Water Found in Hull When Drilling to Install Smart Tabs-gctid397268

[Guest]

I drilled the holes to install the Smart Tabs on my 2006 175 and water began to come out of the lowest hole I drilled on the starboard side of the transom below the waterline. Not too much - streamed out and then was only dripping about 30 seconds later. The water was not in the bilge but underneath of where the battery sits.

I did not end up installing the tabs for a few days in hopes that whatever was in there would come out. later I drilled another hole a bit lower and more toward the center line on the hull/transom and water still came out the same way it did before from the other hole.

I installed the Smart Tabs a few days later but ended up leaving the lowest hole (the one I drilled later) open and stuck a paper towel in there to see if I could draw any more water out. I left it over night and about half the towel is wet.

So I have two questions:

1. How bad of a problem is this? And, how do I fix it?

2. I used 3M 5200 Marine Adhesive to seal the holes. Will this be sufficient? I'm having a bit of anxiety about these holes below the waterline in addition to the water in the hull.

[Guest]

I'm sorry for being the bearer of bad news. The water in the transom is potentially a serious problem. You need to have a surveyor take a look, or a reputable marine yard that you trust. The fix is a big job, and could mean stripping the transom's fibreglass skin off of it, or even rebuilding the transom. Hopefully, you caught it early and some drilling and injections will cure it.

You shouldn't leave it too long. Plan for the diagnosis and repair right after haulout this season, and post a new thread in Technical to get detailed input on the necessary fix, if you want to tackle it yourself.

There is some good news though; you might have caught the water in time, before the entire core is rotten, and

the job you did on the sealant for the trim tabs sounds to be A-1. 5200 was a good choice there.

[Guest]

I realize this is some bad news, however, is there any hope that it affected only the starboard side and not the port as well?

[Guest]

Fruffy42 wrote:
I realize this is some bad news, however, is there any hope that it affected only the starboard side and not the port as well?

Whether one side is affected and not the other isn't really an issue. If there is rot, the entire transom core needs to be replaced. Here is a pic of my rotten transom core as it was being replaced. If you notice, the rot is primarily on the starboard side. However, the entire core needed to be replaced.

http://baylinerownersclub.org/media/...zr7r.jpg[/img]

[itsabowtime2]

I would get you boat (hull) surveyed. Request, explain the situation so they take moisture measurments. Can you take a photo of where you drilled? Is it near any other holes on the transom? i.e. swim platform bracket etc. Bottom line water should not seep out of your transom. Have you noticed excess water in your bilge?

[Guest]

in short: it's really bad!

You have water in the transom and sooner than later rot will take over. Slower if you run all time in salt water. The fact that it's dripping out means that it is fully soaked and due to the capillary effect the entire transom will be waterlogged. This significantly weakens the transom to the point where it won't be able to handle the load from the engine/outdrive any more and the fiberglass will crack. Sealing it with anything just keeps all the water in there.

The only reason it might not be bad would be if you would have had water in the bilge which drained through the hole you drilled all the way through. Then you could just dry the hole with a hair drier and then seal it well.

[Guest]

looks very similar to my last boats transom when we replaced it....... Your advantage was that you had access. I couldn't even get in and the admiral had the nasty job of scraping the old stuff out and gluing the new one in with Epoxy. 7 years later the new owner still doesn't have any problems with it despite the fact that we had to glue in overlapping panels as a full one wouldn't have gone in.

[Guest]

I'm curious how does the water get into the core like that? Also what can be done to avoid it?

[Guest]

No cracks in the hull's gel coat. No water in the bilge. Wood that came out from drilling looked like wood chips and didnt appear to be wet. Is there a possibility I drilled into a sealed compartment that has accumulated water over time?

The only thing I noticed today was down in the bilge on the starboard side where the engine compartment floor turns 90 degrees to come up to where the battery box sits which is actually the true floor of the boat - a bead of water about the size of a quarter. I dried it with a towel and it slowly came back but never larger than that size.

I should also say that this is about midway between the outdrive and the starboard edge of the transom. In other words there does not seem to be a place of stress at this point.

Second time I'm editing here...I am 99% sure there is no way this water is coming in from the transom/ stern. It's almost as if it's draining from the cockpit and sitting area.

All thoughts are appreciated. Even the bad news ones...

[Guest]

Fruffy42 wrote:
No cracks in the hull's gel coat. No water in the bilge. Wood that came out from drilling looked like wood chips and didnt appear to be wet. Is there a possibility I drilled into a sealed compartment that has accumulated water over time?

The only thing I noticed today was down in the bilge on the starboard side where the engine compartment floor turns 90 degrees to come up to where the battery box sits which is actually the true floor of the boat - a bead of water about the size of a quarter. I dried it with a towel and it slowly came back but never larger than that size.

So you drilled through the transom into the sealed side compartment upon which your battery sits and there was water trapped in that side compartment, not water in the bilge or the transom wood itself?

Your drain from that sealed side compartment into the bilge might be plugged. That drain is located on the lowest part of the vertical rise and just far enough toward the rear of the engine compartment that you can't reach it. Bend a metal coat hanger or something into a right angle and shove it in there, that might be why water is trapped in the side compartment and ran out when you drilled a hole through the transom and into the side compartment.

If that drain is not plugged, perhaps you could cut a hole into that sealed side compartment, from inside your engine compartment. Harbor Freight sells a small remote camera on the end of a 3' cable, with a hand held display for about $150.00. You could just cut a small hole into the side compartment top where the battery sits, insert that camera cable into the side compartment and take a look around. Maybe it's something as simple as water running in there from forward and only requires drying out and caulking.

First though, it sounds like the drain is plugged and doesn't allow water to drain out of the side compartment into the bilge.

[Guest]

A couple years ago some guys with similar year boats who were big into installing smart tabs found a similar issue. If I remember right they contacted byliner and the thoughts was wet wood when they built it. I'm think bayliner offered them a warranty.

Might try searching it on here and see what pops up.

[Guest]

WAIT!!!!! I re-read the first post and the OP mentioned his boat was built in 2006. His boat is relatively new, and Bayliner stopped using wood for the transom cores back then. Your transom core is likely composed of foam. You would need to verify this, but if it is foam, it will not rot like wood; and the presence of water is not as alarming as it would be if your transom core was wood. I would be concerned if the stringers were wood, and the water made it from the transom core to the stringers.

[Guest]

MikeRoss wrote:
So you drilled through the transom into the sealed side compartment upon which your battery sits and there was water trapped in that side compartment, not water in the bilge or the transom wood itself?...

Yes, Fruffy42 do you think you drilled all the way through?

[Guest]

Astral Blue do know what is in the core of a 2004 185 ?

[Guest]

One or two years back a member of this forum had the same concern, but it turned out to be the "pressure treated" plywood that Bayliner had used. His 185BR was a 2010 (I think) and his handle was Spiteitaudi If I recall. His was brand new at the time and the dealer said no problem.

So maybe all is not lost.............