powder coated tower vs. aluminum

Thinking about a boat that has a powder coated tower. Not my first choice, but wondered what others ahve experienced. Do they chip, scratch easy? What heat, get hot to the touch? Also - are powder coated towers steel or aluminum?

Matthew - My tower is powdercoated, and it does have some very minor scratches. This is after a ton of use. It looks great, and having a color I think compliments the look of the boat. The dark blue on my tower really isn't hot, even in the desert sun.

I have a black powder coated tower. Does not get hot. Mine has a few scratches from my Boss mirror arm that mounts on the tower. I agree with Flack some colored towers make the boat look a lot better. Powder coating is supposed to be a very durable coating. I 99% sure my tower is aluminum.

Anodized aluminum has the benefit of scratches not showing up very well but is normally more expensive becuase of the extra finishing. Powder Coat is really hard and durable and can take a good bit of abuse. You can always touch up a powder coated tower if you do get a scratch.

(Message edited by MonsterTower on June 16, 2004)

I have black powder coat. The top is starting to get a little (stress little) faded. Not enough for me to care, but I would go aluminum if I bought a new one. My boat is a 2002.

See my profile pic. Tower is powdercoated to match the boat. It looks great except it is fading now so the tower is starting to look pinkish compared to the boat.

I am seriously contemplating stripping the powdercoating and polishing the tower this winter. I loved the way it looked when new but it's disappointing that the powdercoating has faded so quickly.

Bear in mind that my boat is stored outside year round right now. Plan to have it in covered storage by the end of the year though.

Use 303

Greg'

I bet you can "wet sand" the oxidized paint off, likely only on the top of the tower, then do a little buffing & waxing and make it look great again. Dont go down to the aluminum but powder coat is thick enough to wet sand a little.

On any powder coated tower, and polished or brushed towers as well - a good coat of wax a few times a year keeps it looking really nice.

i had 2 poor experiences with powder coated towers as well as the powder coating on the chassis of my race car. powder coating is harder than paint but is not by any means indistructable. My last tower was powder coated twice and both times it flaked in pretty much the same spots. it wil scratch and if the prep work is not 100% perfect, it will flake. my new tower is polished aluminum. much better

Mine has flaked in several spots.

Monster Tower, I have considered that. The powder coating is on pretty thick because in the spots where it has flaked there seems to be 2 layers.