Vaseline for the balers

Greenheart

Greenheart

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My old steel balers do basically work, but at least one of them has had a bad knock at some time, and doesn't fit flush when shut.

Not a problem at speed when they're open, but even before we'd climbed in, I could see that in the 'up' position, there was a fair trickle bubbling up through both balers.

SWMBO suggested a trip to a tidal river, and a picnic at anchor. Nice plan (I didn't mention that I'll have to buy an anchor), but I'll expect the water to find cracks when we're stationary.

Will vaseline do it? Not to sound too innocent, but I haven't even seen the stuff for twenty-five years. And doesn't it make the balers stick in the shut position?

I can visualise a horrid picnic, awash in a river of greasy brine. :(
 
Can you not bend your bent bailer back into shape?

I guess vaseline might help with a very small leak. Certainly it shouldn't do any harm.

You can still buy vaseline in chemists' or supermarkets, though I must admit the pot on the shelf in my shed is the same one I had at school for greasing my ears when playing rugby. I think I would get a new one if ever needed for bodily purposes though!

[pedant]A baler is used for picking up hay and straw and compressing it into blocks[/pedant] :)

Pete
 
If it's an Elvstrom - probably is - there are service kits with new seals etc, but if the thing's visibly bent it will need more than that.

For this proposed trip could you seal it with something like neoprene / waxed string / whatever and rely on the other one ?
 
I bought a new pot of Vaseline yesterday! After I changed the battery on SWMBO's car I thought it a good idea to smear the terminals with the stuff but she wouldn't let me put it back in the cabinet as it now had oily marks on the surface and insisted I replace it! The old stuff had been there years.
 
Buy new bailers if they are bent. Damaged bailers cause a disproportionate amount of misery especially on light wind sailing days: nice camera, soaked; dry fleece for when it gets chilly, wet; floor too wet to place sandwich box on, balance on the edge, tip overboard, hungry. It does not make any sense to daub vaseline onto ones that have had a "bad knock". Chnage them out for new ones.
 
prv said:
You can still buy vaseline in chemists' or supermarkets...I had (it) at school for greasing my ears when playing rugby.

A baler is used for picking up hay and straw and compressing it into blocks :)
Click to expand...

Thanks Pete...I thought quite long and hard before spelling it that way, so I'm duly contrite.

Although, a conversation combining "long and hard" is probably a Peter Griffin cue for a laugh, especially as the subject is vaseline...is Nimbus following this thread?

...never thought about using it on the ears, though...that's more Meg Griffin, I think...:rolleyes:

I bought a mastic-pump and a tube of basic bathroom sealant, after various people spoke disparagingly about Sikaflex. I suppose I could use mastic to fill any gaping cracks around the bailer cavity, as it's flexible enough to squeeze tight when the gap is shut. I'll buy an Elvstrom service kit if that fails.

Oh dear...gaping cavities...it's a Quagmire moment, too.
 
The gaps aren't really wide open when the bailers are raised. It was certainly very slow sailing, and I'd say less than a gallon came aboard in 3/4 of an hour.

BlowingOldBoots said:
Buy new bailers if they are bent. Damaged bailers cause a disproportionate amount of misery especially on light wind sailing days...Change them out for new ones.
Click to expand...

I remember the Topper bailer had a clever triangular 'clicker' which locked the bailer in the shut position. The metal ones aboard the Osprey don't lock shut, so perhaps some leakage is inevitable.

At £50 for replacements, I have other, higher priorities. If it's a real problem I have SWMBO for bailing, with a bucket. She's little enough use at tending the genoa sheet.

That's a sure recipe for future singlehanding, isn't it... :rolleyes:
 
It will probably be the best £50 spent. Believe me Dan, I have cruised lots in a dinghy on the Clyde and wet soles can make a misery of a cruise. I guarantee that after a few sails you will see my point. Space is at a premium on a dinghy if you are cruising about with cruising about stuff e.g. a picnic.
 
dancrane said:
...never thought about using it on the ears, though
Click to expand...

Well, you probably didn't have to insert your head between two jostling backsides clad in rough canvas, on a regular basis, did you? Other options were to tape one's ears to one's head with electrical tape, or wear one of those girly scrum-caps, but the vaseline always worked fine for me.

dancrane said:
I bought a mastic-pump and a tube of basic bathroom sealant, after various people spoke disparagingly about Sikaflex. I suppose I could use mastic to fill any gaping cracks around the bailer cavity, as it's flexible enough to squeeze tight when the gap is shut. I'll buy an Elvstrom service kit if that fails.
Click to expand...

