Starmada Testing Laboratories

[lakelover]

Re: Starmada Testing Laboratories

LL did you water test before the gluvit?

I put enough water in it to be higher than the seems where the sides meet the bottom, and marked suspect areas on the outside with a permanent marker. Before applying the Gluvit, I rebucked as many of the rivets as I knew about near the leaks as I could. I'm not 100% sure, but I think the seems are leaking. I went under the boat last week and smeared 5200 around all the rivets on the bottom. Once it's out of the water, I plan to run a small bead of 5200 along the seems. At any rate, I'm not gonna pull the deck! The leaks are manageable with the bilge pump, I get maybe 1/2-3/4 gph coming in. It's a personal insult though.

 

[raynestorm]

Re: Starmada Testing Laboratories

The water bottle changes shape in cold to hot weather from air densities. Nothing to do with air leaving the bottle, as it doesn't leave. Simple science we all learned in grade school. If you put a bottle with no cap on in the freezer over night, then cap it while it's in there, then through it in a sink of hot water, it would expand the bottle, possibly breaking it, if the temperature difference is great enough and its a cheap thin plastic. Opposite can be done by going outside and letting it sit out in this gawd awful 100 degree heat, then capping it and toss it in the freezer, it should crumple right up. (I'm talking about a cheap water bottle like you buy in packs of 30 at walmart)

Go try it, I know you wanna!

Ben

 

[starcrafter65]

Re: Starmada Testing Laboratories

I would maintain - again - that the number one thing that will prolong longevity is keeping everything away from long term moisture - I have T-111 - otherwise known as exterior grade plywood on the side of my garage - been outside for 15 years - it gets rained on and I have treated/painted it twice - lamely I might add - it is still solid - because it is not subjected to constant moisture. I would think that all the solutions will work - better than OEM:redface: - as long as they are dried out when put away. Seeing as most of us trailer prolly not a problem...

Same goes for the foamy things - as long as it is never EPS

Just to settle things down - maybe we should discuss today's SCOTUS ruling....

 

[magnumdeke]

Re: Starmada Testing Laboratories

Many opinions on all aspects of restoring these rigs, all are right based on their experience. I would love to see a stickied guide to tinny rebuilding, plywood and sealer options, hull sealers paint etc. would give newbies a great reference point, I have spent 4 or 5 years lurking and reading to get the info on how to do this, most buy a boat and hop on looking for instant info, I am definitely not the norm. I wanted to make informed decisions on how to spend my money, willing to trade the quality difference between MG and the exterior grade of ply I am using when treated with epoxy to use the savings elsewhere. I went into this with a lot of research to make that decision, once again I will say most don't!! People post a thread and look at a couple of resto threads and go with what they see and hear. I have read hundreds and seen old enough ones that have come back and posted the problems they had later, IE EZ's paint issues I believe that all options need to be on the table and maybe a sticky thread with feed back would give that resource, just like this test thread gives some real world info.

Sorry for the ramble, thoughts are a little scrambled today but I think you get my point.

 

[North Beach]

Re: Starmada Testing Laboratories

The water bottle changes shape in cold to hot weather from air densities. Nothing to do with air leaving the bottle, as it doesn't leave. Simple science we all learned in grade school. If you put a bottle with no cap on in the freezer over night, then cap it while it's in there, then through it in a sink of hot water, it would expand the bottle, possibly breaking it, if the temperature difference is great enough and its a cheap thin plastic. Opposite can be done by going outside and letting it sit out in this gawd awful 100 degree heat, then capping it and toss it in the freezer, it should crumple right up. (I'm talking about a cheap water bottle like you buy in packs of 30 at walmart)

Go try it, I know you wanna!

Ben

Ben,
I'm 55 years old. Pretty sure we didn't see much in the way of plastic bottles when I was in grade school. The women on my ridge in the mountains just beat the laundry on a rock at the river till it didn't smell any longer.

 

[BonairII]

Re: Starmada Testing Laboratories

I think the exterior ply is recommended so much because it's a compromise at a reasonable price

Not to mention the fact, that it's very doubtful that anyone here will own their boats anywhere near long enough to see their exterior ply deteriorate or fail on them.