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PostPosted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 10:18 am 
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Location: Advance,NC & Muscle Shoals,AL
I guess old boats will always leak. I am trying to keep them watertight enough that they can stay afloat for a full day on the water. Of the four boats that I have all have leaking hull due to various reasons. I want to start with basic repairs, drain plugs being one. One of the four has an odd plug that will not work in any but that one boat. I would like to make them all the same and wonder if anyone else has used replacement plugs that ended up slightly different thread? I feel like after many years the plastic and silicone seals could all be suspect and think it a cheap investment to just replace the entire housing and plug. Because of multiple issues i am ordering some parts from Murray's and think just adding to the list. I would like plugs to be interchangeable and didn't know how standard that was. Any opinions on silicon for this job? I also was curious about the seal on these plugs. I work in the hydraulic world and use lots of o-rings. Does anyone ever use vaseline on anything else on their seals? I have replaced many of mine with an o-ring that is commonly available and sized to fit the housing/plug.

One of my boats always dumps water from the hull while not having been in water but just sitting on trailer on land with nose elevated on trailer. Any guess where this is getting in the hull, just from raining I think? These boats don't sail well when the hull takes on water, I have learned, and are much more difficult to keep righted :oops:


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 24, 2022 12:12 pm 
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Location: Nepean S.C. Ottawa, Canada
Drain plugs are probably the biggest cause of the ingress of water.
Buy a couple of sets of drain plugs and housing, and some 3M Marine Grade clear silicone.
Remove the old housings, check the fibreglass, make sure everything is dry, load up with a bead of silicone, and remount the housings.
I suggest silicone grease rather than a petroleum base product, such as Vaseline.

Next, for Hobie 14's and 16's, clean the area around where the posts enter the hulls, and silicone those joints.

For the boat that 'gathers' water while on a trailer, sounds like the boat got water-logged and there is water (vapour) inside the hulls.
The only suggestion I have is that you attach a tube (piece of hosepipe??) to the end of a vacuum cleaner wand, insert that into the drain hole, and let it blow for a couple of hours.

If the boat is old, it may be that the plastic covering around the foam block disintegrated and the foam block is waterlogged.
This will require removal, sigh!

SRM and others will also have good advice for you.

Good luck

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2015 H16, with spin,
SOLD 1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."
'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'


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PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2022 10:32 am 
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Location: Advance,NC & Muscle Shoals,AL
For the drain plugs, I will replace them using 3M silicone. All my boats have the plastic housing and plug so I guess there is no real need for upgrading to the chrome plated brass. Not knowing any history of these boats or have much history with Hobie 16, it may be a common replacement and all my boats are at least 35 years old.
As far as the post to hull joint, I will clean the old caulk from around post and redo that. Is this also using the same 3M silicone as for the drain plugs? The posts are tight and no obvious sign of crack or separation. This boat that drains water hasn't been in the water in at least 7 years and was sitting flat without plugs in when it was given to me so I feel it just gets water in it from rain. It is never a lot, but if the boat is angled bow high there is a small amount that drains out. Perhaps it had accumulated water from its previous life in the water and is still precipitating out. I do have it pointed bow high without a plug in to encourage any water to flow to the drain. It must be angled perhaps 25 degrees in order to get water to drain out of it. I don't do this after every rain and it may just be from having sat flat for years.
Not sure how the plastic covering and foam block are accessed and assembled but would be interesting to investigate and learn about. Without the tramp on, it may not be too much more trouble to pull this apart and investigate.

What is SRM? Always looking for advice as I learn more about these boats!


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PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2022 10:54 am 
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To inspect or replace the foam blocks means cutting an inspection port into each hull, so this becomes a major project.

SRM is one of the Hobie guru's who post on this Forum, I (and others) have learnt a great deal from him.

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2015 H16, with spin,
SOLD 1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."
'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'


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PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2022 11:58 am 
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Location: Clearwater, FL
Here is a cross-section of a H16 showing the flotation system.

Image

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84 H16
82 H16
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2022 10:02 am 
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Location: Advance,NC & Muscle Shoals,AL
Okay I will try to open this link for image on a non work computer. I usually check while on lunch but the images don't open. That would be interesting to see, thanks. I will try everything else before resorting to cutting the inspection port. I am not sure there is a major problem, just found it interesting that water drained out of one side from sitting on dry land. I'll do some searching for SRM posts. Always interested to read and become more informed. I have acquired these boats, and am learning as much as possible by reading and sailing, having never been on anything but monohull boats.


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2022 1:33 pm 
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Location: New Hampshire
You can't see the interior of a Hobie 16 without using a camera type scope, and even then you probably won't see much. But there are several images of the interior. See https://www.thebeachcats.com/pictures?g2_itemId=10751 and https://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=58209.

