I need some help folks. Tonight after installing a new battery selector switch, we cranked the power on and as a result the (2) 75 amp AGM batteries blew the vents and vented a cloud of sulfuric acid gas. I switched the selector to off and exited the boat with my son who was helping me at the time. We stood outside and waited to let the gas disperse, we soon noticed that more smoke seemed to be coming from the open hatch. It was difficult to see into the rear berth with the gas still issuing from the boat, but I managed to hold my breath and peek inside. The selector switch mounted to the rear berth bulk head had shorted out and was on fire, I grabed the fire extinguisher and gave it the full bottle. It appeared that the fire was out, but there was no way to crawl inside to be sure. I asked (real fast) for my wife to call the local fire department and continued to look for any additional signs of flame or heat. I was lucky as my wife came back out to help she noticed that the cockpit floor was starting to heat up, we quickly disconnected the under cockpit floor gas tank and pulled it off to the side. The Fire Department arrived and entered the rear berth area and disconnected the battery cables with the aid of a Airpac. The remaining smolder was put out and they declared all safe. Now the major problem. I have fire damage to the rear berth compartment fiberglass, the rear berth headliner, the underside of the cockpit floor and smoke and water damage to the entire interior. The fiberglass inside is blackened and burnt and the exterior on the floor tank well and the cockpit floor is blistered enough to have cracked and peeled the Gelcoat. Only the Lord knows how much damage was done to the wiring system and the outboard wiring. The final question. I am fully insured and plan to file a claim in the morning. Followinng the adjustment process, how do I find a company to do the repairs. This boat has a one piece fiberglass headliner and I am really worried about the repairs to the cockpit area. Hopefully, someone has a recommendation of a company in Florida that is capable of performing this scope of work. Sorry for any spelling errors, it's late and has been a hard night. TIA for any input or recommedations. J. R. Setser
Help, Fire Onboard
- Thread starter jsetser
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Surveyor
First, the insurance company will largely guide you through this process. That's what they do. The only suggestion I'd make is to check around locally and hire a surveyor representing soley yourself to shadow the process. It shouldn't cost much. Meanwhile, get some sleep and don't worry about what will be done or how just yet. If they fix it, it will look good and be structurally sound. And, you will probably have new upholstery, new wiring and a spotless boat. If the repair cost exceeds the value... well, that's why you had hull insurance to begin with. Sorry you have to go through this but it will work out. Rick D.
First, the insurance company will largely guide you through this process. That's what they do. The only suggestion I'd make is to check around locally and hire a surveyor representing soley yourself to shadow the process. It shouldn't cost much. Meanwhile, get some sleep and don't worry about what will be done or how just yet. If they fix it, it will look good and be structurally sound. And, you will probably have new upholstery, new wiring and a spotless boat. If the repair cost exceeds the value... well, that's why you had hull insurance to begin with. Sorry you have to go through this but it will work out. Rick D.
Thanks Rick
Thanks Rick, I want to thank you for a great response, I'll take your advice and get some sleep. I hope it will be better tomorrow. You kind words were what I needed. Once again, Thank you. J.R.Setser
Thanks Rick, I want to thank you for a great response, I'll take your advice and get some sleep. I hope it will be better tomorrow. You kind words were what I needed. Once again, Thank you. J.R.Setser
Smoke-X works well for the smoke smell.
