Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

[Ralph 123]

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Boom - After the cornstarch has dissolved you're left with channels through the 2-part foam. So, the walls of the channels (pipes) are mostly made of the expanding foam. Will that 2-part foam absorb any water or decay after water has been running through them a while? Or, is that 2-part foam so hard and dense and void free that it can act like a pipe w/o a problem forever?<br /><br />Assuming the answer is, the 2-part foam can act like a pipe. You might want to try a little experiment before you fully commit. Take a small container, put a piece of rope from, top to bottom, fill it with the 2-part and see what happens (this will tell you if there is an unexpected reaction between the 2-part and the cornstarch and see how easily the cornstarch can be dissolved out, etc.) Id try a radius too.. just a thought...

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Originally posted by Ralph:<br /> Boom - After the cornstarch has dissolved you're left with channels through the 2-part foam. So, the walls of the channels (pipes) are mostly made of the expanding foam. Will that 2-part foam absorb any water or decay after water has been running through them a while? Or, is that 2-part foam so hard and dense and void free that it can act like a pipe w/o a problem forever?

Ah, now I see. First off, I don't expect any water to get below decks. After all the time I've spent prepping for a new floor (seat mounting blocks, double thick floor wherever any brackets are to be mounted, epoxy glue and SS screws everywhere, deflector shield to keep any floor runoff from getting into gas tank bay, etc etc) there better not be. <br /><br />But, in the event that some unforseen circumstance causes flooding, I've added this drainage system.<br /><br />To answer your question specifically, two part foam will 'skin' on it's outer surfaces. Along with the fact that the foam is 'closed cell' it should resist water absorbtion. This would also be the case for the walls of the passageways left by the dissolving rope. <br /><br />Apparently when you leave water in contact with the foam long enough, it will absorb the water if it has no where else to go. Hence, my attempts to give 'it' somewhere else to go, ie out into my bilge.

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Originally posted by Boomyal:<br />

How's the houseboat roof coming?

Work should be starting this week (I hate relying on tradesman for a timeline).<br /><br />My work is getting very busy now so I don't think I will get the oportunity to take time off and watch the work being done, but I'll try. I've got a list as long as a toilet roll of things that need to be done on this houseboat - current project, stripping the paint (underside framework & 200 gallon fuel tank) and repainting with 2 pack epoxy - fun, fun, fun (not).<br /><br />Aldo

 

[datawire]

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Hey Boom - I'm sure you've considered that any water in the bilge... combined with the boat's motion, may also wick the water up into the areas you have so carefully attempted to drain.<br /><br />Just my dumb observation

 

[mellowyellow]

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

ingenious BY only worries I would have are;<br />foam expanding will crush it or react and melt it.<br />another option I've thought of would be thin paper<br />or cardboard tubes, but they would take awhile to<br />disintegrate.<br />bet there was NO drainage in the boat orig...

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Originally posted by mellowyellow:<br /> bet there was NO drainage in the boat orig...

Correct you are, MY!<br /><br />

<br /><br />The material may be crushed some, but we're not talkin about havin to drain a swimming pool here. Even if the material was crushed to 1/4 of it's original diameter, it would still work effectively. The 'rope' is impervious to solvents and resins.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Originally posted by datawire:<br /> Hey Boom - I'm sure you've considered that any water in the bilge... combined with the boat's motion, may also wick the water up into the areas you have so carefully attempted to drain.<br /><br />Just my dumb observation

Datawire, that's why I'll keep the plug in the new forward bilge bulkhead drain tube while the boat is being used. I'll only remove it when the boat is on the trailer with the bow tilted up.

 

[18rabbit]

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

I hope this works. Good news: if it doesn’t, you probably won’t know about it for some time. <br /><br />Suggestion: until you know all the starch is washed out, be sure the last thing you do is run lots of clean, clear, water thru your bilge pump when you get home. You want to be 100% sure no starch is left in the pump.<br /><br />Starch + water = paste. Once the paste hardens it is slow to dissolve.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Originally posted by 18rabbit:<br /> I hope this works. Good news: if it doesn’t, you probably won’t know about it for some time. <br /><br />Suggestion: until you know all the starch is washed out, be sure the last thing you do is run lots of clean, clear, water thru your bilge pump when you get home. You want to be 100% sure no starch is left in the pump.<br /><br />Starch + water = paste. Once the paste hardens it is slow to dissolve.

18R, once the foam is in I will carefully back flush the network, with the boat on the trailer and the bow cranked up high. It will at least clear the starch out of the lower portions of the hull. That will give clear passageway for any water/dissolved starch that may try to come down from the higher passageways.<br /><br />Actually, now that I think about it, I will level the boat on the trailer, fill the bilge with water and let it seek it's own level on both sides of the bilge bulkhead. This way, I can control how high up the water is allowed to go into the roped passageways. I don't want the flushing water to go clear up to the underside of the floorboards.

 

[qaztwo]

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Hey Boomyal looks nice, especially like the bilge. Did you simply paint the white on or is it in the epoxy. When I get ready to foam I was planning on just using some pipe insulation foam snaked through out the hull. One thing that I redid that the manufacture originally did was place a piece of wood over the bottom of the hull, about 6 inches wide and maybe only a 1/4 or 3/8 inch thick and fiberglass over it. The wood runs from the bilge to the front and provids about an inch of room to allow for drainage. In the ski locker area there are multiple holes for the water from the ski's or whatever you put in to drain out and back to the bilge. I just need to form some channels to allow the water to get down to it. Like I said looks nice and like the idea of the rope.<br />Good luck

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Originally posted by qaztwo:<br /> Hey Boomyal looks nice, especially like the bilge. Did you simply paint the white on or is it in the epoxy.

