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screwing into buoyancy tanks


 

Hi all,

How do you seal screws which penetrate the buoyancy tanks (in a Wanderer Mark 2)? This applies to eg the screws for the swivel plates for the floorboards and the screws at the bottom of the tabernacle. I have a couple of screws which are loose in the fibreglass and leak air / water. Can anyone advise on the best way to recreate a seal? I was thinking about removing the screw, squeezing in some gelcoat and then re-drilling, would this work, and should i also use some sealant?

Very grateful for any views.

thanks

James
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) The information contained in this communication is intended for the named recipient(s) only. If you have received this message in error, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or taking action in reliance of the content is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. Whilst this email and associated attachments will have been checked for known viruses whilst within MMO systems, we can accept no responsibility once it has left our systems. Communications on the MMO's computer systems may be monitored and/or recorded to secure the effective operation of the system and for other lawful purposes.


 

Hi James,

I haven't tried this, but I'd probably avoid gelcoat as it tends to be very brittle. I'd use epoxy thickened with microfibres or low density filler, then re-redrill.

I'd seal the screws with butyl tape. If you haven't tried butyl tape before then it is like a marine version of blu-tack - it never sets. It isn't great for items that have large loads e.g. cleats? - but for everything else it will keep things watertight for decades. Easy to apply - just use like blu-tack - pull a bit off, squeeze into a sausage and wrap round the screw. In fact I'd probably try butyl tape before I tried filling the holes.

Cheers

Martin

On 11/08/2021 13:17, Roff, James via groups.io wrote:
Hi all,

How do you seal screws which penetrate the buoyancy tanks (in a Wanderer Mark 2)? This applies to eg the screws for the swivel plates for the floorboards and the screws at the bottom of the tabernacle. I have a couple of screws which are loose in the fibreglass and leak air / water. Can anyone advise on the best way to recreate a seal? I was thinking about removing the screw, squeezing in some gelcoat and then re-drilling, would this work, and should i also use some sealant?

Very grateful for any views.

thanks

James
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) The information contained in this communication is intended for the named recipient(s) only. If you have received this message in error, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or taking action in reliance of the content is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. Whilst this email and associated attachments will have been checked for known viruses whilst within MMO systems, we can accept no responsibility once it has left our systems. Communications on the MMO's computer systems may be monitored and/or recorded to secure the effective operation of the system and for other lawful purposes.




 

Many thanks Martin, most appreciated.

J

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Martin via groups.io
Sent: 12 August 2021 09:14
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [wanderer] screwing into buoyancy tanks

Hi James,

I haven't tried this, but I'd probably avoid gelcoat as it tends to be very brittle. I'd use epoxy thickened with microfibres or low density filler, then re-redrill.

I'd seal the screws with butyl tape. If you haven't tried butyl tape before then it is like a marine version of blu-tack - it never sets. It isn't great for items that have large loads e.g. cleats - but for everything else it will keep things watertight for decades. Easy to apply - just use like blu-tack - pull a bit off, squeeze into a sausage and wrap round the screw. In fact I'd probably try butyl tape before I tried filling the holes.

Cheers

Martin


On 11/08/2021 13:17, Roff, James via groups.io wrote:
Hi all,

How do you seal screws which penetrate the buoyancy tanks (in a Wanderer Mark 2)? This applies to eg the screws for the swivel plates for the floorboards and the screws at the bottom of the tabernacle. I have a couple of screws which are loose in the fibreglass and leak air / water. Can anyone advise on the best way to recreate a seal? I was thinking about removing the screw, squeezing in some gelcoat and then re-drilling, would this work, and should i also use some sealant?

Very grateful for any views.

thanks

James
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) The information contained in this communication is intended for the named recipient(s) only. If you have received this message in error, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or taking action in reliance of the content is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. Whilst this email and associated attachments will have been checked for known viruses whilst within MMO systems, we can accept no responsibility once it has left our systems. Communications on the MMO's computer systems may be monitored and/or recorded to secure the effective operation of the system and for other lawful purposes.








The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) The information contained in this communication is intended for the named recipient(s) only. If you have received this message in error, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or taking action in reliance of the content is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. Whilst this email and associated attachments will have been checked for known viruses whilst within MMO systems, we can accept no responsibility once it has left our systems. Communications on the MMO's computer systems may be monitored and/or recorded to secure the effective operation of the system and for other lawful purposes.


 

Hi

Thickened epoxy.Would advise against using gel coat as this will crack when drilled into.
Drill the hole slightly smaller than the drill width.
Micro fibres will stiffen up the epoxy and will run less.Will also give a stronger mix.
You can fill voids on deck level to stop all epoxy running away into the holes.

On Wed, 11 Aug 2021, 13:17 Roff, James via , <james.roff=[email protected]> wrote:
Hi all,

How do you seal screws which penetrate the buoyancy tanks (in a Wanderer Mark 2)? This applies to eg the screws for the swivel plates for the floorboards and the screws at the bottom of the tabernacle. I have a couple of screws which are loose in the fibreglass and leak air / water. Can anyone advise on the best way to recreate a seal? I was thinking about removing the screw, squeezing in some gelcoat and then re-drilling, would this work, and should i also use some sealant?

Very grateful for any views.

thanks

James
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) The information contained in this communication is intended for the named recipient(s) only. If you have received this message in error, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or taking action in reliance of the content is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. Whilst this email and associated attachments will have been checked for known viruses whilst within MMO systems, we can accept no responsibility once it has left our systems. Communications on the MMO's computer systems may be monitored and/or recorded to secure the effective operation of the system and for other lawful purposes.