I've got an '81 CD 33 sloop that has an area of delamination in the deck approximatley 1 sqr-ft at the stantion gate and another near the shrouds. Anybody been thru this, what'd you find, how to fix? If the core is wet but not rotted, how do you dry it?
K
Deck delam/moisture CD33 or 36
Moderator: Jim Walsh
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Matt Cawthorne
Re: Deck delam/moisture CD33 or 36
Kathy,
My CD-36 Had a delamination near the lifeline gate when purchased 5 years ago. It was dry so I had the yard drill holes and inject adhesive. If you have moisture the first thing that you have to do is find the source. It will do no good to dry the core and re-bond it only to have water get at it again. I have been wondering whether to start pulling the stanchions and re-bedding them to prevent this sort of thing.
When purchased the boat had significant moisture and skin-core separation in the cockpit around the emergency tiller access plate. I ended up removing the access plate and exposing the core. I my case the core was questionable for an inch or so around the access plate and wet much deeper than that. I hooked up a vacuum pump and tried to draw out the water that way. I may have removed a cup of water that way, but the core was still wet. The trick that dried it in the end was to hook up a ceramic heater to blow hot/dry air across the relatively small exposed area of the core. I think a hair dryer would do the trick. The smaller the exposed area the longer the drying time. I just let the heater do it's thing for about 8 hours and the core seemed to remain dry. The next day the surface of the core was still dry. I then spoiled away an inch or two of core. Until the remaining core was deemed sound. The missing material was filled back in with West system epoxy mixed with filler. When cured I used a small drill mounted rotary sander to smooth the edges of the hole and then re-bedded the access plate. Water can no longer get in around the access plate.
I used a similar process around the fuel filler cap and waste pumpout fitting. Spoiling away core and filling the edge back in is important even if the core is still sound. Go farther than the screw holes. The reason for doing this is that it can be guaranteed that the sealant will break down some day. Filling in the edge with epoxy will keep the hole from letting moisture into the core. This is actually a good process for any place that a hole is drilled into the core.
Try drilling into the core from the inside of the boat. If the core that is on the end of your drill bit is dry then the fix would be to inject epoxy. If it is wet then you will need to expose more area to dry it out.
Good luck
Matt
mcawthor@bellatlantic.net
My CD-36 Had a delamination near the lifeline gate when purchased 5 years ago. It was dry so I had the yard drill holes and inject adhesive. If you have moisture the first thing that you have to do is find the source. It will do no good to dry the core and re-bond it only to have water get at it again. I have been wondering whether to start pulling the stanchions and re-bedding them to prevent this sort of thing.
When purchased the boat had significant moisture and skin-core separation in the cockpit around the emergency tiller access plate. I ended up removing the access plate and exposing the core. I my case the core was questionable for an inch or so around the access plate and wet much deeper than that. I hooked up a vacuum pump and tried to draw out the water that way. I may have removed a cup of water that way, but the core was still wet. The trick that dried it in the end was to hook up a ceramic heater to blow hot/dry air across the relatively small exposed area of the core. I think a hair dryer would do the trick. The smaller the exposed area the longer the drying time. I just let the heater do it's thing for about 8 hours and the core seemed to remain dry. The next day the surface of the core was still dry. I then spoiled away an inch or two of core. Until the remaining core was deemed sound. The missing material was filled back in with West system epoxy mixed with filler. When cured I used a small drill mounted rotary sander to smooth the edges of the hole and then re-bedded the access plate. Water can no longer get in around the access plate.
I used a similar process around the fuel filler cap and waste pumpout fitting. Spoiling away core and filling the edge back in is important even if the core is still sound. Go farther than the screw holes. The reason for doing this is that it can be guaranteed that the sealant will break down some day. Filling in the edge with epoxy will keep the hole from letting moisture into the core. This is actually a good process for any place that a hole is drilled into the core.
Try drilling into the core from the inside of the boat. If the core that is on the end of your drill bit is dry then the fix would be to inject epoxy. If it is wet then you will need to expose more area to dry it out.
Good luck
Matt
Kathy wrote: I've got an '81 CD 33 sloop that has an area of delamination in the deck approximatley 1 sqr-ft at the stantion gate and another near the shrouds. Anybody been thru this, what'd you find, how to fix? If the core is wet but not rotted, how do you dry it?
K
mcawthor@bellatlantic.net
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Ryan T
Re: Deck delam/moisture CD33 or 36
If you've got delamination occurring around your shrouds be sure to check your chain plates for rust. Earlier posts on this board describe very serious problems that others have found with the mild steel used by Cape Dory rusting into pieces. Without solid chain plates, dismasting is possible. Use the search engine to look into these earlier posts. Good luck.
Ryan T
s/v Zenobia
CD33 hull no. 100
rdtec@aol.com
Ryan T
s/v Zenobia
CD33 hull no. 100
rdtec@aol.com