts :shock:

And I do think they're thinner, Yamaha does NOT recommend the SWSII prop for the F150's. I don't know if that's for mass or cupping. The black SS is the same cut as the aluminum, but thinner, at least that's my understanding. They do look the same.

As mentioned before, I had a lot of chattering with a stainless prop on my F150. However it was not a black SS version. It was not a high-polish, and it did not rust from saltwater trips, well, maybe just a tad.

 

[engineersx2]

While I did not post the original question, I found the responses very informative. I can say that when I was working the deal to purchase the 232 from Norfolk Marine, I asked why with all the upgrades that came standard with the boat that they used alluminum props. My assumption was that since the props were painted black that they were alluminum. Before now, every other boat that I owned that had SS props were SS.

The salesman responed by saying that the props were actually SS; and even better than that, coated with teflon paint. That sounded good to me and so far, every other item the salesman stated about the GW has been right on track.

In fact, I have had a few minor problems and Norfolk Marines efforts to fix the problem has been OUTSTANDING. I would be very dissapionted to find out that they mislead me about the quality of the props.

 

[dengle]

I have owned two sets. They are indeed stainless and they did come painted black. Reasoning varies from theft to lower grade stainless, but regardless, they are stainless steel.