Plugging through hulls
 

Can anyone point me to some good on-line info on plugging old through
hull holes in a fiberglass hull?

Any other advice appreciated. The yard wants 6% of what I paid for
the boat just to plug one and put a new backing block in another. I
hate working with glass but it looks like I'll be doing this myself.

--

Roger Long

Plugging through hulls
 

Roger Long wrote:
Can anyone point me to some good on-line info on plugging old through
hull holes in a fiberglass hull?

Any other advice appreciated. The yard wants 6% of what I paid for
the boat just to plug one and put a new backing block in another. I
hate working with glass but it looks like I'll be doing this myself.


http://www.boatus.com/boattech/casey/17.htm

Working on fiberglass is a PITA, especially the grinding
part. But if you do good prep work and put up a dust
barrier, it's not so bad. I f'g'ed over two uneeded thru
hull holes in our boat, this spring I am going to do two more.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...73346002sUSTvu

The round gray spot is not the patch, it's the greenish area
below the gray spot. The gray spot was where some kind of
non-functional electric doo-dad had glued in place against
the hull.

One of the nice things about fiberglass is that it's not
difficult to make it even stronger (and lighter, if that's
an issue) than original when making repairs.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Plugging through hulls
 

DSK wrote:

Roger Long wrote:

Can anyone point me to some good on-line info on plugging old through
hull holes in a fiberglass hull?

Any other advice appreciated. The yard wants 6% of what I paid for
the boat just to plug one and put a new backing block in another. I
hate working with glass but it looks like I'll be doing this myself.


http://www.boatus.com/boattech/casey/17.htm

Working on fiberglass is a PITA, especially the grinding part. But if
you do good prep work and put up a dust barrier, it's not so bad. I
f'g'ed over two uneeded thru hull holes in our boat, this spring I am
going to do two more.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...73346002sUSTvu

The round gray spot is not the patch, it's the greenish area below the
gray spot. The gray spot was where some kind of non-functional electric
doo-dad had glued in place against the hull.

One of the nice things about fiberglass is that it's not difficult to
make it even stronger (and lighter, if that's an issue) than original
when making repairs.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King


I plugged such a hole in about 3 or 4 hours. Grind out a taper
around the hole, put in some wax paper and temporary backing, splat
on a big gob of glass, wax paper and a smooth light piece of plywood
held in place with sticks jammed in the ground and wait an hour.
Sand if needed, and bottom coat.

It's easy, and the price mentioned is for stupid boat suckers.

They ask that much 'cause they sometimes get it.

Terry K

Plugging through hulls
 

Grind a recess in the hull around the hole to be plugged on both the inside
and outside of the hull. Using epoxy (not polyester) resin, place a layer of
glass cloth around the outside or inside. Fill the hole itself with
resin-saturated glass fibers. Place another layer of glass cloth on top of
the patch. If needed, apply more layers of glass. Finish the outside with a
slurry of epoxy and glass spheres or other filler of your choice. Sand it
smooth, barrier cote, and paint. Oh, do this when the outside temperature is
above 50 degrees.

BS
"Roger Long" wrote in message
...
Can anyone point me to some good on-line info on plugging old through hull
holes in a fiberglass hull?

Any other advice appreciated. The yard wants 6% of what I paid for the
boat just to plug one and put a new backing block in another. I hate
working with glass but it looks like I'll be doing this myself.

--

Roger Long

Plugging through hulls
 

I agree with Robert Swarts, this is easy when done with epoxy. His
admonition about doing it above 50 deg is also true.

