Posted by seychellois_lib (seychellois_lib@…>)
I had some fairly severe leakage through the bolt holes for the
handrails on the port cabintop. After pulling the headliner to
investigate (the headliner would up being replaced as a side note)I
found that the bolt holes had not been protected and the core was wet.
I did not note any obvious delamination but I didn’t intend to leave
wet core behind after fixing the original leak.
I wound up drilling small 1/4 inch holes in the interior laminate
layer in increasing distances from the leak until I reached dry core.
After establishing the extent of the wet core I used a 1" hole cutter
bit to drill access holes in the interior laminate. I used the “bent
nail as a drill bit” approach to clean the wet core out then used a
hair dryer to make double dog sure the void was completely dry. I then
mixed a batch of west epoxy to fill the void. I sealed open holes with
duck tape and injected the thickened but not stiff epoxy at the high
point of the job. This worked very well, I finally taped up the last
interior hole and finished the job by filling the remaining void
through the exterior handrail bolt hole. I then pulled 1 inch “plugs”
from underneath every other bolthole and filled with epoxy to ensure
no future problems. After epoxy cure the duck tape comes off and you
have a nice looking repair.
Although this would be tedious and undesireable for more than a
relatively small job, it does ensure that water is never going to get
in there again.
I imagine I repaired about 2 square feet of cabin top in this way.
If I had the luxury of time I’d go through the entire boat in protect
every bolt hole with a 1" epoxy pad. It suprises me that TP did not do
this when the boats were built, as you all know, they are otherwise
very well constructed.
Posted by macks011 (macks04@…>)
This core method requires time and access to the underside of the
cabin top, but is a repair for the life of the boat. From the
underside, using a 2" hole saw, and the bolt hole for a guide, cut
through the bottom skin. Clean out the balsa core. Obtain 2"
Garolite (epoxy and fiberglass dialectric material) rod from
McMasters Carr and slice into discs the thickness of the balsa core
Plus the bottom skin. Using a thickened mix of West System Epoxy
plus 404 micro filler, epoxy the discs into place and clamp with a
length of 3/4" pvc pipe. When set, glass over the underside. Redrill
the hole from the top and reset the hardware. When resetting the
hardware, Countersink a slight bevel around the bolt hole. When you
apply the caulk you will create an o-ring effect around the bolt
when tightened.
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “seychellois_lib”
<seychellois_lib@y…> wrote:
I had some fairly severe leakage through the bolt holes for the
handrails on the port cabintop. After pulling the headliner to
investigate (the headliner would up being replaced as a side note)I
found that the bolt holes had not been protected and the core was
wet.
I did not note any obvious delamination but I didn’t intend to
leave
wet core behind after fixing the original leak.
I wound up drilling small 1/4 inch holes in the interior laminate
layer in increasing distances from the leak until I reached dry
core.
After establishing the extent of the wet core I used a 1" hole
cutter
bit to drill access holes in the interior laminate. I used
the “bent
nail as a drill bit” approach to clean the wet core out then used a
hair dryer to make double dog sure the void was completely dry. I
then
mixed a batch of west epoxy to fill the void. I sealed open holes
with
duck tape and injected the thickened but not stiff epoxy at the
high
point of the job. This worked very well, I finally taped up the
last
interior hole and finished the job by filling the remaining void
through the exterior handrail bolt hole. I then pulled 1
inch “plugs”
from underneath every other bolthole and filled with epoxy to
ensure
no future problems. After epoxy cure the duck tape comes off and
you
have a nice looking repair.
Although this would be tedious and undesireable for more than a
relatively small job, it does ensure that water is never going to
get
in there again.
I imagine I repaired about 2 square feet of cabin top in this way.
If I had the luxury of time I’d go through the entire boat in
protect
every bolt hole with a 1" epoxy pad. It suprises me that TP did
not do
this when the boats were built, as you all know, they are otherwise
very well constructed.
Posted by Frank Minelli (myslo@…>)
seychellois_lib <seychellois_lib@…> wrote:
I had some fairly severe leakage through the bolt holes for thehandrails on the port cabintop. After pulling the headliner toinvestigate (the headliner would up being replaced as a side note)Ifound that the bolt holes had not been protected and the core was wet.I did not note any obvious delamination but I didn’t intend to leavewet core behind after fixing the original leak.I wound up drilling small 1/4 inch holes in the interior laminatelayer in increasing distances from the leak until I reached dry core.After establishing the extent of the wet core I used a 1" hole cutterbit to drill access holes in the interior laminate. I used the “bentnail as a drill bit” approach to clean the wet core out then used ahair dryer to make double dog sure the void was completely dry. I thenmixed a batch of west epoxy to fill the void. I sealed
open holes withduck tape and injected the thickened but not stiff epoxy at the highpoint of the job. This worked very well, I finally taped up the lastinterior hole and finished the job by filling the remaining voidthrough the exterior handrail bolt hole. I then pulled 1 inch “plugs"from underneath every other bolthole and filled with epoxy to ensureno future problems. After epoxy cure the duck tape comes off and youhave a nice looking repair.Although this would be tedious and undesireable for more than arelatively small job, it does ensure that water is never going to getin there again. I imagine I repaired about 2 square feet of cabin top in this way. If I had the luxury of time I’d go through the entire boat in protectevery bolt hole with a 1” epoxy pad. It suprises me that TP did not dothis when the boats were built, as you all know, they are otherwisevery well constructed.They are well constructed, yes. But water ingress in TP boats is well known to cause more damage than is to be expected. For example, all of the headliner backing (plywood) and much of the hardwood trim went to hell cause TPI did not find it necessary to seal the wood on the back surfaces, so the stuff rotted from the inside out. This goes right along with installing hardware through cored decking without protecting the core with an expoxy pad.
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