What Doesn't Leak ?

[zeehag]

barnie--that kind of idea is perfect to make as a mod for my leaky teaky. thankyou for the idea.....

[ssanzone]

barnie, i agree with zee... brilliant.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by ssanzone

being a man who believes in doing things right the 1st time, i am inclined to pull all the stanchions, fill and fair the deck, prime, paint and reinstall.

being a man who wants to actually get back in the water... i am inclined to find an easier / quicker solution.

so... is there a corner to cut here that i wont regret later?

thoughts?

-steve

If no backing plates that'll be the reason for the leaks.

Given your desire to "get back in the water" I would go for a bodge In this case plenty of sealant under the stanchion base / in the bolt holes.....the idea is that will later be fairly easy to undo - when (if ?!) you decide to do the job "properly". I would nonetheless add backing plates even at this stage - probably need new (longer) bolts though.

Of course don't have to fix every stanchion at once. Might also be an idea to do 1 or 2 "properly", just so you know what you are looking at for the future.........my main concern (if cored decks) would be how much water ingress had occurred, could easily turn a fairly straightforward job into something a bit bigger..........

[captain58sailin]

zeehag doesn't like 5200 for stanchion bedding, I do, I have never had a leak after using it on stanchions, and cleats, you can always use a propane torch to loosen it up for removal. Yes it is messy, but it doesn't fail at least so far. I am sure there are differently formulated compounds for bedding that might serve your purpose as well. You should have backing plates too.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Hi,

Took me a while as it is midnight here and it took some twitching to take anything like a decent picture with our anything but decent camera. Then our netbook froze when I tried to upload.

Anyways, I hope the picture explains.

The posts are rod, they extend some 2'' from their GRP supports, the stanchions slide onto the posts, it is all external to the hull/deck. It is mighty strong and when two stanchions got bent flat in a knock-down, there was not even a crack in the structure. It is all built externally to the hull so any damage will never result in a leak.

There are no backing plates.

There are no screws.

Nothing goes thru the deck.

What you see in the pic is the bottom portion of the stanchion - stanchions are made of 25mm pipe. They slide onto the posts as described above.

Simple, strong, watertight, maintenance free. That's the way they built boats in Sweden once.

b.

When we built the Schumacher 77' Cascadia we used a similar arrangement for the stanchion bases. We used carbon fiber rod of the necessary diameter for the stanchions. The rod extended above deck for about 3", so it provides much more support for the stanchion than just about any other method. Rod also extended a similar distance below decks, and was glassed in place with about a dozen plies of 12 oz. WR carbon pre-preg. When I did a test piece for the chemical engineers and project manager with these parameters, I gave them a baby sledge to try to break off a piece of stanchion base rod. They couldn't do it. Probably couldn't do it with a full sized sledge either. It's a real PITA to glass all those rods in place though, even with pre-preg. I wish all manufacturers would adopt this one, it's a no-brainer. It looks like the setup in the pic could be potted in place with chockfast or similar, since it has a nice little pocket in the rail for it to fit into. Would be much easier this way. Well thought out...

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by minaret

When we built the Schumacher 77' Cascadia we used a similar arrangement for the stanchion bases. We used carbon fiber rod of the necessary diameter for the stanchions. The rod extended above deck for about 3", so it provides much more support for the stanchion than just about any other method. Rod also extended a similar distance below decks, and was glassed in place with about a dozen plies of 12 oz. WR carbon pre-preg. When I did a test piece for the chemical engineers and project manager with these parameters, I gave them a baby sledge to try to break off a piece of stanchion base rod. They couldn't do it. Probably couldn't do it with a full sized sledge either. It's a real PITA to glass all those rods in place though, even with pre-preg. I wish all manufacturers would adopt this one, it's a no-brainer. It looks like the setup in the pic could be potted in place with chockfast or similar, since it has a nice little pocket in the rail for it to fit into. Would be much easier this way. Well thought out...

One way or the other it's work that should have been done at the factory!

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

One way or the other it's work that should have been done at the factory!

Should have been. Otherwise can be done by a desperate owner.

Last summer I learned something new about modifying boats:

Owner: Let's change it!
Me: Like how?
Owner: I pay you for working, not for providing consultancy to you...

Well, things can be done, boats can be improved. A good plan and a heavy hammer go a long way.

b.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

One way or the other it's work that should have been done at the factory!

? We ARE the factory. We built this boat from scratch. Somebody has to do the actual work at some point, even in the factory. And in this case, it wasn't easy.

[carlspackler]

Having a background in chemistry, I try to look at the compound being used rather than the product brand. So far it is my understanding that 4200/5200 type polyurethane sealants are highly adhesive, and polysulfide sealants allow for future disassembly. References.

I have read that Silicone based sealants have zero useful adhesion and they release acetic acid upon curing (the smell is a giveaway), so I'd be wary of using that near anything electrical.

Personally my takeaway is:
1.) careful surface preparation (clean, dry and scuff everything).
2.) be sure you are anchoring to solid base material, removing all crud
3.) choose the right sealant
4.) be comfortable as possible so you can take your time
5.) apply sealants/adhesives at the recommended temperature
6.) wear nitrile gloves and mask everything that you want to protect

[captain58sailin]

And remember that it is a lot easier to clean up the bedding compound/adhesive while it is still goo, after it cures it is PITA to clean up.

[David M]

I used rubber gasket material with the holes for the bolts drilled slightly smaller than the bolts diameter. After over ten years, so far so good.