The motor mount stringers are now 8" wide of solid, epoxy impregnated wood. Originally the main motor mount block was 2", with a 4.5" foam filled space between it and the outboard stringers. A 1 1/4" x 8" top cap was then laid across the 2 x, over the gap to the outboard stringer.<br /><br />I filled that space with the treated wood, glued them together with epoxy paste, then poured liquid epoxy into every gap. I filled the original lag holes with epoxy then laid a new 8" top cap across the top. After I redrilled the motor mount holes, I have continued to pour CPES down them. They are taking a considerable amount of it. If any water ever gets down those holes there will be nothing to rot. All the motor mount lags have been replaced with SS. There were no threads left on the original ferrous lags.<br /><br />All glass across the top of the mounts and down across the bilge floor were laid with white pigmented epoxy. I first layed some pretty hefty biaxial mat across the top of the mounts and down the side to the bilge floor. Then I overlayed the whole mess, including the bilge floor with 10 oz cloth. After that I did two more coats of white pigmented epoxy but you can still see thru it a bit.<br /><br />When I lay glass over the rear floor boards, adjacent to the bilge, I will pigment it also. When all that is done I will spray it with white Interlux Brightsides. I am going to spray the whole back end, behind the rear seat bulkhead,(floors, walls, ceilings, bilge) so that when I look back there I won't need a light.

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Hi boomyal, <br /><br />saw the pic on the other thread but it doesn't look as though the void has been entirely filled. Will it continue to expand or is that it? Can you put another batch over the top? What now?<br /><br />Aldo

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Originally posted by Dunaruna:<br /> Hi boomyal, <br /><br />saw the pic on the other thread but it doesn't look as though the void has been entirely filled. Will it continue to expand or is that it? Can you put another batch over the top? What now?<br /><br />Aldo

Correct DR, the bays are not full. I will have to way overfill it to make it uniformly full. Then I will try to find a little backpacking 'wire saw' and cut the whole mess neatly off, using the stringers as a guide.<br /><br />You can't control how the stuff expands unless you confine it. There are all kinds of voids along the stringers as well as the in the middle. Had the floor been in place, like I originally was planning to do, it would force the foam into the corners and there would be less waste..<br /><br />Once I cut the excess foam, it will leave open cells, so I'm going to roll resin on it just before I place the floor down over it. That will not only seal the foam but hopefully glue it to the bottom of the floor.<br /><br />I still have to foam the rear 8' of outboard bays, back to the transom. I will anchor those floor panels and pour the foam thru the holes I had already made.

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

O/k, it gets put in the file as 'experience', you live and learn. <br /><br />One positive thing that may have come out of this - if you had proceeded with your original plan you MAY have ended up with voids that you wouldn't know about.<br /><br />Aldo

 

[Evinrude Boater]

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Hey Boomyal, When you pour through the floor holes will you have the bow raised so the foam runs back behind the hole then progressively work forward as it expands? If it's poured in level I picture the foam expanding right under the hole leaving gaps between holes. I won't be at this stage till next spring now. I'm still cutting out stringers and braces so I've got time to learn.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Originally posted by classicboater:<br /> Hey Boomyal, When you pour through the floor holes will you have the bow raised so the foam runs back behind the hole then progressively work forward as it expands? If it's poured in level I picture the foam expanding right under the hole leaving gaps between holes. I won't be at this stage till next spring now. I'm still cutting out stringers and braces so I've got time to learn.

CB, my motor and outdrive are out of the boat, so I will jack the bow up as high as the family can lift it, hopefully a 30 deg or better incline. I'd like the liquid to reach the back end before it starts to expand. I've made holes every two feet, so I will calculate the appropriate amount to mix for each stage.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Originally posted by Dunaruna:<br /> O/k, it gets put in the file as 'experience', you live and learn. <br /><br />One positive thing that may have come out of this - if you had proceeded with your original plan you MAY have ended up with voids that you wouldn't know about.<br /><br />Aldo

That's kind of why I switched at the last minute, but in retrospect, I think any voids would have been minimal, especially with the bow jacked up as high as I can get it. Nothing could be worse than how it ended up. Lumpy, void rich, and a lot of material wasted.

 

[cc lancer]

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Boomyal:<br />I get the impression you are upset with the foam, but what you got is normal. I have pulled up 4 floors, these were factory fills and there were voids. Remember I pointed out the foam in Jason's original picture of the foam in his boat? The guy at C-1 told me the first time to just mix a small batch to bring the foam up to the level I wanted.<br />The companies that put in a precast floor go through the same thing to level it out.<br /><br />We used a regular hand saw to bring it down, then a belt sander to level it. I have a 24' to do next spring, and it will be poured and leveled.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Originally posted by cc lancer:<br /> Boomyal:<br />I get the impression you are upset with the foam, but what you got is normal. I have pulled up 4 floors, these were factory fills and there were voids. Remember I pointed out the foam in Jason's original picture of the foam in his boat? The guy at C-1 told me the first time to just mix a small batch to bring the foam up to the level I wanted.<br />The companies that put in a precast floor go through the same thing to level it out.<br /><br />We used a regular hand saw to bring it down, then a belt sander to level it. I have a 24' to do next spring, and it will be poured and leveled.

CCL, when I pulled my 30 y/o floor up, the foam was stuck to what was left of the floor, and except for a little radiusing at the top of the stringers and bulkheads, it was obvious that it was a very homogonous pour with no voids. They probably pumped it in to accomplish that.