When I bought my O'day 22 the lifeline stanchions were dismounted and stored on the V birth. I would like to re-attach these important peices of equipment. From looking at the exisitng holes there has got to be some sort of a backing plate or washer set up on the inside so that these are not merely bolting through the fiberglass deck. Does anyone have any pictures of their setup? I can probably fabricate something, but I'd like to see what has worked for others first.
Lifeline Stanchion Install
- Thread starter PATBUZZARD
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Pat,
My lifeline stanchions are backed with these wide stainless steel plates which are not quite rectangular but offer enough support for each stanchion. The stanchion base plates sit on a rubber gasket. I think that you could get away with using Butyl Tape in place of these rubber gaskets though. Counter sink each bolt hole a little bit before bedding the stanchion plates. Check out this thread first: http://forums.macgregor.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=117172
Joe
My lifeline stanchions are backed with these wide stainless steel plates which are not quite rectangular but offer enough support for each stanchion. The stanchion base plates sit on a rubber gasket. I think that you could get away with using Butyl Tape in place of these rubber gaskets though. Counter sink each bolt hole a little bit before bedding the stanchion plates. Check out this thread first: http://forums.macgregor.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=117172
Joe
Joe,
In MainSail's artical he mentions potting with epoxy. Do you follow the potting method or just counter sink and use the butyl tape? I'm thnking the potting method may be a bit of an overkill since he shows quite well how countersinking and using butyl tape beds hardware.
Pat,
On my O'day 25 the stanchions are backed by plates of SS like Joe's. Looks like the other deck hardware is backed with washers only. I would defintely go with the one piece plates.
In MainSail's artical he mentions potting with epoxy. Do you follow the potting method or just counter sink and use the butyl tape? I'm thnking the potting method may be a bit of an overkill since he shows quite well how countersinking and using butyl tape beds hardware.
Pat,
On my O'day 25 the stanchions are backed by plates of SS like Joe's. Looks like the other deck hardware is backed with washers only. I would defintely go with the one piece plates.
I would pot with epoxy in addition to sealing the chamfer with butyl. The stanchions potentially take a lot of side loading and you want to avoid water intrusion into the core if a seal does happen to fail without you noticing for awhile.
Ward,
I'm thinking that potting with epoxy would be a smart idea on the O'Day 25 because you could have a leak and never know it until it was too late.
Last year I had a leak coming from a bolt on one of my Port stanchions and I was able to spot it very easy and attend to it. All I have for a cabin interior is the beige rug head liner and all my bolts and nuts are visible from the inside. I can either feel the moisture or spot it pretty easy.
I think it all depends on whether you can spot a possible leak from inside the cabin pretty easy. Potting is probably a good habit to get into if you want to take the time.
And that's the kicker. Time as well as weather. I will plan on potting with expoxy going forward.
Thanks
An excellent place to pot is the mast tabernacle. I'm not saying that you should do it now, but if you ever need to remove it from the top of your cabin for some reason it would be wise to do it then. I would trace the plate with a pencil first to make sure that the holes come right when you go to bore them.
I had my tabernacle off my cabin last year to replace a Teak board under it with Trex and I never thought about potting with epoxy. I'm usually able to catch leaks pretty fast and tend to them though. Hopefully I won't get rot in my boat but one never knows.
I had my tabernacle off my cabin last year to replace a Teak board under it with Trex and I never thought about potting with epoxy. I'm usually able to catch leaks pretty fast and tend to them though. Hopefully I won't get rot in my boat but one never knows.
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