Deck Drain Frustrations!
 

Well After reading alot of archived material here going as far back as the sites begining I thought I knew all I needed to know about replacing the rear deck drains and the forward fish box thruhull in my 23' inboard. I was wrong. I ordered 170 dollars worth of moeller drain tubes, flanging tool, groco thru hull, and plenty of 5200 and started the demo process. Everything came out pretty well but thats about as far as I got. I bought 1" drain tubes because that is the original size that the boat came with (I think?) and someone in the boats 34 years of age hogged the holes to 1.25" . So my 1" drains will not work. Ok no problem I continue to the fish box drain, remove the plastic thru hull, dry fit the new brass groco, cut it to length and slather it in 5200 and put it in place. I tightened it from inside and jumped out to see how it looked on the outside and it was not seeted flush against the hull. Now I'm started to get really mad. The drain is located close to one of the chines and the mushroom on the thru hull is just to big. It seems to fit fine when you hold it in place but as you tighten the nut it will not seat properly? I'm kind of at my whits end here. I thought these would be simple replace ments and it seems I may have bit off more than I can chew. Any recommendations?
Thanks,
Dan Stewart.

Re: Deck Drain Frustrations!
 

Hey Dan I did this project last year. PIA!!!! for sure. I got stainless deck drains and remolded things with azek. The drains I got from marine connection liquidators in Fort Pierce Fla. They had everything for the job under 1 roof. If you want shoot me a pm with email and I will shoot some photos of what I did.

Re: Deck Drain Frustrations!
 

Thanks, I just spoke with Jamestown Distributers. Thats where I got all the stuff and they have 1.25" diameter x 3 7/8" long Moeller tubes that I am going to try.

Re: Deck Drain Frustrations!
 

Not sure if this helps but.....I replaced brass drain tubes on my Whaler years ago. Brass tubing from McMaster Carr. The ends to be flanged have to be annealed first. They form easy after this. Heat cherry red with torch and immediately quench in water. This keeps them from splitting. Form one end in shop. Insert and cut XXX (3/16"-1/4") longer then anneal. Insert in boat and form flange. The tool works ok, 2 guys w/hammer and tow ball work better.

Re: Deck Drain Frustrations!
 

After giving it much thought and wanting the most permenant fix in the long run I have decided to completely fill in the 1.25" existing drain area with West systems. I am going to sand down the fiberglass a little bit on both the hull and deck and glass in a small patch thus bonding the epoxy plug to the glass on the deck and the hull. When dry I will drill new 1" holes and procede to install the moeller drain tubes I had bought.

Re: Deck Drain Frustrations!
 

That sounds about like the easiest fix to me. I did the same on a 23 I redid and ended up just letting it drain in the bilge though.

Re: Deck Drain Frustrations!
 

You've probably already considered this stuff but just a heads up - the blocks of wood that support and surround the tubes will probably be pretty porous if not rotting as that's where any water coming in seeped first. When you do your fill, much of the epoxy may seep into and through the blocks and accumulate along the stringer. It might help to wrap that block first with tape or a layer of thickened epoxy. Stick a little rolled up fiberglass cloth in the holes before filling to keep the epoxy from getting too hot too fast. And also so consider getting a good angle measurement so you have that when re-drilling or the flare will not seat well in the bottom side...

Been there, done that ;)

Re: Deck Drain Frustrations!
 

That's a good idea! I had exactly that problem on port side. Maybe if you wet out the cloth with epoxy first, and then roll it up on a pencil, you can stick it up in the hole and let it kick off before you fill the hole. You can also use a center plug from the bottom like I did to create a pilot hole to help keep the angle close to original. (You'll have to go to the end of that post that I linked to in order to see the photo of the plug.)

Re: Deck Drain Frustrations!
 

Meltdown,

Like Gilly said...thicken your epoxy a little and dry that block! And post up some pix :)

Re: Deck Drain Frustrations!
 

