Transom Hole

[Norman Buus]

Someone drilled a hole in the bottom of my transom for a drain. The transom consists of about 1-1/2" plywood with fibreglass inside and out. The bottom of the hole came in about a quarter inch below the top of the hull. Whoever did this then put in a drain plug on the outside of the transom and called it good. The problem is that now any water that gets into the boat winds up wetting the transom plywood.<br /><br />The inside of the hole is below the I/O engine and I can't reach it - I have to solve the problem from the outside. Does anyone have ideas on how to seal the plywood in the transom?

 

[prockvoan]

Re: Transom Hole

Let it dry out,use some epoxie resin coat it with a brush.

 

[Jilly - 5]

Re: Transom Hole

Depends on whether you want to save the hole as a drain, or plug it completely. To plug it, first clean it on the inside walls with acetone. Watch for oil/grease from the bilge, that the wood is not already impregnated. Then make a tapered bung, lather it with epoxy, and hammer it in. Sand flush on the outside, and apply a thin epoxy skin over the bung end. If you want to save the hole as a drain, marine stores have different brass drain hole sleeves. Lather one into the hole and get an expanding rubber plug. Or, install threaded bronze hull drain. In all cases, make sure internal exposed wood in the laminate is sealed.

 

[Norman Buus]

Re: Transom Hole

Don't I have to worry about cracks if I just use epoxy? If it does leak, I could quickly have thousands of dollars of dry rot damage. The brass drain hole sounds better. Thanks for the acetone tip, Jilly, that should make the epoxy stick better. Thanks to both of you for responding.

 

[martinmanfan]

Re: Transom Hole

You did not mention what the boat is made of...The way you tackle repairing that hole varies depending on what the boat is...Aluminum, fiberglass? I would not install a bronze sleeve into an alum. skin...Unless galvanic corrosion is something you want...

 

[Norman Buus]

Re: Transom Hole

The boat is fiberglass - the transom is plywood with fiberglass inside and out. You are right. I've got plenty of problems without galvanic corrosion. Thanks for the reply.