My Keel Bolts

Richard10002

Richard10002

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The surveyor was faced with this, which made him suggest that studs were pulled, and at least the backing plates and nuts replaced:

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Stud pulled:

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Looks fine apart from a bit of rust but:

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the thread at the top of the stud is corroded, so I guess the nut would never come off - but woul it ever need to?

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The backing plates have plenty of thickness.

All in all, I am sure that there was no danger whatsoever of the keel falling off for another 15 years and, if I had been able to clean off the studs/nuts/backing plates, as I was starting to do before the Big C struck, a surveyor may have had a different view.

Anyway - given that she is for sale, the issue will be dealt with by the end of next week, so wont be appearing on a buyers survey!! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Hope this is of interest

Richard
 
Looks as though it was time to change those nuts. But that's nothing compared with the cost and frustration of being forced to change perfectly sound rigging -- i.e. perfect condition -- at a cost of many, many thousands, to satisfy insurer/surveyor on the ten year rule.
 
If the thread had corroded at the bottom then I would guess the nut would have to come off. That's often why they use a stud rather than a bolt. I would take it off in any case. It looks bad but I bet it will come off. I would suggest a wire brush on the threads to start with, then a good long soak in penetrating oil or WD40. If it still won't come off then use a blowlamp to heat it red hot then quickly cool the bolt (but not the nut) by spraying water or wd40 on it. Just beware of the bolt twisting rather than the nut turning. I enjoy such a challenge. send it to me /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Oh, and don't forget to apply coppaslip to the threads before you bolt it back together, and use a correctly set torque wrench.
 
Neither studs or nuts appear to be stainless, and replacement is fairly cheap, with the studding sold in yard or metre lengths.
It is just not worth trying to clean up the old studs or remove corroded nuts.
 
Hi Lemain I would disagree about the need to replace rigging wire. I can put you on to 4 different people at my club who have in recent years had rigging wire fail with resultant loss of mast. Sure the rigging was closer to 20+ years old but let go it did. It seems worse on smaller rigging wire size ie 4 or 5 mm. olewill
 
If I pulled my keel bolts and found thread as clean as yours I would be a happy bunny.
The nuts, however, look to have their flats rounded so I would change them. A nut splitter would be my choice as there would be less chance of damaging the thread. The backing plates look ok but would benefit from a wire brushing. Once assembled again put on a couple of coats of Owatrol.
My 2d.
 
Mine is much larger than that and we don't stress it. As a point of interest, where were the failures -- connectors, toggles, the cable itself? Had they all been professional installations? Checked regularly by a rigger? Are most of them keen racers? Just interested to know if a pattern is emerging.
 
If you clean stainless steel with a standard wire brush or file, you leave iron particles behind and they will rust.

Acid treat parts after cleaning and they will look good for years. By the amount of rust in the picture I suspect someone has been drilling inside and the swarf has found it's way into the bilge.

Avagoodweekend......
 
Lemain,

so far as I know there is NO 10 year rule with insurance companies. As a surveyor rigging inspectio is always a nightmare because you cannot foresee failure with a visual observation only unless of course it is obvious.

When I was running the refit side of a boatyard we invested in an electronic rig checking meter which measured the resistance between the wire and the terminal at the point of entry into the swage or talurit in micro ohms. So far as I am aware this, apart from a destructive test, is the only mechanical means of telling whether failure of a wire has happened.

I like most people was sceptical whether this meter would be any good so when we found a potential problem we cut the terminal to inspect the results and sure enough found broken wires.

The only difficulty with doing all this is that if you get an unscrupulous rigger, he will charge for the inspection and then tell you to renew it all anyway!!

So if in doubt change it. If a surveyor inspects it then he or rather his insurance company is taking the risk of a failure occuring and he is bound to err on the cautiuous side. As per the keel bolt studs which was the start of this thread.

I am now a surveyor and can tell you I would have wanted them changed as hindsight when you are in the middle of somewhere miles from anywhere is not worth a lot.
 
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