Stern rail bases - are they hollow?

[berner73]

I'm trying to run wire from below decks up through the vertical stern rail tubing, to a hole I've drilled in the horizontal rail above deck. I have access to the underside of the base and tried drilling a pilot hole but came in contact with the SS base. Before I keep potting holes from underneath, does anyone know if the bases are hollow where the tubing meets the base (vs. a solid platform)? This isn't our boat, but a representative picture of a similar stern rail:

 

[dlochner]

The tubing is hollow and the base is probably a flat piece of SS with the tubing welded to. If the base is through bolted you can use the bolts to locate the center of the mounting plate.

One problem people run into is welding slag inside the tubing. When tubes are welded excess material will sometimes build up inside the tube making it difficult to fish wires through the tube.

 

[berner73]

Thanks, so you believe I'll have to drill through the thickness of the base to enter the hollow tube?

These are just images of stanchion bases, but I'm finding examples online where the hollow tubing extends through the base as well as where it terminates on top of a solid base. Was hoping stern rails were not mounted to a solid base. The base is through bolted and while I have access, it's limited. I don't think I will be able to drill through the base if it's a continuous solid plate, the thickness is ~1/8 to 3/16". I may have to consider a deck gland instead.

 

[capta]

Some are and some are not.

 

[FastOlson]

I'm trying to run wire from below decks up through the vertical stern rail tubing, to a hole I've drilled in the horizontal rail above deck. I have access to the underside of the base and tried drilling a pilot hole but came in contact with the SS base. Before I keep potting holes from underneath, does anyone know if the bases are hollow where the tubing meets the base (vs. a solid platform)? This isn't our boat, but a representative picture of a similar stern rail:

View attachment 184080

Remove the stern rail. You need to drill a half inch (nominal) hole thru the center of the base plate for the section that you want to fish a wire thru.
While that rail is off, over-drill/epoxy pot/re-drill all the bolt holes in all the bases, especially the larger hole you just created for the wiring. You want to totally prevent future core saturation.
You'll need a glop (technical name...) of silicone sealant around the wire when you re-bed the base to stop seepage .
You already thought of this, but do chamfer the hole in the tubing very well to prevent chafe of the new wire/cable. I like a small grinding bit on a Dremel tool and a shortened 'chain saw file' in a drill chuck works well also.
Like all (!) boat projects.... the prep takes 50% of the time, actual work takes 20%, and the cleanup takes 25%. The remaining 5% is reserved for the congratulatory microbrew!


Edit: there are ample advice sources like U-Tube for drilling SS.
Simple procedure, and it does takes a bit of technique.

 

[Rick Webb]

Maybe, I ran wires through mine

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

If your pushpit rail is exactly the same as your representative picture, the rails are custom made by the boat manufacturer. The prefabbed bases as shown in your post #3 would never work on a custom job.

Sooooooooooooooo, your base is a solid SS plate. Same as mine when I ran the GPS antennae wire through the rail. Your best bet for drilling the SS plate is to purchase a new, good quality bit and drill away. The trick with SS is to always exert a good amount of force to avoid rubbing the SS and work hardening the surface. Once that happens, you've got problems that will best be solved by using a smaller pilot hole. With enough putzing around, you'll definitely get through it.

Once through, watch the welding of the intersecting tubing to ensure you're not trying to push the wire through a tube wall. Good luck.

BTW, don't remove the pulpit unless absolutely necessary. You won't believe how wildly out of shape they are compared to the shape of the hull and deck. It took myself and two other people to re-install a rail that had been removed for repairs.

 

[Capt jgw]

Drill at slow speed with lots of lube, and carbide bits. Removing the base and using a drill press would be the easiest for the drilling part, but as said above putting it back together might not go so well.

 

[FastOlson]

Other have had interesting experiences with their pulpits. Ours are off now for polishing, and with the bolts out they sit there, aligned perfectly.
Perhaps the other posters have boats that were previously hit and damaged, and these SS parts were forced back into place. (?)

 

[dlochner]

Other have had interesting experiences with their pulpits. Ours are off now for polishing, and with the bolts out they sit there, aligned perfectly.
Perhaps the other posters have boats that were previously hit and damaged, and these SS parts were forced back into place. (?)

Boat building is not a precise art. I wouldn't be surprised to find that some parts have been "coached" into compliance with the design, especially parts like pushpits and pulpits which tend to be outsourced to SS fabricators.

There is a pretty good chance that White Water Marine made the pushpit. They have the designs and specs for a large number of production boats. Contacting them might be more fruitful.

 

[berner73]

Thanks everyone for the input, to the person it was all spot on. To provide some closure on this thread:

Thought about removing the entire stern rail but decided to exhaust other options before taking that on. The boat is on a mooring and we're actively sailing her as much as possible.

The SS plate turned out to be solid across it's footprint and ~3/16" in thickness. Even though access was very restricted, finding center was easy as I could see the 3 through bolts from underneath. Using fresh bits and cutting paste, I was able to get a 1/8" pilot bit up through the plate after first drilling through the glass, core and gelcoat (happy to see that the core was in excellent condition). The drilled glass and core worked well as a guide path to hold the bit so it didn't wander when the initial pilot hole was tapped through the SS plate. After that, I just increased the bit size in 6 increments from 1/8" to 3/8", vacuuming it out after each pass. Using a variable speed drill, I kept the speed as low as practical. Per Maine Sail's tutorial, I removed ~1/4" of surrounding core in the newly hollowed out hole. I used a dremel and micro router bit. It's been over filled with neat and then slightly thickened epoxy from below using a syringe and tape. Will re-drill tomorrow then countersink the epoxy from below and fish the wire. Before filling with epoxy, I did a test run on fishing the wire from below decks, pushing the wire up through the stern rail. I'm sure this will jinx the final install, but I was surprised how easily the wire traveled up through the tube, around the bend above decks and up to the hole I made in the horizontal rail. Nothing ever goes that smoothly when working on a boat.

As an aside, to drill the hole in the horizontal stern rail tubing above decks I used a tip posted somewhere on the net. Using a dremel and cutoff disc, I scored two short and shallow perpendicular cuts to form a "+" in the SS. The pilot drill bit into that immediately without wandering at all. Not my idea, but a very cool trick for drilling into tubular steel.

All of this effort is to install a small 30W solar panel to maintain the battery while on a mooring. To FastOlson's point, 3 weeks into this project and 95% of the time has been spent researching, planning, modeling the panel brackets, ordering supplies and prepping the boat. All for a few watts of power a day... but that's for a separate post.

Thanks again everyone

 

[berner73]

Boat building is not a precise art. I wouldn't be surprised to find that some parts have been "coached" into compliance with the design, especially parts like pushpits and pulpits which tend to be outsourced to SS fabricators.

There is a pretty good chance that White Water Marine made the pushpit. They have the designs and specs for a large number of production boats. Contacting them might be more fruitful.

Bookmarked! Thanks.

 

[shemandr]

... To FastOlsen's point, 3 weeks into this project and 95% of the time has been spent researching, planning, modeling the panel brackets, ordering supplies and prepping the boat. All for a few watts of power a day... but that's for a separate post.

Thanks again everyone

I think Abe Lincoln said if he had to cut down a tree, he would spend most of the time sharpening the axe - or something like that.

 

[dlochner]

I think Abe Lincoln said if he had to cut down a tree, he would spend most of the time sharpening the axe - or something like that.

In the Adirondacks there is a tale about a lumberjack competition where one guy ferociously chops wood while the old geezer spends time sharpening his axe. The geezer won.

Moral of the story, old guys know stuff.