Can I get water out of the inner transom or inject stop rot?

[Tinkerer2]

Drilled a hole in the upper starboard transom of my fibreglass boat for a steering fitting and wood shavings came out damp with a bit of weeping (from the transom, not me) afterwards. I can see where it's probably been getting in from lack of a seal around holes on that side. Shavings from four holes for an auxiliary motor bracket on port side and lower down came out dry, so I think the problem is localised to some extent.<br /><br />I doubt it's going to dry out as there's no air movement in there.<br /><br />I can't see a way to force it out. Even if I could seal compressed air in and have a bleed hole down lower, all I'll probably do is force the moisture into a wider area as there's no defined channel to any weep hole I might drill.<br /><br />Is there some sort of stop rot solution I could inject to stop or delay what's going to happen to the inner wood?

 

[Lou C]

Re: Can I get water out of the inner transom or inject stop rot?

Check out www.rotdoctor.com <br />I used their CPES and epoxy to fix the floor in my Four Winns and it turned out quite well.

 

[tmac58star]

Re: Can I get water out of the inner transom or inject stop rot?

Good old antifreeze stops rot, too. Question is, how far advanced is your rot? May have to replace the transom one day.

 

[Tinkerer2]

Re: Can I get water out of the inner transom or inject stop rot?

Thanks Lou C and timster<br /><br />I'm resigned to replacing the transom in a few years (probably 5 or 6 from now), but the only place it's soft now is right around where the steering mount has to go and is, which will just work as a pump as it flexes the material minutely each time the steering is moved and push the damp further out.<br /><br />I'm starting to think along the lines of vacuum pumping the moisture out through a lower drain hole I'll drill and then vacuuming in the sort of stuff Lou C suggested by feeding it through the culprit holes and vacuuming it out through the drain hole. I just have to work out a suitable vacuuming and sealing system, but I reckon a low pressure vacuum cleaner and some gasket sealant can be made to do the job over time.<br /><br />At least that way it will be drawing moisture and reinforcer back into the soft area rather than pushing it out into better wood as would happen if I tried to force it through with compressed air.<br /><br />I had the hull professionally inspected today and it's as good as I thought with no signs of any damage or deterioration, so I'll press ahead with my grand restoration / improvement project.

 

[Lou C]

Re: Can I get water out of the inner transom or inject stop rot?

Once you get the moisture out, rotdoc sells some syringe like things to inject the CPES and/or epoxy into enclosed areas like that. One caution though, the CPES gives off some toxic fumes and you have to wear a fume respirator type mask, even if you use it outdoors in an open area. <br />Seems like the hardest part is getting the moisture out of the wood. <br />I fixed a rotted spot in the floor this way, I removed as much of the rotted ply as possible, and treated the rest with the CPES and epoxy, then laminated in new ply that was treated with the CPES and epoxy as well. They also sell an epoxy filler for filling in small irregular areas. When done I could jump on the repaired area and it did not move!

 

[Tinkerer2]

Re: Can I get water out of the inner transom or inject stop rot?

Lou C<br /><br />You're right. <br /><br />The hardest part is to work out how to get the moisture out. Once the moisture is out it all gets a lot easier. <br /><br />I can't think of any instruction that starts with anything like: "Make sure the wood is wet all the way through and is not at risk of drying in the the next year or two while [the product] is at work."<br /><br />I was a competent woodworker long before I got into boats and I'm not aware of any reliable method of drying wood except for exposure to air (whether normal or accelerated in blown or heated drying chambers). None of that is going to happen in any thickness of marine ply sandwiched between fibreglass shells with no room for air movement around the wood.

 

[crazy charlie]

Re: Can I get water out of the inner transom or inject stop rot?

I once saw on shipshape tv a hole was cut in the transom fiberglass only and a simple shopvac was put against the wood to draw out any dampness.then some acetone was applied to displace the moisture and the vac was used again,then a heatlamp for a few days.After that the fiberglass was repaired.Charlie

 

[Tinkerer2]

Re: Can I get water out of the inner transom or inject stop rot?

crazy charlie<br /><br />That's pretty much the direction I was going in.

 

[crazy charlie]

Re: Can I get water out of the inner transom or inject stop rot?

sounds like a good direction!!!!!!