Plugging through hulls
 

I like this approach too. One variation on the theme has to do with filling
that void before glassing it over.
I had to replace an old knot meter. The new meter demanded a hole that was a
tiny bit larger which meant drilling out the thru hull by an additional and
tiny 1/8 ".
I removed the knot meter, drove a wooden bung into the hole from the outside
and marked the bung with felt tip at the surface of the hull. I then removed
the bung, shortened the bung by cutting it on the line and then marked
center with an "X" so it showed when I drove it back in the hole. Then I set
the proper hole drill in my drill, found center and started boring through.
In a few minutes I had cut into the bung and then into fiberglass and had a
perfect thru hull hole increased evenly by 1/8".
For this job, one could drill out the appropriate sized fiberglass plug in a
piece of hull (any repair yard scrap will do) and fill the unwanted hole
with that new plug. Glass it over and never know you had a thru hull.

"Robert or Karen Swarts" wrote in message
...
Grind a recess in the hull around the hole to be plugged on both the
inside and outside of the hull. Using epoxy (not polyester) resin, place a
layer of glass cloth around the outside or inside. Fill the hole itself
with resin-saturated glass fibers. Place another layer of glass cloth on
top of the patch. If needed, apply more layers of glass. Finish the
outside with a slurry of epoxy and glass spheres or other filler of your
choice. Sand it smooth, barrier cote, and paint. Oh, do this when the
outside temperature is above 50 degrees.

BS
"Roger Long" wrote in message
...
Can anyone point me to some good on-line info on plugging old through
hull holes in a fiberglass hull?

Any other advice appreciated. The yard wants 6% of what I paid for the
boat just to plug one and put a new backing block in another. I hate
working with glass but it looks like I'll be doing this myself.

--

Roger Long

Plugging through hulls
 

Danny wrote:

I like this approach too. One variation on the theme has to do with filling
that void before glassing it over.
I had to replace an old knot meter. The new meter demanded a hole that was a
tiny bit larger which meant drilling out the thru hull by an additional and
tiny 1/8 ".
I removed the knot meter, drove a wooden bung into the hole from the outside
and marked the bung with felt tip at the surface of the hull. I then removed
the bung, shortened the bung by cutting it on the line and then marked
center with an "X" so it showed when I drove it back in the hole. Then I set
the proper hole drill in my drill, found center and started boring through.
In a few minutes I had cut into the bung and then into fiberglass and had a
perfect thru hull hole increased evenly by 1/8".
For this job, one could drill out the appropriate sized fiberglass plug in a
piece of hull (any repair yard scrap will do) and fill the unwanted hole
with that new plug. Glass it over and never know you had a thru hull.


I disagree. The hole should be tapered, feathered five to one, and
a conical plug built up on the outside. A single wad of glass can be
assembled, impregnated with catalysed resin, and stuffed in the
hole. Waxed paper will leave a smooth finish. A layer or two of
glass on the inside is a good idea. Sand the area with coarse grit
and clean with acetone before glassing.

A fitted plug, such as it appears you suggest, will not have the
bond spread over a sufficintly wide area to be trustworthy, in my mind.

Epoxy would be stronger, but polyester is strong enough. Finishing
the bottom will be less hassle if you use polyester.

It's how I did mine. Worked good.

Mox Nix to me.

Terry K


"Robert or Karen Swarts" wrote in message
...

Grind a recess in the hull around the hole to be plugged on both the
inside and outside of the hull. Using epoxy (not polyester) resin, place a
layer of glass cloth around the outside or inside. Fill the hole itself
with resin-saturated glass fibers. Place another layer of glass cloth on
top of the patch. If needed, apply more layers of glass. Finish the
outside with a slurry of epoxy and glass spheres or other filler of your
choice. Sand it smooth, barrier cote, and paint. Oh, do this when the
outside temperature is above 50 degrees.

BS
"Roger Long" wrote in message
. ..

Can anyone point me to some good on-line info on plugging old through
hull holes in a fiberglass hull?

Any other advice appreciated. The yard wants 6% of what I paid for the
boat just to plug one and put a new backing block in another. I hate
working with glass but it looks like I'll be doing this myself.

--

Roger Long

Plugging through hulls
 

Makes sense.

"Mox Nix "?

