Access to fuel locker pipe

[dbybe]

Huge effort, Don, but you've found your leak!

I think I'm seeing the back of the cockpit on the left, with the cast fiberglass pipe stub, and the flat transom on the right (no fitting). Once the cockpit was slid in place, someone with skinny arms tried to glass the pipe stub to the transom. The glass sagged at the top and bottom (of the photo), and tore on the top side that is visible likely sometime later. I can't make out if a piece of pipe ran from the transom up into the pipe stub, but the glass doesn't look like it was supported by anything when laid up.

The gap between the cockpit and transom looks to be about 1 1/2"-2". Can you access the pipe stub from the cockpit interior? I assume you can from the transom exterior. I would consider making water tight connections there, with a continuous pipe running between them, with screw threads or tightly sleeved pipes and caulk, and bypass this mess. There are lots of bulkhead tank fittings that might help.

Sounds like you understand the picture pretty well.

I can access each end of this area, but the end within the fuel locker is hard to reach. Presently I have a plastic sleeve through this area. I tried to seal it at each end, but it was still leaking. In hindsight I should have worked a little more to make that work.  Since I have this area open, and a sleeve in place, I will probably do both. First though I will flood this area to confirm where it is leaking.


 

[bruce]

Thanks, Don. I look forward to hearing what you can work out!

[dbybe]

Well, I am pretty much done and will post some more pictures.  Also in this process, I was working on sealing the center board pennant tube, but I will talk about that on another topic thread. 

With the tiller "horn" out I was able to just get my hand into the space above the short drain tube from the fuel locker to the transom.  As mentioned earlier I had inserted a plastic tube through the drain pipe but I was still getting a leak. The steps I took, though now that I am done I could have skipped a couple

1.  Reached in with a hammer, in the vertical orientation, and knocked off much of the loose fiberglass tape that was not completely wrapped around the pipe.  (see earlier picture)
2.  Reached in with a gloved hand and some Bondo to try and seal the pipe.  Space was too narrow to get all around the pipe and the Bondo had a very short pot life. 
3.  Prepped some thickened epoxy resin and tried installing that around the pipe.  Same problem.  Could not really reach the bottom of the pipe since the space is so narrow it is hard to turn you hand.
4.  Purchased three different kinds of Flex Seal.  Paste, Spray, and tape.  (getting desperate now)
5.  With a gloved hand I put multiple coats of the Flex Seal paste around the top and sides of the pipe. 
6.  I used a 3' length of flat bar, loaded the end with mass quantities of paste, and reached through the cockpit locker to get at the bottom of the tube.  After multiple coats I used an etendable mirror and I could no longer see any of the bondo tan color. 
7.  Finished off with multiple coats of the spray both from above and from below if I stood on my head and reached through the cockpit locker
8.  On the fuel locker end I patched with a couple of coats of paste and then a few coats of spray.

A couple of notes:
 
I set the tiller horn with a minimum of sealant.  None around the flange facing the cockpit and just enough around the aft end to seal against the rectangular trim piece at the transom.
I installed an 8" screw in deck plate and the cockpit seat on the centerline.  This made it so much easier to work at the locker end of the drain pipe. 

Conclusion:  If the location is accessible I would always turn to thickened epoxy to patch, but the flex seal seems to have worked.  I love the paste.  The spray is OK but requires a lot of thin coats.  The tape was a waste of money.  I never could get the backing off, but realized it would be impossible to work with in tight spaces.

[bruce]

Your effort with Flex Seal over the Bondo looks good. Fingers crossed.