Dunno why anyone would be disparaging about Sikaflex, though it's probably overkill on the Lime-Green Torpedo (does the boat have a name, by the way?). Presumably your "mastic" is silicone? You don't really want to glue the bailers closed with it, but if you let it set first it forms a kind of custom-fitted rubber O-ring. What I've done in the past (with a deck hatch that had lost its sealing ring) was to squirt in the silicone, place cling-film on top to prevent it sticking, then close the hatch very lightly to press it into shape (you don't want to squeeze it all out, there needs to be enough to compress when the hatch is closed). Then you open the hatch again while it sets. Perhaps you could do something similar on the sealing face of your scoops?

Pete
 
BlowingOldBoots said:
It will probably be the best £50 spent. I guarantee that after a few sails you will see my point.
Click to expand...

I do, already. If only money were gushing like water, I'd need no persuading.

I can see it is worth spending on, though...after all, calm days are some of my favourites, and a completely sealed bailer is the only way forward if I intend rowing/camping aboard.
 
When I bought the Wayfarer it had a home made bailer which may be a good idea for you. It consisted of a stiff section of GRP slightly larger that the bailer hole in the hull, a sheet of neoprene glued onto it and a smaller section of GRP that fitted inside the bailer hole; all three items were screwed together. The leading edge was bolted through the hull and acted as a hinge. A bit of string was tied onto a horse shoe eyelet near the centre of inner bit of GRP. The string was pulled taught and fastened to the thwart when the flap bailer had to be closed. The hinge was really to stop the flap falling away, the string tension caused the seal. It worked well and was water tight. So you could do something similar in the short to medium term.
 
prv said:
You don't really want to glue the bailers closed with it, but if you let it set first it forms a kind of custom-fitted rubber O-ring.
Click to expand...

No offence intended, re. rugger. I remember the ear-pain, too. Never thought of a sex-wax-solution...:rolleyes:

The boat was called Nimbus, amusingly enough. At least, that's what the traces of 15" high lettering spell, which I'll be trying to remove with rubbing compound, come the winter.

Somebody who replied to my sealant thread on PBO, mentioned that Sikaflex 291 was basically an overpriced version
of B&Q's basic bathroom grade. I hope that's not the case, because I used it to glue a hardwood batten to my thwart as reinforcement, and so far it seems very solid...but elsewhere I used Sika to glue a plastic panel over an old hole in a bulkhead, and the plastic hasn't stuck at all well. It was too smooth to key on to, I expect.

What you suggest about silicone sealant forming a custom 'O'-ring, is exactly what I had in mind. So that if there's a half-millimeter which doesn't meet, the rubbery mastic will seal it.

The damaged bailer isn't a disaster, but the dropping section has had its hinge twisted slightly, and the steel section doesn't retract cleanly. I'd have had it out like a shot if it seemed a real hazard. It's just a nuisance.

Part of the odd modification by a previous owner, was the removal of the rear cockpit bulkhead so that if serious quantities of water come aboard, they can rush back to the transom and out through some cobbled-together transom flaps. They'll be another winter project - I'd prefer the type which can be sealed shut, rather than just bendy bits of formica, elasticated to keep the worst out, and taped onto the big transom holes.
 
BlowingOldBoots said:
When I bought the Wayfarer it had a home made bailer which may be a good idea for you...
Click to expand...

I really admire the sense and practicality of anyone who can apply such a solution, but I don't trust my own technique. Considering how long even the simplest jobs have already taken me, if I do replace the bailers, I'll rely on earning, payment and a retail solution! It'll just be quicker. Thanks for the thought though.
 
Quick fix for the picnic trip:- Duct tape over the bailers on the outside of the hull and buy one of these:-

Bailer.jpg


Oh and get a sponge too!
 
DJE said:
Bailer.jpg

...and get a sponge too!
Click to expand...

Thanks, that is a good plan. Duct tape is already my best buddy on the boat. I regret the implication of decrepitude, but it's the perfect solution for so many temporary repairs.

A bailer, too. I often wonder why a 5-litre version isn't available of the same design - how many floors/decks are curved like the average bucket?

Eliminating the bailers with tape is certainly an option, considering I have the transom flaps, if suddenly flooded.
 
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