H-26 Centerboard Plate Joint Leak-Options?

[BrianW]

My 1993 H-26 has a leak between the interior centerboard steel plate and top of the interior fiberglass housing the plate rests on. To repair the failed seal, I plan on using 3-M 5200, as others have suggested on this forum. The boat is currently on the hard on the trailer. I'm exploring my options for sealing the plate to the fiberglass housing.
(1) Use a travel lift to raise the boat and fully drop the centerboard.
(2) Somehow drop the centerboard JUST enough create a gap between the steel plate and the housing, then apply 5200.
(3) Apply 5200 on the OUTSIDE of the steel plate and housing joint, attempting to force some 5200 into the joint.

I am trying to avoid option #1 for several reasons, including expense and logistics. Option #2 appeals to me, but only if I can physically raise the boat on the trailer SLIGHTLY, just enough to slightly lower the centerboard and get some 5200 between the steel plate and the centerboard housing. Option #3 is by far the easiest, but I'm worried about whether it would be an effective repair.

I would appreciate y'alls thoughts on which above option to take.... or additional options. If you have a detailed method to use for Option #2, I really appreciate that. Y'all have always come through for me, and I REALLY appreciate your knowledge and advice. BrianW

 

[Jeff]

If this area needs to be accessed in the future I would use 4200 not the more permanent 5200. If it were me I'd opt for the travel lift. Crawling under a boat proped up off a trailer can be risky. Secondly the chore could be made easier in the travel lift and the money spent for it may allow for other maintenance. Replace the center board line with a new one and a much easier approach to putting on bottom paint. Plus it allows for easier trailer maintenance too. Bite the bullet.

 

[Rick Webb]

Too Many Ways for This to go Wrong

I am real certain you can lift it up off of the trailer.

That will increase the options of where you can get it done, ask around and negotiate.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Move over for the expert.

5200 sealant is permanent and that is what you want to use, not the 4200 as it can come apart much easier which is what you do not want to do.

As I understand it, you have watercoming thru where the retaining bolt for the centerboard housing is. Without much fuss, remove the old caulking at the edges of the plate and reseal around that base plate and bolt. That generally takes care of most. If you want to, you can loosen the bolt head but you best make sure the centerboard is braced into place while sitting on the trailer. Most will not have the large socket for that project. If you elec t to put it onto the travel lift and take the CB out, when placeing the bolt back in, do not over tighten the bolt so hard as it will strip and removal is a pain in the rear end.

At the base of the compression post sitting you will see a #10 bolt. If not and you see a hole, then put that @10 into the hole with some 5200. There is also a hole on the front and often many miss that one.

crazy dave

 

[BrianW]

Hi Crazy Dave, just to clarify my situation, the leak is not through the bolt hole, it is around the outer edges of the steel plate between the sealing surface of the plate and the fiberglass centerboard housing below. Thanks, BrianW

 

[BrianW]

Thanks for all of your comments so far.... please keep them coming! As y'all might can tell, I REALLY don't want to get into a travel lift job ... unless I HAVE to. I still have good bottom paint and a fairly new centerboard uphaul line, so the leak repair is about all I would be doing during a lift. I have a follow up question: If I raised the boat up 4 inches off the trailer (from a safe position) , and then strategically added 4X8's (double 4X4's) onto the trailer bunks, then lowered the boat back onto the "elevated" bunks, could I loosen the centerboard plate bolt until the centerboard drops the 4-inch elevation? Would I then be able to lift up the steel centerboard plate in the cabin and apply sealant between the steel plate and the centerboard housing? I'm still keeping the travel lift as a last option, but I want to fully explore the other options. Thanks, BrianW

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Brian;

I know what you were talking about. Removing the old sealant around the plate and adding 5200 was what I use to do and it effectively repaired that leak. However once in a while, the water seeped thru the retaining bolt holding the centerboard trunk housing in place which is why I always placed some 5200 there as well.

My experience comes from being a dealer who worked on the boats, outsold all other dealers on this boat and the water ballast was my baby.

Crazy Dave Condon

 

[BrianW]

Final Three Best Options

Thanks to this forum, I now have two great options plus another good to fair option for sealing a leaking centerboard trunk plate/housing joint:
1) Lift the boat and drop the centerboard
2) Remove the compression post and leave the centerboard in place as described in Pat Adam's Hunter Owners Modification in the link below.
3) Apply 5200 to the outside surfaces of the cabin accessed centerboard housing/plate joint after drying the fiberglass housing surface and steel plate.

Each of these are good to excellent options, and the actual option selected depends on the other related incidental tasks that you want to bundle with the project.

Thank all of you for your valuable input! BrianW

http://hunter.sailboatowners.com/in...mid=267&cat_id=15&aid=6381&page=article&mn=26

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

sounds too much work when applying 5200 around the plate worked well in the past with no leaks.

