Keeping paint on aluminum. by steve d'antonio, dec 29, 2014. early in my career i worked for a dealership that sold production boats, every one of which was equipped with painted aluminum arches.. Conscientious aluminum boat and hardware builders and installers often insert non-metallic shims or insulators between hardware and painted aluminum structures in an attempt to mitigate damage to the paint as well as stemming corrosion resulting from interaction between dissimilar metals (i’ll cover this subject in an upcoming column).. Personally - i doubt - and don't believe your blistering problem is caused by electrolyisis. if your boat is near 4 or more years old, (the older the worse it gets) it is most likely caused by poor quality materials (paint, resin) and poor quality control..
I have an alloy boat that has been painted topsides. it is 11 years old, and in some places, i have noticed that the paint is bubbling, generally over a large area, but without any apparent cracking.. In these situations blasting or grinding the aluminum to remove the oxidization, creating clean, bright, shiny aluminum with an appropriate profile will provide excellent performance.. If you're refering to paint blisters then this is the result of poor paint prep or a scratch which wasn't touched up. if you're talking about the small corrosion pitting on bare aluminum, this is usually the sulphur in diesel fuel coming from the exhaust..
