Arch water infiltration and plastic caps-gctid828111

[WineMonkey]

I have a small water infiltration problem on the starboard side of my 1990 Ciera 2655. Water seems to come in from the arch and makes its way to the Aft cabin. The previous owners tried to fix the problem with expanding foam, but obviously it no longer works. Water was accumulating in the arch, so I took some of the caulking out to let the water out of the arch. I also sprayed some waterproofing rubber on top of the foam as a temporary measure, which seems to help, but still a bit of water coming in. Anyone with suggest a solution?

Also, believe it or not, I can't find replacement plastic caps (bolt holes covers) for the arch (Photo attached). Any leads?

[flyman219]

For the caps to cover the bolt holes you can look at these and see if you see something that might work. Most hardware stores that have the specialty nut bolt and fasteners in the drawered cases should have them. If nothing else you could order some online.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q...gs&FORM=IRIBIP

Mike

[RPrather]

Check the wood in the arch for rot. If it is rotted the arch has to come off and the rotted wood replaced. When reinstalling the arch only seal where the penetrations are and the trim caps are. Water gets in between the glass and the arch and if the bottom is sealed there is no where for it to drain except through the mounting bolt holes. Also it sits in there rotting the wood out which causes it to leak even worse.

[RPrather]

I used the chrome plated 1/2 inch knock out snap in covers for electrical handy boxes and sealed them with clear rtv.

[HueyCrew]

I have a small water infiltration problem on the starboard side of my 1990 Ciera 2655. Water seems to come in from the arch and makes its way to the Aft cabin. The previous owners tried to fix the problem with expanding foam, but obviously it no longer works. Water was accumulating in the arch, so I took some of the caulking out to let the water out of the arch. I also sprayed some waterproofing rubber on top of the foam as a temporary measure, which seems to help, but still a bit of water coming in. Anyone with suggest a solution?

Also, believe it or not, I can't find replacement plastic caps (bolt holes covers) for the arch (Photo attached). Any leads?

I've got the exact same boat. I am in the middle of refurbishing my arch. Pretty much all the wood was rotten and the padded panels shot as well. I'm converting the lighting over to LED and adding 3 LED lights to the top shining down. Also planning a more uniform thorough routing/ securing of wiring in there too. The Gel Coat was shot and there were broken off pieces of a poor quality rod holder system that were rusted and the screws were rounded out so those had to be drilled from the upper wing, , filled with 3M 5200 before starting to restore the Gelcoat. When I reinstall the arch I plan on shooting 5200 in before installing the attach bolts as well as doing the same to the interior before installing the plywood spacers, washers and nuts. Mine's under tarp now but am going to have my canvas guy make me a zip cover similar to the camper and Bimini stowage covers for future use. When I start back together with my arch, at the suggestions of several on here, plan on using way less staples to attach the edge trim and rely more on 5200. The staples put holes in the trim/ edge seal as well as the wood, inviting more water intrusion sooner than later. Also I plan on leaving the bottom short piece of trim bonded to the arch but NOT to the hull. It's pretty much impossible to not have water find its way inside the arch. Best to leave the bottom arch, edge trim to hull sides unsealed to help the water find its way back out. I am planning on applying a thin bead of RTV and sealing the bead trim that runs up the sides to the hull though. That's a big area that rain and washing will let water in unless sealed off. Also will be using at least RTV to seal the side light diffusers in the padded panels and to seal the padded ( upholstered) panels to the edge trim. I may go as far as to (since it's a quick cheap fix) drill a 1/4"- 5/16" hole an inch or so up from each bottom edge of the arch sides and glue a 1" piece of tubing, cut off at a 45 degree angle, one sides angle facing fwd and the other aft. When underway, the angles will create slight pressure on the fwd facing and negative pressure at the aft facing one, thus creating a ventilation system to circulate air through the arch to help keep it dry. Maybe overkill but hey it surely won't hurt nor take a lot of time to install. The same is done ( or should be but some won't catch it) with the eng compt vent grilles. They're DIRECTIONAL with the ones on one side ( in my case PORT) installed to "direct fresh air into the eng room and the other side in conjunction with the blower create negative pressure to draw air out when underway.

[businessgetmoney]

Alot of times people seal the bottom of the arch to the boat hull. This causes rot as the water need to drain down and out. The points of into aft cabin are 4 mounting bolts on each side. Dont use 5200 for sealing anything, just silicon.