"Terry Spragg" wrote in message
...
Danny wrote:

I like this approach too. One variation on the theme has to do with
filling that void before glassing it over.
I had to replace an old knot meter. The new meter demanded a hole that
was a tiny bit larger which meant drilling out the thru hull by an
additional and tiny 1/8 ".
I removed the knot meter, drove a wooden bung into the hole from the
outside and marked the bung with felt tip at the surface of the hull. I
then removed the bung, shortened the bung by cutting it on the line and
then marked center with an "X" so it showed when I drove it back in the
hole. Then I set the proper hole drill in my drill, found center and
started boring through. In a few minutes I had cut into the bung and then
into fiberglass and had a perfect thru hull hole increased evenly by
1/8".
For this job, one could drill out the appropriate sized fiberglass plug
in a piece of hull (any repair yard scrap will do) and fill the unwanted
hole with that new plug. Glass it over and never know you had a thru
hull.


I disagree. The hole should be tapered, feathered five to one, and a
conical plug built up on the outside. A single wad of glass can be
assembled, impregnated with catalysed resin, and stuffed in the hole.
Waxed paper will leave a smooth finish. A layer or two of glass on the
inside is a good idea. Sand the area with coarse grit and clean with
acetone before glassing.

A fitted plug, such as it appears you suggest, will not have the bond
spread over a sufficintly wide area to be trustworthy, in my mind.

Epoxy would be stronger, but polyester is strong enough. Finishing the
bottom will be less hassle if you use polyester.

It's how I did mine. Worked good.

Mox Nix to me.

Terry K


"Robert or Karen Swarts" wrote in message
...

Grind a recess in the hull around the hole to be plugged on both the
inside and outside of the hull. Using epoxy (not polyester) resin, place
a layer of glass cloth around the outside or inside. Fill the hole itself
with resin-saturated glass fibers. Place another layer of glass cloth on
top of the patch. If needed, apply more layers of glass. Finish the
outside with a slurry of epoxy and glass spheres or other filler of your
choice. Sand it smooth, barrier cote, and paint. Oh, do this when the
outside temperature is above 50 degrees.

BS
"Roger Long" wrote in message
.. .

Can anyone point me to some good on-line info on plugging old through
hull holes in a fiberglass hull?

Any other advice appreciated. The yard wants 6% of what I paid for the
boat just to plug one and put a new backing block in another. I hate
working with glass but it looks like I'll be doing this myself.

--

Roger Long

Plugging through hulls
 

"Danny" wrote in message
...
Makes sense.

"Mox Nix "?

"Soon snow"?

Plugging through hulls
 

Zeeese. Ya wanna get confused. Try Googling "Mox Nix"
I think it means: "I don't care." But them, I'm ambivalent about it.

"Alan Gomes" wrote in message
...

"Danny" wrote in message
...
Makes sense.

"Mox Nix "?

"Soon snow"?

Plugging through hulls
 

Zeeese. Ya wanna get confused. Try Googling "Mox Nix"
I think it means: "I don't care." But them, I'm ambivalent about it.

"Alan Gomes" wrote in message
...

"Danny" wrote in message
...
Makes sense.

"Mox Nix "?

"Soon snow"?

Plugging through hulls
 

Danny wrote:
Zeeese. Ya wanna get confused. Try Googling "Mox Nix"
I think it means: "I don't care." But them, I'm ambivalent about it.

"Alan Gomes" wrote in message
...

"Danny" wrote in message
...

Makes sense.

"Mox Nix "?


"Soon snow"?





It's actually Macht nix. It's German for it makes no difference.

Plugging through hulls
 

"Gary" wrote in message
news:4Hnqf.166740$Gd6.29236@pd7tw3no...
Danny wrote:
Zeeese. Ya wanna get confused. Try Googling "Mox Nix"
I think it means: "I don't care." But them, I'm ambivalent about it.

"Alan Gomes" wrote in message
...

"Danny" wrote in message
...

Makes sense.

"Mox Nix "?


"Soon snow"?





It's actually Macht nix. It's German for it makes no difference.