 

[soling42]

If it's a budget issue and it's only an annoying few drips, why not wait to do it thoroughly when you can borrow a cradle or a 26/260 trailer to work from in the off season. If you lather it with 5200 like CDC says it MIGHT fix it but if it doesn't then that's going to be one tough job to remove down in there(but not impossible). If you do need to get 5200 out of a messy repair I've found that a heat gun softens 5200 into a more easily removed putty and like Dave I'm a strong believer in 5200 on these boats.

As a sideline thought maybe there's damage/fracture to the trunk housing. Some of the untraceable leaks posted here seem to happen after "a fall off the trailer", or some horrible impact seemed to be the starting point of a mystery leak. Wouldn't wish it on anybody but the CB leverage from a catastrophic impact could direct 5000+lbs of dead weight inertia right to the trunk space. The way that the SS bracket mounts in a very specific zone could lead to a barely perceptible fracture which might seem like a simple caulking failure until it opens up under the stress of an upwind run......just a thought and not a very fun one. We'll hope for the 5200 smear fix

Have a great season and be safe under that boat, Mike

 

[BrianW]

Mike, currently, my boat is on a trailer with mast down. I don't currently plan on getting under boat if not fully on stock bunks. My likely plan is to:
1) Re-research all "leak" threads and articles in forum. Inspect all possible suspects.
2) Remove compression post, lift centerboard housing plate, seal joint surfaces, seal bolt and pole receiver at base
3) Re-bed mast step plate with butyl tape
4) Apply thin laminate on cabin table top (rainwater leak damage repair) Note: I plan on replacing table during a later project.
5) Put a boot cover on mast step area, better covering step and uphaul line opening
6) Reduce screws on cabin sole only to porta-pottie bracket. Upsize stripped porta-potti bracket screws, use 5200 to re-bed.
7) Probe all screw holes on cabin sole with ice pick to confirm they don't penetrate into ballast tank
8) Re-bed bilge and sink through-hull fittings, assure high loop in bilge discharge hose. Test for hose and fitting leaks.
9) Dry and epoxy fill in all bilge pump screw holes. Epoxy entire surface of "bilge pump hump" and sand smooth. Re-install bilge pump strainer with 5200.
10) Use "leaf blower" pressure test for cabin leaks.
11) Pray..... launch boat, ......... pray......inspect ........... pray.....go sailin' and give it a workout .......pray....inspect again...... hopefully, give thanks!

 

[soling42]

Can't imagine how all that effort would possibly come up short. The weather sure has been great for us Fl guys, you'd better get busy.

Good luck, Mike

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Brian;

Again when you work on the boat, feel free to contact me anytime at my personal email which I think you have. What advice is given is based solidly on experience and many repairs. As for the centerboard itself, it weighs about 160 to 175 pounds and it is for directional control to prevent slipping sideways when sailing as it is not a weighted ballast or more commonly called keel.

As for the glass work where the centerboard ss metal housing, it is thick and that plate cannot move; therefore, it would be very rare to see any crack in the glass and believe me I have repaired alot of 26 and 260's and never experienced any cracked glass in that area.

 

[BrianW]

Thanks all for your input. This has been a longer journey than I liked. Hopefully I will fix my "death by a thousand leaks" and continue a great Florida winter sailing season! Thanks again, BrianW

 

[soling42]

Dave, maybe you can put to rest any discussion of the tank lid joint at the hull somehow leaking. While you were out I fielded quite a few questions about whether it was likely that the seam could somehow fail. Reviewing a couple pics from the factory that'd been posted it looks like the lid is initially installed with a thickened resin bond. looking inside my '04 260 bilge it looks like the seal was then finished with glass or matt forging what i'd consider a virtually indestructible seal.

The recent talk of holes drilled anywhere near the center section of the salon floor above the tank seems pretty wild for any owner of a WB boat. Just gotta grin when I think of it...

Haven't ever had the right place to say it but, thanks for your effort in the design of the systems on these boats. From the mast system to the CB, cockpit layout to stowage the 260's a gem. After a few thousand hours of use we certainly have the perfect boat for our use and the insight you gave the design is certainly appreciated. I constantly struggle with what I'd replace it with that isn't just bigger boat envy that'd slowly become an unused, overly complex, expensive dock trophy....so I don't.

Kudos, Mike and Kelli

 

[Tom2909]

Brian, Good luck fixing the leak. I had a particular hard time finding one on my 1999 H260. This may not apply to earlier models. At the stern, the wiring for the stern light was run through a drilled hole and calked. After a few years, I started getting intermittent water in the aft berth. It turned out when a wake or following wave came over the stern it could run through that hole. Caulk solved the problem.

If you keep your boat in salt water for long periods of time, I suggest examining the keel bolt AND the mating nut (that may welded into the swing keel bracket - it is on my boat) for corrosion. When dropping the keel to repair a center board up-haul line, the boat yard noticed corrosion and replaced the bolt, but not the nut. A few months later the nut failed and I have to go through that whole replacement process again. For boats stored in salt water, I suggest planning to replace the centerboard control line and retaining nut and bolt about every 6 years. Don't wait until it fails.

