Sinking
 

On Fri, 25 Jul 2008 23:09:28 -0500, Brian Whatcott
wrote:

On Sat, 26 Jul 2008 09:54:30 +0700, Bruce in Bangkok
wrote:

... all my thru-hulls are essentially two washers
and sealant and the radio ground plate is essentially a large plate
with four bolts through it, with sealant. Given that the boat was
built in 1971 and hasn't lost a thru-hull or the ground plate yet just
how hazardous is it, really.

In addition, it is common practice for steel hull tugs and fishing
boats to plug holes with a wooden plug. You don't really think a
working boat runs for the ship yard just because it has a small leak
do you?

Bruce-in-Bangkok

Hmmmm... there are people who try to minimize the number of
thru-hulls for just this reason. And plugging a leak pro temp with a
wood wedge is not what anybody in their right mind would call
'perfectly sound' practice for permant repairs, Bruce.

Brian W

There may be "people who try to minimize" but they damn sure aren't in
the boat manufacturing business. Every "made to sell" yacht I see in
the yard has more holes in it then a honeycomb.

Seriously Brian, do you really believe that a tugboat, fishing boat or
other working boat stops work and hurries off to the yard when they
discover a small leak? If you do then you are miss led as they don't.
They keep on earning money until they can't work any more.

Nobody, except you, talked about permanent repairs. Not the OP nor I.
He specifically asked about an emergency, or short term repair and
with that in mind I answered him.

Bruce-in-Bangkok
(correct Address is bpaige125atgmaildotcom)

Sinking
 

Hi Steve,
Your advice is noted, and I am considering it... the thing is, the
boat was surveyed with ultrasound (at about 50 points) about 6 weeks
ago, and passed with flying colours - nowhere less than 5mm of steel.
Maybe he ain't the best surveyor in the world. Anyway, as a result I
am super-paranoid about it leaking again, and as I am still doing it
up and not living/sleeping on it, I'm going to risk it for now. It
also makes me aware that its going to be worth fitting some kind of
early warning system - possibly sectioning up the bottom (sealing
every few ribs) so that if it does leak again, I'll have a pretty good
idea where, and it should get deep enough to trigger a sensor there
without taking on too much water. And fit multiple bilge pumps.

Does that seem reasonable?

Jim

Steve Lusardi wrote:
Jim,
This could be a very serious problem. You need the entire hull surveyed with
ultrasound to determine plate thickness. You may very wll find this is the
tip of a large iceberg so to speak and the entire boat maybe unsafe. Please
take this seriously and pull it out of the water immediately.
Steve

wrote in message
...
Hi all,
No rush for answers on this one, but I'm sinking... I found a bit
of water in the bilges and put it down to something benign, but on
inspection, found a blister on the paint inside the hull, which when I
burst revealed a ~2mm square hole in the hull on the bottom of the
boat. I've plugged it with gaffer tape, rubber mats and bits of wood
for now, but has anyone got any neat ways of fixing this without
taking it out of the water (boat is a 20 tonne wrought iron/mild steel
dutch barge, and a proper repair job would be ~�700)?
I'm thinking a bolt with a big rubber washer on both sides and
liberal use of silicon sealant. I'm hoping the rot is very localised.

cheers

Jim
UK

Sinking
 

Bruce in Bangkok wrote:
On Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:33:01 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

Hi all,
I have fixed this one for a while - I used the 2 big washers
approach, and its completely watertight. - I'm not sure what to do
long term - comment about getting it surveyed asap is what I would
normally do, but it was surveyed 6 weeks ago, and passed with flying
colours (min 5.5mm of steel). Makes you wonder why I paid for the
survey. I'm going to remain watchful - even if another hole like this
opens up I have a day or 2 to spot it and fix it, and given I work on
the boat most days, I don't think it'll sink too fast.
It also makes me think I need to seal up some ribs (so that the
water will fill up one section of the boat good and deep, so be easier
to detect/pump should it happen again), and put in some detection
system. does anyone else have anything like this?

cheers

Jim

When you think about it the two washers and bolt idea is perfectly
sound. I have a "ground plate" bolted to the side of my fiberglass
boat using exactly the same technique.

