Repair Bulkhead Bond

[Rick D]

The tabbing on one side of my forward bulkhead has come loose. Should I use polyester or epoxy to re-bond it? Is it necessary to remove all the old tabbing or can I put new cloth over the old?

 

[TedsSailingPage]

epoxy

should do the trick. Make sure to mix in some adhesive filler. Leave it fairly loose, so it will flow under the tab.Regards,Ted

 

[Bruce Niederer]

Bulkhead tabbing repair

I would recommend removing the existing delaminated tabbing and then making the repair. The reason is that by simply re-bonding the tabbing with epoxy, assuming that proper surface prep is even possible to both bonding surfaces, the epoxy bond may eventually force a failure into the other side of the tabbing and you're back where you started. By removing the tabbing and properly preping the bonding surfaces, then applying a fresh fillet with thickened epoxy and laminating a new tabbing in you can have confidence that the repair will last. I suggest using a biaxial tape for the tabbing - it lays down better over the fillet and all the fibers participate in the strength. With a woven cloth half the fibers (the ones running paralell to the bulkhead) do not help the strength of the tabbing.

 

[TT]

Where do we get the T-shirt?

Rick - I've a '78 O'Day 27 and am in the process of replacing f'glass tabbing in several areas where the builder obviously hadn't bothered to prep the surface of the hull laminate properly before slapping on some tabbing. My fuel tank base was fabricated from plywood and tabbed to the hull: as there was delamination etc of the wood (the edge-grain was never sealed before installation ) I decided to build a new base, and was amazed to find the original tabbing could be popped off with a 6" bar. Further investigation showed that this was the case in other areas too.I guess this is just symptomatic of cost-cutting where low-end production boats are involved. Naturally I'm both pissed-off and a bit worried as to where the mickey-mouse work stops, but the hull laminate itself seems OK.I would definitely recommend replacing any tabbing that shows signs of peeling off. Get the surfaces as clean as you can & follow Bruces' good advice. Remember to ventilate the boat well : I'd hate to find out the hard way that the fumes of acetone or other solvents have created an explosive mixture in the bilge.