In Latin "mox nix" = "soon snow"--which doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
--AG

Plugging through hulls
 

Roger Long wrote:

Can anyone point me to some good on-line info on plugging old through
hull holes in a fiberglass hull?

Any other advice appreciated. The yard wants 6% of what I paid for
the boat just to plug one and put a new backing block in another. I
hate working with glass but it looks like I'll be doing this myself.

Did you look at the Don Casey book about fiberglass repair? He has a lot of
good how to info and probably describes repairing fiberglass holes.
--
Bill Boyher

Plugging through hulls
 

Consider to put a bronze pipe cap and double nuts on the old
throughhull, then fill the beast with epoxy mush .... simply leave it
in place, but 'deadheaded'.

..


In article , Bill
wrote:

Roger Long wrote:

Can anyone point me to some good on-line info on plugging old through
hull holes in a fiberglass hull?

Any other advice appreciated. The yard wants 6% of what I paid for
the boat just to plug one and put a new backing block in another. I
hate working with glass but it looks like I'll be doing this myself.

Did you look at the Don Casey book about fiberglass repair? He has a lot of
good how to info and probably describes repairing fiberglass holes.

Plugging through hulls
 

On Tue, 20 Dec 2005 22:01:41 GMT, "Roger Long"
wrote:

Can anyone point me to some good on-line info on plugging old through
hull holes in a fiberglass hull?

Unless you have really good reasons not to, I would fill the hole with
a through hull fitting. It would take a really good repair to refill
the hole with anything that will be stronger. Why not just rebed the
fitting and blind it off?

Ryk

Plugging through hulls
 

You must be joking.

"Rich Hampel" wrote in message
...
Consider to put a bronze pipe cap and double nuts on the old
throughhull, then fill the beast with epoxy mush .... simply leave it
in place, but 'deadheaded'.

.


In article , Bill
wrote:

Roger Long wrote:

Can anyone point me to some good on-line info on plugging old through
hull holes in a fiberglass hull?

Any other advice appreciated. The yard wants 6% of what I paid for
the boat just to plug one and put a new backing block in another. I
hate working with glass but it looks like I'll be doing this myself.

Did you look at the Don Casey book about fiberglass repair? He has a lot
of
good how to info and probably describes repairing fiberglass holes.

Plugging through hulls
 

This is what I've done with all the others and what I favor in
general. We've had this debate before on this forum but I'll repeat
from the perspective of a boat designer.

The bronze through hulls are very reliable, far from the weakest link
in the watertight integrity. I have more faith in them and the solid
mechanical connection than secondary bonds over a small region of 26
year old fiberglass.

The through hull in this case however is a flush plastic transducer
fitting which has been replaced by one of the inside the shell units.
Since it is flush, the tapered hole has a lot less integrity against
impact and it's right up in the forefoot where something awash, like a
water soaked log, could impact it. I hate to add an unused through
hull to the several I already have now on this boat and it is up in
the very clean flow at the bow where it will create a lot more drag
than the ones aft the are in the boundary layer anyway.

If the hole were not beveled, I might just stick a capped through hull
in it but I don't like the flush ones on a cruising boat because of
the poorer support of the bevel. Any impact up here is likely to be
sideways that the glass plug will tolerate well where as the
projecting lip of a standard through hull could catch.

--

Roger Long



"Rich Hampel" wrote in message
...
Consider to put a bronze pipe cap and double nuts on the old
throughhull, then fill the beast with epoxy mush .... simply leave
it
in place, but 'deadheaded'.

.


In article , Bill
wrote:

Roger Long wrote:

Can anyone point me to some good on-line info on plugging old
through
hull holes in a fiberglass hull?

Any other advice appreciated. The yard wants 6% of what I paid
for
the boat just to plug one and put a new backing block in another.
I
hate working with glass but it looks like I'll be doing this
myself.

Did you look at the Don Casey book about fiberglass repair? He has
a lot of
good how to info and probably describes repairing fiberglass holes.