Scrape the potato chipped gel coat with a scraper then sand it roughly. If it is really hard to get off, just fair it off with a sander. Always wear a mask. Soft scrub will get the lightly scorched surfaces clean or at least relatively so. I made a fairing coat out of West System epoxy with a light filler and a white colorant and applied that with a wide putty knife. Epoxy is more expensive but I find it a lot faster and easier to work with. Sand and paint it again with polyurethane paint for a finish coat. We sprayed Smoke-X into the headliner spaces. And that worked really well. We used a garden pressure sprayer with a wand to get it into all of the spaces we could not get to easily. You may want to cut 2-3 inch diameter access holes to give you some other ways into it. You can spray some paint into these areas too after it all dries. If the smoke smell is still a problem, you might try to find some company which does "hot fogging". I think we were told that they use some kind of Kentucky rye grass to kill the burned plastic smell. Your cushions are a subject which I cannot address since we just replaced ours. Take my advice and the opportunity and replace them with something really nice. For wiring, I pulled out the old wires which may be difficult. The wiring in our 1991 boat was fixed with cable ties glued to the headliner. I pulled really hard until it would snap loose one tie at a time and if it would not, I would make another access hole to get it out. Do not pull it out completely until you put in some pull rope to help route the new wiring or rather the conduit. I put all of the new wires inside of some all plastic flex conduit. In some cases it was easier to pull the conduit first and then the wire inside that. You can lubricate the wires as well as the conduit itself before you pull it using soap. The access holes help in the wiring process too. You can add a few outlets while you are at it if you want to at this point. We had to replace all of our ports but that was fairly easy except for the glued in side lights which took a little time. If you have those to do, use the proper adhesive. Ours was Dow 795 but you can check with the boat maker. Make sure you keep the old burned parts which you can use as a pattern for the replacements. I just used the old part double stick taped it to the new material and used a router with an edge trimming bit. It makes a plastic snow storm so be prepared for that and do it somewhere outside. To drill holes in plexiglass, you should take the drill bits you intend to use and modify the tips with a stone so the cutting edge is perpendicular instead of raked. Drill slowly so it does not get too hot. The biggest problem we have had is to find replacement latches for the ports and the trim rings which melted into little plastic stalactites. Best to get the insurance to cover all new ports and just use them for parts you need. It seems to be cheaper in the long run at least it was for us. Hope this helps. You did not say what kind of boat so some of this may not apply. Ours is a Hunter.
Scrape the potato chipped gel coat with a scraper then sand it roughly. If it is really hard to get off, just fair it off with a sander. Always wear a mask. Soft scrub will get the lightly scorched surfaces clean or at least relatively so. I made a fairing coat out of West System epoxy with a light filler and a white colorant and applied that with a wide putty knife. Epoxy is more expensive but I find it a lot faster and easier to work with. Sand and paint it again with polyurethane paint for a finish coat. We sprayed Smoke-X into the headliner spaces. And that worked really well. We used a garden pressure sprayer with a wand to get it into all of the spaces we could not get to easily. You may want to cut 2-3 inch diameter access holes to give you some other ways into it. You can spray some paint into these areas too after it all dries. If the smoke smell is still a problem, you might try to find some company which does "hot fogging". I think we were told that they use some kind of Kentucky rye grass to kill the burned plastic smell. Your cushions are a subject which I cannot address since we just replaced ours. Take my advice and the opportunity and replace them with something really nice. For wiring, I pulled out the old wires which may be difficult. The wiring in our 1991 boat was fixed with cable ties glued to the headliner. I pulled really hard until it would snap loose one tie at a time and if it would not, I would make another access hole to get it out. Do not pull it out completely until you put in some pull rope to help route the new wiring or rather the conduit. I put all of the new wires inside of some all plastic flex conduit. In some cases it was easier to pull the conduit first and then the wire inside that. You can lubricate the wires as well as the conduit itself before you pull it using soap. The access holes help in the wiring process too. You can add a few outlets while you are at it if you want to at this point. We had to replace all of our ports but that was fairly easy except for the glued in side lights which took a little time. If you have those to do, use the proper adhesive. Ours was Dow 795 but you can check with the boat maker. Make sure you keep the old burned parts which you can use as a pattern for the replacements. I just used the old part double stick taped it to the new material and used a router with an edge trimming bit. It makes a plastic snow storm so be prepared for that and do it somewhere outside. To drill holes in plexiglass, you should take the drill bits you intend to use and modify the tips with a stone so the cutting edge is perpendicular instead of raked. Drill slowly so it does not get too hot. The biggest problem we have had is to find replacement latches for the ports and the trim rings which melted into little plastic stalactites. Best to get the insurance to cover all new ports and just use them for parts you need. It seems to be cheaper in the long run at least it was for us. Hope this helps. You did not say what kind of boat so some of this may not apply. Ours is a Hunter.
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