When they did your "survey" did they take thickness readings of the
hull? On a steel boat they should have done and furnished you with a
drawing of the boat with the places where testing was done noted.

Bruce-in-Bangkok
(correct Address is bpaige125atgmaildotcom)
----------------

you could certainly start epoxy coating or epoxy/fiberglass cloth
coating the hull, either from the semi dry bilge or even outside
(in the water) the hull with common 'apply underwater' epoxies. -
although cathodic (electrical charge) issues - known or unknown -
are a possibility and will prevent underwater bonding.

In the chemical industry - pitted pipelines etc. are common
wrapped in epoxy and fiberglass cloth wraps - to reinforce the
piping and restore pipe thickness...

paul
progressive epoxy

Sinking
 

On Jul 21, 4:23*pm, "
wrote:
Hi all,
* *No rush for answers on this one, but I'm sinking... I found a bit
of water in the bilges and put it down to something benign, but on
inspection, found a blister on the paint inside the hull, which when I
burst revealed a ~2mm square hole in the hull on the bottom of the
boat. I've plugged it with gaffer tape, rubber mats and bits of wood
for now, but has anyone got any neat ways of fixing this without
taking it out of the water (boat is a 20 tonne wrought iron/mild steel
dutch barge, and a proper repair job would be ~£700)?
* I'm thinking a bolt with a big rubber washer on both sides and
liberal use of silicon sealant. I'm hoping the rot is very localised.

cheers

Jim
UK

Hi Jim,

Blistering paint in the bilge pump is often caused by stray current
which causes electrolysis corrosion. If you have these signs then
chances are your boat is being effected and unless something is done
about stopping or deterring the stray current the corrosion to the
hull won't stop.

I have found a product that can stop this altogether and can protect
the boat. Go to http://www.seabis.net and you can find out the cause
and effect and all about the product- Angeleika1

Sinking
 

On Jul 20, 11:23 pm, "
wrote:
Hi all,
No rush for answers on this one, but I'm sinking... I found a bit
of water in the bilges and put it down to something benign, but on
inspection, found a blister on the paint inside the hull, which when I
burst revealed a ~2mm square hole in the hull on the bottom of the
boat. I've plugged it with gaffer tape, rubber mats and bits of wood
for now, but has anyone got any neat ways of fixing this without
taking it out of the water (boat is a 20 tonne wrought iron/mild steel
dutch barge, and a proper repair job would be ~£700)?
I'm thinking a bolt with a big rubber washer on both sides and
liberal use of silicon sealant. I'm hoping the rot is very localised.

cheers

Jim
UK

is the hole on a seam might be old porosity. its about 1/16 of an
inch in a 3/16ths thick hull from the sounds of the survey you got
some good steel. so get a buzz box and weld the darn thing shut. get
good penetration head over the side and look at it if its a good weld
paint it go back on grind the weld flush on the inside and prime and
paint. I assume from reading you are restoring the boat so it would
make me think of needle gunning the bilge and getting some good primer
and paint down. then i would not have to worry about how much rot i
have, i would know. checking out your zincs would be a good idea and
making sure they are welded to the hull in full contact with the
steel.
examining them would tell you if you have an electrolysis problem.

Sinking
 

Since it is just a very small hole (less than 1/8 of an inch) in mild steel
hull you can just drill it out with an appropriate size drill bit and tap it
to be able to screw in the correct size threaded bolt/screw to use as a
plug. You have to make sure though before starting that you have all the
necessary tools (drill bit, correct tap with wrench and correct size
plugging screw) on hand since you have to accomplish the repair process
quickly to avoid getting in too much water. After you install the plugging
screw it's pretty much almost like a permanent repair and you can even weld
it in place if you want.

