Sealants / adhesives..... and water

[NYSail]

Hello all....
So in my scrambles before my few weeks away on the boat a new situation has arose. Beneteau has a fiberglass stern tube leading into the boat that has calking on the outside (underwater). On the inside, apparently when they put this tube in place they "poured" a slurry around it to seal and bed the tube... all good so far. However after speaking with many 423 owners it appears that the slurry in some cases has voids (bad pour) underneath where the stern tube comes through the hull so that if the calk on the outside fails, there is the potential for water to fill the voids entering the boat.... and like water is it will eventually find its way through..... In the spring while cleaning my bottom I did notice the calking was in need of eventual attention and I figured I would deal with it next year. I did not know the the situation at that time. Fast forward... so this season I have been getting water in the area.... could not trace it until the other day and did the research to figure this out. I will be getting short hauled next week and am looking to put a sealant on the stern tube.... At this point I don't want to use 5200 although eventually I may once I think the repair through. In the mean time I am looking for a durable fast curing sealant, that once it sits for a while can do the final curing under water.... I know 5200 is capable of this. I just want to be able to remove it in the fall when I have plenty of time to do a permanent fix on the situation.

Thanks!
Greg

 

[agprice22]

Loctite has a fast curing marine adhesive. You can get a tube at Lowes. I do not know how much easier it will be to remove.

 

[BigEasy]

Greg,
I noted the caulking on my stern tube also. No leaks to date. Don’t have any idea of the caulking that Beneteau used. This is one application that 5200 May work without fear of not being able to remove it. After hauling in the fall, you could simply cut the 5200 from the exterior of the stern tube with a utility knife.
Please post if you determine the caulk that Beneteau used as well as the material that was used that you described as a “slurry”.
What do you consider to be a permanent fix for this problem?

 

[dlochner]

Try 4200 Fast Cure. It sets up quickly and can be used below the waterline. https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company...Fast-Cure-4200FC/?N=5002385+3291170224&rt=rud

 

[NYSail]

Greg,
I noted the caulking on my stern tube also. No leaks to date. Don’t have any idea of the caulking that Beneteau used. This is one application that 5200 May work without fear of not being able to remove it. After hauling in the fall, you could simply cut the 5200 from the exterior of the stern tube with a utility knife.
Please post if you determine the caulk that Beneteau used as well as the material that was used that you described as a “slurry”.
What do you consider to be a permanent fix for this problem?

Take a look inside where the stern tub is..... there is "stuff" that was poured to set the tube (so I am told). Like I said it was told to me that it was a bad pour with voids possible.
Obviously the way to seal is from the outside first.... Some people have ground a v grove in the area, cleaned well then epoxied instead of sealant... some have cleaned and properly put new sealant... typically 5200 which I agree if used for a permanent fix would be the way to go. On the inside, some have done nothing while others has ground or even used chisels to cut open the slurry stuff... when they hit the void they first pour acetone into it to displace the remaining water, then add penetrating epoxy and let it fill..... Some have even glassed over the area completely.

I will take some pictures

Greg

 

[Gunni]

5200. Use a dremel tool rasp cutter to make a cove around the tube, get your bottom paint out of the way, lay in a bead of 5200 and trowel it fair. Set up the short haul with your yard so the boat comes out late day, do the work in the evening after hours and ask them to launch in the morning. It will be tack free and cure in the water. Don’t worry about reapplying bottom paint.

 

[BigEasy]

Greg,
Please do take some pictures before & after repairs. I am definitely interested in how this works out. I saw some external pitting (likely galvanic corrosion) on the surface of the stainless tube that houses the cutlass bearing and the external caulking appeared brittle, so I applied 5200 to the area where the tube protrudes from the FRP skeg. I cleaned up the pitting on the SS and applied epoxy over the pitted area. Will be interesting to see what it looks like when I haul out in the fall. If I have to remove and replace the SS tube, that's going to be a problem.