Question for Dave C. Would it make sense to flip the center board retaining nut & bolt so the nut is up inside the boat, protecting the threads from the salt water?

Thank you!

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

I enjoy giving advice and sometimes I may step on toes but I try not to. When advising on a specific question, I ask for a picture as a picture is a worth a thousand words. No thank you is needed as I enjoy sharing with you salty dogs my experience. Feel free to contact me at davecondon@mindspring.com. In the past, I never revealed my dealership and location out of respect for the other dealers. I am located near Raleigh, NC in Zebulon and I am retired but still work on boats as I am now refinishing a 260 for a customer in SC.

The retaining nut is stainless steel. The best grade of stainless is 420. Not sure what Hunter used. I never experience the corrosion on the bolt and retaining nut. That nut of course is welded to the frame of the stainless steel centerboard frame. Here is a suggestion when taking the centerboard out. Sand the centerboard housing. On all metals for bottom painting I used a goo paint and tie coat and then applied bottom paint except for the area where the centerboard swings and the edges where it slides in for the upper half of the edges. I cannot recall the product but it worked well particaulary on high speed props. In addition, I have liberally applied alot of bearing grease to the nut and threads which not only helps to turn the bolt into the nut but acts to prevent that erosion to the nut and bolt. If sanded well, find a bottom paint that might adhere to stainless. It wouold be very difficult to align the bolt if it were in reverse into the slot or opening in the top of the trunk housing. I like it the other way but it is possible. It may be a good idea only if the bolt is 100% welded to the bracket. When putting the bracket back up into the trunk housing, put sealant on top of the bracket.

Now for leaks in the stern. After hard usage over 6-8 years, my suspect would be the gudgeons bolted to the stern having come loose. You would need to remove them, clean and recaulk. The other could be the hull to deck joint that is under water. Here is what I would do in that case.

1. remove the inner insert of the rub rail.
2. take out the screws and remove all old 5200 caulk. Do not get upset if you see
an unusal amount of holes in there.
3. Inspect the underneath of the deck joint for any cracking. If noticed, dremel it out
to the fiberglass of the hull and deck and put in new epoxy sealer. I like Water Tite
as it is great material and not affected by water. It has a long cure but the best I
found to work with. Sand smooth and apply white gel or layer it with krylon white
spray paint. do not worry about matching color as it cannot really be seen.
4. Reattach rub rail liberally using 5200. Do not worry if you use too much which is
better as you can always clean up. Also apply 5200 on the screw threads..
5. Reattach insert. You may need a flat head screw driver to force the second lip in.

For leaks in the compression post base area, make sure the seal around the base plate is intact and make sure you have sealant around the bolt head. In the beginning, Hunter used # 10 screws to hold the compression post from moving but later did away from that as they found it was not needed. They forgot sometimes to put them in and that was a water source leak. They were found in the base of the compression post. If you find a hole, put in a # 10 scre with caulk and there were two one rear and one forward ( pain in the patute to get to)

Any deckside leakes were a pain to find and I usally closed off everything and applied plastic to the companionway taped down of course inserting a leaf blower. When turned on, you are pressurizing the cabin and air will escape. Take a brush in alot of soapy water will generally find them as you are looking for air bubbles around the outside deck with things attached to it.

As for the companionway slider, there are two pieces of teak strips one of cours the handle and the other which is the stopper to prevent the slider from coming out. Take both off and clean any caulk. I used silicon purchased with the west marine brand which is made by siliflex as adhesion is good and will not shrink nor affected by sun. Make sure that you apply a bead of caulk across the entire bottom of both teak pieces to prevent water from going inside the cabin. Also, applly silicon to the screws too.

Ok enough said. Gotta go.

crazy Dave

Mike, you are correct to the bonding of the tank lid. It was backed up with the fiberglass bonding for structural strength because bonding of the tank lid with marine resin commonly called putty was not enough.

 

[soling42]

Twarneke,
When I pulled the CB 18mths ago I was pretty shocked to see the corroded condition of the main 3/4" ss bolt. (see pic). There were no other signs of serious corrosion on the boat and no signs of a lightning strike but that much material missing was pretty alarming. There was no corrosion on the CB bracket either. It's possible that Hunter unknowingly got a bad batch of bolts (or maybe just one, mine) so it's a good idea to check it out sooner than later.

As a side note, Someone here once mentioned using a 16" piece of 3/4" all-thread to re-align the CB bracket bolt into the compression post plate and it's one of the easiest time savers that I used when doing mine. just screw it into the bracket, push the assembly up into the well guided by the all-thread and simply unscrew it from inside to find the hole perfectly aligned for your new mounting bolt.

Mike