MAJOR leak from rudder plate, rebedded now tight rudder...

[Yochach!]

:smt021
Well I launched my 330 today and noticed a very substantial leak coming from the starboard rudder plate. I hauled the boat and took the 4 bolts off of the rudder plate and gently tapped the rudder shaft down to provide clearance to rebed the plate under the boat. Scraped off all of the old sealant and applied 5200. I noticed that when I seperated the plate from the hull that there were 4 washers "shims I assume". I also assumed that the 4 washers were one for each bolt. After I tightened the 4 bolts back in place and tightened the arm to the shaft I noticed that there is no play in the rudder and steering in noticeably stiffer.

will the rudder eventually become less tight? Perhaps the shaft is not in the same exact position in the packing as before... Could that cause a tight rudder? Could the 4 washers on the plate be shims and maybe I should of doubled up on 2 of the bolts?? I'm lost.

she is getting dropped in again tomorrow so fingers crossed that there are no leaks as I've used enough 5200 to build another boat!!

any help would be much much appreciated

 

[sfergson727]

I'm not sure I would have used 5200.....hope you never have to attempt to re-bed it again.

 

[Yochach!]

I hope I don't have to rebed it again either. I wasn't sure as to what to use , just taking advice from people at my marina. I understand that 5200 is very tough however would it be impossible to remove again if need be? Or just a royal pita.

 

[NotHerDecision]

It will take the Fiberglass with it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[KevinC]

5200 is permanent and usually requires addition of heat to remove (if at all). 4200 is usually a better choice when something under the waterline may need to be serviced in the future. There also some "debond"ing chemicals that supposedly work although i have never tried any.

-Kevin

 

[Yochach!]

Well I definitely should of asked which sealant to use on here rather than my local marina. I really hope that I didn't screw myself too bad by using 5200 on a part that very well may need to be rebed at some point. I really hope that I do not have to re shim the rudder plate now knowing the improper use of 5200. I greatly appreciate all of the prompt replies

 

[Yochach!]

Kevin,
Thank you for offering some type of solution for removing this stuff if need be. I have also heard that with heat 5200 becomes easier to remove. How often do these rudder plates need rebeding anyhow?

5200 is permanent and usually requires addition of heat to remove (if at all). 4200 is usually a better choice when something under the waterline may need to be serviced in the future. There also some "debond"ing chemicals that supposedly work although i have never tried any.

-Kevin

 

[Creekwood]

Kevin,
Thank you for offering some type of solution for removing this stuff if need be. I have also heard that with heat 5200 becomes easier to remove. How often do these rudder plates need rebeding anyhow?

I am not sure I have ever heard of a rudder plate needed rebedding, unless it was damaged. Maybe if there was a grounding of the boat where the rudder struck and damaged the mounting of the plate and tube, but that might need more than just a load of sealant to fix properly.

 

[BillK2632]

You might be able to get it off if the 5200 has not cured completely, if you can I would do that and use 4200 - I have had boats for 25yrs and have never used 5200 on anything.

 

[Molson]

There is a solvent (Marine Formula, by Debond Corp) that will apparently help with removing 5200. I would have also used 5200 on a rudder plate, I used it on my underwater exhaust outlet. I figured that if it needs rebedding, it is because I hit something.

I will be testing the solvent soon, as I need to remove my dinghy caddy hardware from my platform soon for a new overlay, and they were set with 5200. Should be fun.

 

[Yochach!]

Thank you,
I have heard of that solvent, hopefully the plate will not need to be removed again as I'm sure even with the solvent it will be a very long process removing the 5500.

I stopped by by the Marina this morning on the way to work to assist with launching it again and I am very relieved to see that the leak is gone. There is a very small amount of seepage from the packing gland which I suspect is because I moved the rudder shaft through the packing while dissasembling the plate. I am going to the marina after work to check again and hopefully it will not be leaking.

-Bob

 

[Bt Doctur]

Dosent it seem a bit odd that it didnt leak when you pulled it out but now has a substancial leak? Sounds more like it fell off the blocks or something banged into it

 

[Yochach!]

Dosent it seem a bit odd that it didnt leak when you pulled it out but now has a substancial leak? Sounds more like it fell off the blocks or something banged into it

You know that has certainly crossed my mind in fact I checked the rudder for any signs of damage that could of occurred from the haul out or blocking it and found no evidence. Over the winter I stripped the bottom paint and added another layer of barrier coat than two coats of CSC. While I was sanding by the rudder's and prop tunnel's I noticed a lot of rather loose silicone around that plate. Perhaps I accidentally took some away while sanding?. If that were the case than I was sitting on a time bomb because if the sander took a small amount off and created that leak than I consider myself to be fortunate that it did not happen from the water pressure while cruising.

 

[Creekwood]

Silicone? If you found silicone then you can be sure your rudder was damaged and not
properly repaired. There should never be silicone used below the waterline as a sealant.

 

[Yochach!]

Silicone? If you found silicone then you can be sure your rudder was damaged and not
properly repaired. There should never be silicone used below the waterline as a sealant.

I'm not sure if it was silicone or not I'm only assuming that it was. It was white and kind of flexible and it wasn't the easiest to get off. Perhaps it was 4200? I don't know , I just bought the boat last June and it passed the survey with flying colors but I am beginning to think that it may have been damaged and repaired in the past. It is extremely odd that I had no water leaking from it last summer and all of the sudden this... Like I said before it may have been from me sanding and disturbing it and if that's the case than I feel lucky that it did not let go without me knowing last summer.

 

[Creekwood]

Rudder Mounting plates would never be damaged by sanding and should never loosen or leak like that. You may want to have someone that does structural fibereglass repair take a careful look at that area to see if there is any structural damage that needs repair. Your surveyor may be willing to do it so you don't sue him if there is something he didn't pick up. Although an bad repair covered up with bottom paint might be hard to see or detect.

 

[Yochach!]

I stripped the hull of all the bottom paint and could not detect any type of patch work or anything of the sort. That is not to say a fiberglass guy wouldn't be able to though as I am not a fiberglass guy. I put her back in yesterday and she has been holding up great. I am definitely going to keep my eye on it obviously. The steering is tighter now than what is was before the rebed but not tight enough to raise a major red flag. I am only assuming that it is tighter due to the rudder shaft sliding through the packing during the repair.