Leaking Port

[shemandr]

I just notice some leakage of the Starboard port on my H356. This particular port is in the hull on this boat.
I see some screws on the inside which I assume remove the plastic trim cover. I'm expecting to find some sort of attachement hardware when that is removed and hopefully the port will be easily removed from the inside.
Is this correct?
What product is Rx'ed to reseal the port?
Is there a way to remove the water mark on the interior woodwork?

 

[Neil McDonald]

I strongly suspect that the screws that you are looking at actually attach the flange on the body of the port to the hull and that the plastic trim ring is actually on the outside. Carefully pry the trim off from the outside with a putty knife then remove the internal screws and the port should then be removable inwards. Before cleaning and replacing it, make sure that there is enough space around the edges of the port barrel to permit the nozzle of the sealant tube to be inserted to inject sealant. Make your own judgment on this but I would suspect that a minimum of at least 1/4" is needed. Lack of space here leading to inadequate sealing was why mine leaked. If necessary use sabre saw to open up the hole in the hull. Depending upon what you find when you examine this hole, you may also want to consider using fibreglass to seal any space between the inner and out skins. I use Dow 795 as the sealant of choice. You may need a new external trim ring which are readily available and are simply "glued' in place with sealant.

 

[Steve Dion]

Those ports in the hull are usually NOT held in place with screws and may only be for the attachment of the trim.

I just resealed my large acrylic window. I removed all of the caulking (Dow 795) that I could without removing the actual window. Cleaned it up with alcohol and then masked the area and re-caulked. It appears to have corrected the problem.

Removing these ports can be problematic, but not impossible. That is why I tried the resealing before trying to R/R the unit.

You may want to try just using some teak oil on the stained area to see how that works, otherwise you will probably need to bleach, stain and refinish the area.

 

[Hermit Scott]

The best thing to do is fill them in. Then they won't leak any more.

 

[higgs]

For the water damage in the cabin you have to determine if the interior is varnished or oiled. Either way, you will need to sand the area smooth - 220 grit - and apply the appropriate covering. You will probably, for at least a while, be able to see the area you repaired.

 

[shemandr]

Update on the leaking port: I removed the trim screws on the inside and it appears the trim is holding to the hull with adhesive - it won't come off without prying which may damage the wood around it. I noted 2 screws on the outside and a bead of black sealent on the outside. Should I forget about the inside, remove the screws and try to remove the acrylic (Or whatever the lens material is) to re-seal it? Incidentally, a casual look at the port from outside revealed no gap or defect in the seal. But I was hanging over the gunnel with blood rushing to my already too high blood pressured head. So it wasn't a real close inspection. Where else could water make an intrusion?

 

[Ctskip]

To hopefully find a water leak takes two people. One inside and the other with hose in hand outside. Start low and work your way up. It sounds like you found the leak by evidence of the stain beneath the port hole. I would find a slip with a finger or a good dingy and remove the porthole entirely, clean all old sealer off, reseal with 3M 4200, then reinstall. Some like to use butyl tape for sealing purposes.
Don't tighten completely or you'll squeeze most of the sealer out. Tighten about 50% of the way, wait overnight for the sealer to harden, then torque down evenly and snugly. Clean up and you are done for another 5 to 10 yrs. Do a search and find other opinions on this subject.

As for where else water will make a intrusion?
Anywhere there's a hole in the fiberglass.

Keep it up,
Ctskip

 

[Hermit Scott]

To hopefully find a water leak takes two people. One inside and the other with hose in hand outside. Start low and work your way up. It sounds like you found the leak by evidence of the stain beneath the port hole. I would find a slip with a finger or a good dingy and remove the porthole entirely, clean all old sealer off, reseal with 3M 4200, then reinstall. Some like to use butyl tape for sealing purposes.
Don't tighten completely or you'll squeeze most of the sealer out. Tighten about 50% of the way, wait overnight for the sealer to harden, then torque down evenly and snugly. Clean up and you are done for another 5 to 10 yrs. Do a search and find other opinions on this subject.

As for where else water will make a intrusion?
Anywhere there's a hole in the fiberglass.

Keep it up,
Ctskip

If you are going to do the retorque method, only turn the nuts on the inside. If you turn the bolt heads from the outside you break the seal you just waited over night to cure. If you can't tighten it from the inside I would not retorque them after they cure.

I agree that you should take it out and reseal it. If you don't have to remove the trim ring on the inside then don't. If you do you can get a nice sharp 3/4" or 1" chisel and carefully start pushing in from around the ring to separate it from the interior woodwork.

 

[Ctskip]

I am not familiar with port holes having thru bolts. Mine are opening Bomar and are screwed through the trim ring, then through the layer of fiberglass into the core material (which happens to be wood) with like 10 screws all from the inside. The outside trim ring is sealed and adhered to the outside layer of fiberglass with no attachment devices showing what so ever. It's held by the adhesive/sealer only
I would work carefully and continue to remove the port hole. As for removing the plexi... Now thats another animal all together. I would think if you were to remove the plexi , it would be best if you removed the entire assembly and then remove the plexi on a work bench.
Have you tried to find, as close as possible, where the leak is? I know that is sometimes an impossible task, but if it were leaking around the plexi, I would think it might be easier to locate the point of intrusion. You are correct in that prying will almost definitely harm the wood . Use a thin scraper (putty knife) and work it around the entire trim ring both inside and out. Remove all screws. Very little prying might be needed. You might do better to push from the outside, once the outside trim ring is off. Keep us updated. You do know we like pictures
Hermit. Good point as to what one really torques, and turning any bolt would most certainly break any seal it had around it.

Keep it up,
Ctskip

 

[Hermit Scott]

I was thinking of the new found metals ports. I believe they bolt all the way through.