Any snake oil for wet but solid transoms?

[ron3421]

I have an older Parker, just getting ready to launch & decided to rescrew & seal the trim tabs mounts at the bottom of the transom. Some, not all, of the screws were damp and the holes were wet not dripping tho, not black. Transom seems solid when I try to rock the outboard which is on the cutout transom, not a bracket mount.
I hate to just seal up wet wood and had heard of adding alcohol or antifreeze into the holes first.
Anyone had had any experience with this?

 

[savetexomabeaches]

inject acetone, let dry, inject git rot or something of the sort, let dry, seal holes.

If you have a wet dry vac, stick that over the holes first

 

[ron3421]

inject acetone, let dry, inject git rot or something of the sort, let dry, seal holes.

If you have a wet dry vac, stick that over the holes first

Will the injected acetone dry just through the screw holes? Wonder if it will blow my shop vac!

 

[Scott Danforth]

aint nothing going to dry a wet transom except removal of the inner skin of fiberglass and about a month. if your at that point, may as well spend the few hours to replace with fresh dry wood and finish the job.

Ethylene Glycol simply kills the bacteria that causes rot. it does nothing to dry out the wood

if you inject acetone, the epoxy would never set

 

[savetexomabeaches]

use shop vac first... you guys are missing the steps "let dry" --- this isn't a 5 minute process.


STEP 1: Place shop vac over hole to pull out any moisture that you can.
STEP 2: Using a syringe or other small tool, inject a little bit of acetone into the screw holes, not a lot of it.
STEP 3: Go watch the game, take a nap, take the wife out to lunch, something to allow it to dry.
STEP 4: Inject some git rot or rot killer (to be safe) into the hole.
STEP 5: Repeat STEP 3.
STEP 6: Seal the holes with a good marine sealer.

 

[ondarvr]

There are ways to try and dry it out, but a shop vac won't do it on a wet transom.

You need some heat plus a vacuum pump, then time, because to remove enough water to make a difference Is a long process.

The transom can still be strong if it's wet, and depending on the year they probably used pressure treated wood, so it won't rot quickly, but plans should be made to address it in the future.

 

[JASinIL2006]

I suggest you try an experiment. Get a 12" square of 1" exterior plywood and put it in water (or if you're in a hurry, a steamer) and allow the wood to saturate. Once wet, wrap the wood in plastic and duct tape and see how long it takes to dry, using whatever chemicals, etc., you think might hasten the process. I bet it takes a long time to dry sufficiently to use epoxy or polyester or whatever.

I know some have used ethylene glycol to inhibit rot, but as Scott indicated above, that won't dry out the wood. Seems like the proper fix is to replace the wet wood.

 

[Chigwalla]

As mentioned, there's no quick fix.
This year, I've had two boats where electrolysis melted away the screw heads and the tabs came unstuck. On one of them, the customer complained the boat was yawing to the right and couldn't get on plane...because he was dragging the mounting plate !

Fortunately, we caught the other one before it let go.
The screws that Bennett ships with their kits have always been garbage for salt water.

 

[ron3421]

Funny Chigwalla but that's almost my tabs, on one side all but two screws were melted away. Guess that's where the water got in although the transducer mount screws we're halfway sealed too.
And thanks to all who responded _ hard to see how it's going to be dryed out without some cutting access holes.
I had wondered about swelling from antifreeze if I use that but it's going to expand from freezing if I don't something anyway.

 

[Chigwalla]

Yep, there's no quick fix - especially nothing liquid.

One solution would be to use a 3/8" plug cutter (for making plugs/bungs for cabinetry) to cut around the remaining stub of screw enough to get on it with vise grips.
Then put a fan on it to dry it out and give it lots of time. If you've got liquid water (as opposed to wet wood) coming out of the new holes, you might need to get more aggressive.
Fill the holes by epoxying in bits of dowel, patch the glass, and you're ready for new screws...and lots of sealant.

It also helps to install rudder zincs on the tabs themselves if you haven't already - we do that on all saltwater boats with tabs.
The issue on that particular boat is that the SS tabs are right next to aluminum swim grid brackets, hence all the bonding.

I won't speak to the water freezing in the wood because it doesn't really go below freezing here more than a couple days a year (and I'm in Canada !)

Good luck !