Need Limber Hole Repair Advice

[douglee25]

I am looking for some advice on limber hole repair. On my boat there are limber holes on either side of the engine stringers which are lined with what appears to be PVC pipe. They used some sort of sealant to seal the pvc to the stringer. I am looking to repair this with epoxy and fiberglass.

Does anyone have any advice for this repair? Would you keep the PVC pieces in and fiberglass the edges? Or would it be better to completely remove the pvc pieces and just epoxy and glass the holes to make sure everything is sealed up well.

Thanks.

Doug

 

[tobnpr]

I thought only Sea Ray did that...
No way do you want to leave the pvc inserts in place. Sealants fail.
Remove them, be sure the wood inside is clean and DRY, then seal with epoxy. I didn't use glass on mine, just epoxy resin; but glassing sure couldn't hurt.

 

[douglee25]

I thought only Sea Ray did that...
No way do you want to leave the pvc inserts in place. Sealants fail.
Remove them, be sure the wood inside is clean and DRY, then seal with epoxy. I didn't use glass on mine, just epoxy resin; but glassing sure couldn't hurt.

Sea Ray uses pvc tubes as well?

I don't think epoxy binding to pvc would work very well unless it was prepped very very well. I think prep to that degree may be tough based on the location. Without the pieces in place, it should be much easier to tackle the job.

Doug

 

[sbw1]

I used glass and epoxy upon the advice of a SR employee who ran the line that my 37 was built on. I did mine early after having a failure with a prior 30 foot weekender. Make sure you have no rot before you do this and install dripless seals to keep things dry.

 

[douglee25]

That's how I will proceed then with epoxy and glass. I wanted to attack this now before it got worse.

Doug

 

[fwebster]

Sea Ray did use PVC in limber holes........25 years ago.

In rerpairing the limber holes, the important thing is to be sure that your stringers are completely dry and have no rot before sealing them. I've seen the holes fixed as sbw1 described and I've seen them fixed by cutting fiberglass tubing the length of the stringer thickness then "buttering" the tubes with thickened epoxy and inserting them in the holes. The final step would be to seal the ends with fiberglass cloth and fair with thickened expoxy. One way is no easier than the other.

 

[douglee25]

Sounds good Frank and the rest.

Doug

 

[douglee25]

I looked into this again over the weekend. It appears the limber holes are approximately 6" long where they are located. For some reason I was under the impression they were much smaller say around 2" long. For that reason, I don't think it's feasible to fiberglass it by hand very easily after the PVC is removed. Frank's suggestion of using Fiberglass tubes seems like a better suggestion in my case. I can mix in some cabosil beads and make a nice peanut butter mixture for epoxying them in place. Then just seal the ends with mat and paint for a nice finish.

I will have to attack this when the weather is somewhat nicer. I may even opt to remove the tubes during the winter and let it air dry.

Thanks again.

Doug

 

[SCORPIO]

Frank, I'm not sure I'm reading your post correctly. Are you saying to remove the pvc and replace with fiberglass tubes leaving the limber hole present, or are you saying that the limber hole should be eliminated completely? I would think that you want to keep the limber hole just eliminate the pcv to glass seal problem.

 

[fwebster]

You cannot close up the limber holes................but the area between the fiberglass tube and the stringer must be sealed with epoxy so no water can enter the stringer.

 

[KC_Sundancer]

Here is a reasonably priced material I used for fiberglass hole liners on my transom replacement project:

Bolt and Weep Hole Liner Material.
Antenna Sample Pack - assortment of 6 inch long fiberglass sleeves from 0 to 2 inch diameter.
From: Max-Gain Systems, Inc., 221 Greencrest Ct., Marietta, GA 30068

To ensure a good "seal" I fiberglassed over the end of the tube after it was installed.
Once everything was cured, I open the hole up with a Dremel type grinder.
A final thin coat of epoxy was then brushed around the edges.

 

[douglee25]

Here is a reasonably priced material I used for fiberglass hole liners on my transom replacement project:

Bolt and Weep Hole Liner Material.
Antenna Sample Pack - assortment of 6 inch long fiberglass sleeves from 0 to 2 inch diameter.
From: Max-Gain Systems, Inc., 221 Greencrest Ct., Marietta, GA 30068

To ensure a good "seal" I fiberglassed over the end of the tube after it was installed.
Once everything was cured, I open the hole up with a Dremel type grinder.
A final thin coat of epoxy was then brushed around the edges.

That's the exact company I found to order the materials from as well! They seem like they have decent pricing too. I need to go measure the exact diameter now.

Thanks.

Doug

 

[KC_Sundancer]

Your welcome - Best of luck with your repair !