Water in Rudder

A

alec

Well-Known Member
Joined
16 Sep 2003
Messages
825
Location
East Coast
Visit site
I have a hollow grp rudder , moulded in two parts weeping water.

It is not gushing out and is about half way down the length of the rudder which is about 5 feet long.

About five year's ago I had the same problem and drilled a couple of holes and made repairs. I remember this particular hole that I repaired with epoxy but reckon that it was never dry enough to repair anyway, despite waiting about 5 month's.

What do you think about filling the rudder with acetone or meths to dry it out ?

Also, what's the best way to repair the drilled holes when they have done their job ?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts or ideas.
 
With metal stocks and grp blades this is a common problem, they both expand and contract at different rates and therefore crackThe only ones that I have seen dry are all carbon rudders ie stock and blade.
 
If you have access to electricity, construct a tent and leave a fan heater running. Drill holes at the top as well as the drain at the bottom.
 
Would not advise Acetone to carry the water out, it may do more damage if trapped in pocket.

Metho will help but will only aid the removal of surface moisture and getting to reach all areas is a hit and miss procedure.

It MUST be dry or you will be doing the whole thing again in no time at all, or so will seem.

If I was repairing this rudder I would do the following:

Grind off the the first 40mm of glass at the interface between the stock and the top of the rudder. Get 2 or 3 '0' rings and slip them over the shaft with a dab of Vaseline under and between them, clean up so no contamination is outside the rings, then glass them in and finish relaying using epoxy resin throughout.

To dry the rudder, first clean out the inside by rinsing with lots of fresh water to remove the salt deposits.

Then on one side only drill 6mm holes on a 60mm grid pattern, plus a couple of drain holes. Now dry the fibreglass, you can cover one half with a plastic sheet taped air tight and direct warm air in, the holes at the top will let it and the moisture out, the exhaust from a vacuum cleaner is good for this, just don't use the wife's expensive one.

When dry, get hold of a couple of disposable plastic syringes, most chemist shops have them, cheap too. If you mix a small amount of resin with "Closed Cell" balloons and inject them starting at the bottom, you will see the level through the pre drilled 6mm holes, tape them up as you go. when full allow to cure overnight. Do not rush this because you will notice some heat will be generated by the curing resin, and we don't want it getting too hot do we.

After filling and curing use the drill to make the holes about as deep as the glass, mix some epoxy resin and mix in some Micro-Fibres, push this into the holes and wipe any high spots, this stuff goes very hard when cured so save yourself some hard sanding.

You should now have belts and braces, a reduced risk of water entry and a barrier if it tries to get in.

I hope this helps.

Avagoodweekend......

Seasons Greetings to all.
 
had this problem on my first boat. holes drilled into the hollow part of the rudder allowed much of the liquid to drain then I removed the rudder , took it homw, and stored it in the airing cupboard over the winter. It was certainly dry enough after that for me to fill the holes with epoxy and to epoxy round the stainless / grp join and didnt lead to a divorce either.

neither acetone not meths would help. the best repair would involve splitting the rudder halves and then washing out with fresh water and drying. but you may think this is going too far. the risk you have is of corrosion of the stainless steel within the rudder and the shaft then turning within the blade.

I have a moisture meter and have in the past used it on other club members boats. I have never come across one with a completely dry rudder. so to my mind its a case of do your best but dont worry - "they all do that" to varying degrees.
 
[ QUOTE ]

Then on one side only drill 6mm holes on a 60mm grid pattern, plus a couple of drain holes. Now dry the fibreglass, you can cover one half with a plastic sheet taped air tight and direct warm air in, the holes at the top will let it and the moisture out, the exhaust from a vacuum cleaner is good for this, just don't use the wife's expensive one.



[/ QUOTE ]

I had a similar problem with keels and used a vacuum cleaner to suck out the water. Again, not the wife's best but a cheapo or an Aquavac.
 
Do you know what is the internal construction? Traditional design is for a stainless steel rudder stock to which tangs are welded to mould rudder around in two half mouldings. Problem is if wet inside the welds on the tangs can /do corrode and the rudder then moves around the stock with crunching noises. Had this on a UFO 34 and only solution was to break apart rudder blade, reweld tangs and get new mouldings to mount on. So I would advise a careful check on movement of the blade verus stock first. Then try to dry out inside as suggested by others I like the vaccum idea rather than acetone and then in oucase we filled up the void in the rudder with foam, inserting at the bottom and venting at the top. It was surprising and alarming even on a new moulding how much foam came out the joint aorund stock, even with goodvents to ensure no pressure build up. Shows how easy it is for water to get in and why so many are like it.

Brian
 
Some time ago, Northshore told me how the remove water and dry out rudders..It involved placing a non return valve in the top of the rudder and pressurising the rudder,not to sure how they kept up the pressure with a hole in the bottom to let the water out.
Anyway, some one out there may be able to resolve that.
 
Wet rudders are very very common. I would worry about the leak being 2-3ft down the rudder where there should be no exit points for water whatsover.
I would look extremely carfully at the leading and trailing edges, as it appears to me that you are describing a separation of the two shells of the rudder. If this is so it needs some radical re-building. Good luck.
 
Adding to this post, there is a theoretical risk that water ingress will damage the internal structure of the rudder. Allowing water aqccumulations out and replugging is about the best you can do.

Basically, the joint between the stock and the rudder is open to ingress. Doing all that other posters have suggested does not remove this weakness. Just keep an eye on it, as we all have to - and be mindful that builders know about this and build redundancy strength into their rudders - mostly!

PWG
 
Watch out for corrosion to the welds joining the rudder stock to the tang bars. It happened to me although the rudder was apparently fine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top