Inspection Ports?

My boat has been been taking on water for quite awhile. It took me awhile to find the leak, which I will be fixing before the season starts. I am wondering if I can put in inspection ports in; the decks are curved, so I am wondering if this is possible. If I can put in the ports, I can do the lightbulb trick, and I think that I can get it dried out quite nicely. If it is possible, where can I put them?

Thanks,
Jon

Jon,

Where's the leak? Is it absolutely necessary to install port/s to fix the leak? Can you leave the drain plugs out and elevate the bows to drain the water? You should store like this to make sure the hulls are always dry inside.

A wise man once said here (paraphrasing), "NEVER cut a port in a Hobie deck, it will eventually lead to failure, but if you must, use 4" and put them between the pylons, NEVER in front of the pylons"

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We have opened the plugs and all, but I don't think that will get it all; it must be soaking into the foam. Any ideas to get heat in without putting in ports? Maybe a vacuum of some sort? Would the internal construction stop me from sucking all the water out the drainage plugs with a shop vac? I'd rather not put in anything that could lead to a failure.

Thanks
Jon

Here's one potential option. There used to be a windsurf board mfg that made hollow boards- similar to beach cat construction. Of course if the board was ever cracked, it would take on water and have to be dried out, so the trick was to use an air pump for a fish tank with a long hose lead in through the drain plug to circulate air through the board. It's not a lot of air volume, but you can leave it run for days or weeks. It might work for a Hobie too.

The problem with using a shop vac is that after running for a few hours straight, it will probably burn out the motor, plus it will be quite noisy.

sm

Hmm- about burning out the motor I guess I could try and place the nozel about an inch or so away from the actual drain. That would probably be fine for the motor (less resistance), and would still keep the air moving. Thoughts? I don't have any fish tanks, but the concept sounds good.

I'm also thinking about possibly using an air compressor some how. The hole has yet to be patched, so if I could figure out some way to get just enough pressure in the boat to get airflow going, maybe I could get somewhere. I think that I like the shop vac idea better, but just a thought.

If you use a shop vac, you definitely want to keep the nozzle at least an inch from the drain plug hole, otherwise you risk overpressurizing the hull and blowing the seam.

The problem with using a vacuum for long periods (like several hours or days) is that the're really not designed to run for that long. So you run the risk of having the motor overheat and burn up. Getting the boat to dry out generally takes more than a few minutes. Shop vacs are also incredibly loud. And there's no way to assure that the air is circulating through the hull. A small pump like a fish tank pump is designed to run indefinitely and the small tubing can be run through the drain plug and into the hull promoting circulation.

You may be able to fashion something out of a hair dryer, but again, they're not designed to run for extended periods, and how do you get the air circulated through the hull?

Personally, I think I would just put inspection ports in somewhere behind the front pylon. Then you can put a heat lamp and/or a small fan in the hull to dry it out.

sm

I use a spray compressed air through the drain plugs for leak tests. For a long term setup, you could fashion a jig to hold the nozzle in place so there's a way for air to vent out (very important) I set the pressure about 10-15 pounds. If the vent becomes constricted you'll bust the boat.

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The problem I see with just putting the inlet of a compressed air source right at the drain plug opening is that it really isn't going to promote air flow through the hull- at least, I wouldn't think so. The air is just going to go in and come right out. I think you'd get much better drying by figuring out a way to get the air in at one end and out the other- either by installing an inspection port or getting a long air tube several feet into the hull.

sm

Good point sm, I have a 6" tube threaded into my nozzle. A piece of hose will be necessary. Regarding overheating...compressors are air cooled, you'll need a fan directed at the cylinder head for extended use.

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The whole compressor thing is kind of sketchy unless you have some serious equipment. There's a lot of moisture in compressed air unless you use a dryer. People with big compressors will know what I'm talking about. It doesn't take much time at all for water to build in the tank. And my catch bowl needs draining most days I use mine.

But if you've got a commercial quality compressor with an adjustable pressure regulator, a long tube fed to mid-point or further forward could be the trick. Keep the pressure low and the CFM relatively low, and expect to run it for awhile.

Definitely not something I'd try with an "oil-less" compressor though.

Brian C

On a humid day in the summer its not uncommon for me to drain a gallon of water out of the tank on my compressor. But it also runs probably half the day when we're busy in the shop.

I've talked to a guy that really knows his stuff when it comes to hobies, and he is advocating for just leaning the boat against the house with the plugs open for about a week, then putting in little (4 inch) ports. Is that what most people do?