Ok here it is so far. I got out of work early yesterday so I could get the tubes filled in, with the hopes I could drill them out this weekend and install the new moeller drains. This was my first time ever using west systems and doing any kind of fiberglass work Thank god for first grade paper mache class. :rolleyes: Any how I tried to use duct tape to seal the bottom of the holes and fill the tube with thickend epoxy. WRONG. It only took about 2 minutes for the duct tape to fail and my epoxy to be all over the lawn. :o Then I took 2 small squares of fiberglass and slathered them in epoxy and let them get tacky and then stuck them in place and let them dry. (Thanks John) I let them dry in place over night and this morning they were hard as a rock. :cool: So quickly before work at 6am, I mixed up a really thick batch of epoxy and poured it down in the tubes and then placed another small fiberglass patch on the top to tie it in with the deck.
I was working by myself so I was only able to snap one picture.
[image]http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/a...0317-14451.jpg[/image]

Re: Deck Drain Frustrations!
 

Why is it no job is ever as simple as it seems...

You may already be planning this, but the rule of thumb in filling holes is to grind back and glass over an area in a 12:1 ratio to your hull thickness - if your hull is 1" thick, then grind back a 12" diameter surface, and feather it for how many layers of glass you plan to use.

Granted you are really only reducing the diameter of your hole vs permanently covering it. You might want to use a few layers of glass over it & feather out some where the 1st layer or two is bonding to straight fiberglass, not gelcoat. What did you use to thicken the epoxy?

Re: Deck Drain Frustrations!
 

I used the west systems #404 filler. That is what they (people at West Marine) recomended.

Re: Deck Drain Frustrations!
 

I've had good luck using painters tape to assist in filling holes. It seems to hold pretty good.

Re: Deck Drain Frustrations!
 

I second the last two post. Painters tape and grind the hole down to the glass. Removing the gelcoat. Cut small squares or cicles, however you grind it out, and make them bigger untils it over laps the gelcoat and then sand smooth. Usually about 4-6 layers depending how deep you grind it out.

Re: Deck Drain Frustrations!
 

404 is good filler to use w/ what you're doing, & what SC84 describes is on the money.

Here is a your almost exact scenario explained on West's how-to site:

http://www.westsystem.com/ss/repairi...in-fiberglass/

Scroll down to the "Zone 3 - high risk" section. Instead of making a puck in a paper cup, you kinda just made it in place, which will work fine. Just need to grind it back some now to give yourself a clean surface for a few layers of glass.

Have you checked out how Strick (& others) mounted his seacock to a glassed over plywoood plate?

Re: Deck Drain Frustrations!
 

this is what i would do...

grind the whole area out-you need to "dish" the area around the thru hull-inside and outside,use a dremel with a drum sander bit to clean the inside of the hole...after the area is clean-run tape over the outside-fill the hole with the mix,let it kick...after it's fully kicked-clean it-gotta remove the amine blush from west system...grind it down,glass the areas you ground out-slightly higher than the surrounding surface-let it all kick...after it kicks,clean it and grind it down-punch the hole right thru the epoxy-you will be able to see the hole you filled...at this point,the hole is thru the epoxy-epoxy is waterproof,unlike polyester based resins-no need for a drain tube-clean the area up,if needed,and besure the "rubber plug" will fit in the hole...done...

the repair,done in this manner,is actually stronger than the original build-epoxy is a stronger,waterproof resin.the areas are glassed with a matting,not a filler,the "hole",is integral with the hull...a true repair...

these are the drain tubes in the bow area,right ?

i do drains thru a cored surface,like a transom a little different than this,but basically the same...

using plywood for a back up block-like for an engine seacock-isn't a bad idead,but...i like starboard-i make the hole in the hull and the starboard-i like seeing the starboard round-i even run it on the router...after the thru hull is in,i seal the inner area of the hull in 3m 5200,slide the back up block in place,followed by the nut...tighten it all down...done...the back up block will last forever,the 5200 will seal it all...

there's more than one way to "skin a cat",that's just how i do it...

a few tips...

filling holes-you don't want the epoxy mix too thick,use some tape around the hole on the inside-to hold the mix in place-west system-before it kicks,it gets very runny-due to heat...use a popsicle stick to move the mix around in the hole-air will get trapped in the hole-if left that way,the "plug" will have a void in it-doing this will get the air out...be sure the "plug",the plug being the epoxy filling the hole is ground even to match the surrounding area,before glassing it,if not,you're gonna have a void...try to keep the area round,cut the glass in circles -to match the area you dished out...remember,nothing sticks to antifouling paint-be sure there's no contamination from the antifouling paint...