For a leak when it rains, first thing to make sure of is that the hulls are not sitting in a puddle. If the boat isn't in a puddle, rainfall is going to be.leak either in the pylons or the connections they're making with the hull. Simple approach is putting some silicone sealer around the base of the pylons where they enter the hull and see if that solves the problem.

Jim Clark-Dawe


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PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 9:59 am 
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[quote="jclarkdawe" there are several images of the interior. See https://www.thebeachcats.com/pictures?g2_itemId=10751 and https://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=58209.

That is great views of inside, helps visualize what the structure of hull is.

For a leak when it rains, first thing to make sure of is that the hulls are not sitting in a puddle. If the boat isn't in a puddle, rainfall is going to be.leak either in the pylons or the connections they're making with the hull. Simple approach is putting some silicone sealer around the base of the pylons where they enter the hull and see if that solves the problem.

Jim Clark-Dawe[/quote]
Boat is sitting on a trailer so no puddles. I will look at redoing all the pylon to hull seals. I just wasn't sure if there were any other potential passageways that may be not too obvious, for instance trampoline slot.

Thanks


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PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 3:49 pm 
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Here's a vertical shot of the pylon -- https://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=41119

As you can see, there's a small vent hole so that the hulls can breathe. It's possible that a puddle is forming at the top of the pylon and letting enough water in to be noticed. If that's the case, I won't worry about it. Just tip your trailer up before you start towing and let it drain.

Other possibility is some of the interior foam plug has been damaged and allowing more water than normal in. I'm not sure I'd worry about that, other than draining. In either scenario, you're not likely to have enough water enter while sailing to make a difference.

Leaks around the base of the pylon, on the other hand, can lead to problems while sailing. Water shipping along the tops of the hulls is likely to enter the hull in stronger winds, and can get to the point of being significant. Both the weight and the shifting nature of the ballast can lead to a capsize. At that point, the pylons can be under water while sitting there. Fortunately, with minimal skill, all that's involved is smearing some silicone around the base, unless the pylon is noticeably loose. In that case, you have a bigger problem as either the base has broken loose from the hull or the holes for the pylon have enlarged to a significant degree.

Jim Clark-Dawe


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 04, 2022 11:59 am 
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Location: South Boardman, Mi
I fixed a 16 that leaked a little at the drain plugs and a lot at the rudder gudgeons. It accumulated rainwater and lakewater through these points. First I tried cleaning and caulking the hull-pylon interface, but that didn't change a thing.

One way to find your leaks is to put your mouth on the dirty drain plug and exhale into the hull. Keep breathing in air as fast as you can and have a helper listen for leaks. There should be a little "breathing" at the vent so you will have to keep breathing hard yourself as they search. You can also use the exhaust on a vacuum, but vacuums are stronger and can damage your hull.


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PostPosted: Thu Feb 09, 2023 2:34 pm 
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Location: Conway, New Hampshire
Make sure drain plugs are out until you are ready to sail. Otherwise hulls will delaminate from the water.

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PostPosted: Fri Mar 03, 2023 7:09 am 
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Location: Advance,NC & Muscle Shoals,AL
Robie Hobie wrote:
Make sure drain plugs are out until you are ready to sail. Otherwise hulls will delaminate from the water.
Okay, that is a good thing to know. I’m haven’t done that intentionally and usually just happens because I remove the plug and the catch is broken off so it ends up stored in the spare parts box until we go to the water.
One of my boats has a slightly different pitch plug. I want to replace that with plug of same type as the rest just so I don’t have different parts for different boats. Time to go shopping, I have a long list of things


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PostPosted: Sun Jul 09, 2023 4:57 am 
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> "Otherwise hulls will delaminate from the water."

Excuse the noob, what does it mean, "delaminate from the water"? Sounds painful...


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 10, 2023 10:48 am 
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Delaminate from the water.....translates as.....the hulls will delaminate, or the layers will separate from the action of the water.....

In other words, the hulls will become unglued.

Yikes.

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2015 H16, with spin,
SOLD 1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."
'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 11, 2023 9:33 am 
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TwoTailDog wrote:
> "Otherwise hulls will delaminate from the water."

Excuse the noob, what does it mean, "delaminate from the water"? Sounds painful...


The hulls are made up of layers of fiberglass that are bonded (or laminated in layers) to themselves and to a high density foam core. This “sandwich” of fiberglass over foam is what gives the hulls their strength and stiffness.

Over time, the fiberglass layers can separate (delaminate) from the foam core, which significantly weakens the hulls and can ultimately allow the hull to fail. Delamination is somewhat inevitable with this type of construction, but it is significantly accelerated by allowing the hull to remain in a wet environment. The moisture essentially migrates into the fiberglass resin and weakens its strength.

The dryer you can keep the inside of your hulls, the longer they will last.

sm


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