wrote in message
...
Hi all,
No rush for answers on this one, but I'm sinking... I found a bit
of water in the bilges and put it down to something benign, but on
inspection, found a blister on the paint inside the hull, which when I
burst revealed a ~2mm square hole in the hull on the bottom of the
boat. I've plugged it with gaffer tape, rubber mats and bits of wood
for now, but has anyone got any neat ways of fixing this without
taking it out of the water (boat is a 20 tonne wrought iron/mild steel
dutch barge, and a proper repair job would be ~£700)?
I'm thinking a bolt with a big rubber washer on both sides and
liberal use of silicon sealant. I'm hoping the rot is very localised.

cheers

Jim
UK

Sinking
 

There are plugs available in plumbing supply shops for patching pressure
tanks. The consist of a bolt and steel/rubber washer. The bolt has an
"arrow head" on it that you drive through the hole, give a 90 degree turn
and then tighten down. I had one on my pressure tank to fix a small hole
for 15 years until the tank rusted through in another spot.

Andrew B

--
Andrew Butchart

"P D Fritz" wrote in message
...


Since it is just a very small hole (less than 1/8 of an inch) in mild
steel
hull you can just drill it out with an appropriate size drill bit and tap
it
to be able to screw in the correct size threaded bolt/screw to use as a
plug. You have to make sure though before starting that you have all the
necessary tools (drill bit, correct tap with wrench and correct size
plugging screw) on hand since you have to accomplish the repair process
quickly to avoid getting in too much water. After you install the plugging
screw it's pretty much almost like a permanent repair and you can even
weld
it in place if you want.

wrote in message
...
Hi all,
No rush for answers on this one, but I'm sinking... I found a bit
of water in the bilges and put it down to something benign, but on
inspection, found a blister on the paint inside the hull, which when I
burst revealed a ~2mm square hole in the hull on the bottom of the
boat. I've plugged it with gaffer tape, rubber mats and bits of wood
for now, but has anyone got any neat ways of fixing this without
taking it out of the water (boat is a 20 tonne wrought iron/mild steel
dutch barge, and a proper repair job would be ~£700)?
I'm thinking a bolt with a big rubber washer on both sides and
liberal use of silicon sealant. I'm hoping the rot is very localised.

cheers

Jim
UK

Sinking
 

Sure, that's another good way. There are also pop rivets ("cherrymax"
rivets) that are watertight just like the ones they use on aircraft hulls.
With the right drill bit size, correct size rivet and a rivet installation
tool the work could be accomplished real fast, even faster than my first
suggested process. :-)

"Andrew Butchart" wrote in message
...
| There are plugs available in plumbing supply shops for patching pressure
| tanks. The consist of a bolt and steel/rubber washer. The bolt has an
| "arrow head" on it that you drive through the hole, give a 90 degree turn
| and then tighten down. I had one on my pressure tank to fix a small hole
| for 15 years until the tank rusted through in another spot.
|
| Andrew B
|
| --
| Andrew Butchart
|
| "P D Fritz" wrote in message
| ...
|
|
| Since it is just a very small hole (less than 1/8 of an inch) in mild
| steel
| hull you can just drill it out with an appropriate size drill bit and
tap
| it
| to be able to screw in the correct size threaded bolt/screw to use as a
| plug. You have to make sure though before starting that you have all the
| necessary tools (drill bit, correct tap with wrench and correct size
| plugging screw) on hand since you have to accomplish the repair process
| quickly to avoid getting in too much water. After you install the
plugging
| screw it's pretty much almost like a permanent repair and you can even
| weld
| it in place if you want.
|
| wrote in message
|
...
| Hi all,
| No rush for answers on this one, but I'm sinking... I found a bit
| of water in the bilges and put it down to something benign, but on
| inspection, found a blister on the paint inside the hull, which when I
| burst revealed a ~2mm square hole in the hull on the bottom of the
| boat. I've plugged it with gaffer tape, rubber mats and bits of wood
| for now, but has anyone got any neat ways of fixing this without
| taking it out of the water (boat is a 20 tonne wrought iron/mild steel
| dutch barge, and a proper repair job would be ~£700)?
| I'm thinking a bolt with a big rubber washer on both sides and
| liberal use of silicon sealant. I'm hoping the rot is very localised.
|
| cheers
|
| Jim
| UK
|
|
|
|