[Rhodes22-list] Robert & Roger: - trim rings

[General Boats]

Without objection we will jump into this one.

Of course Roger's engineering, as always, is brilliant.  Ours is basic and
basically driven by aesthetics.  We then send our engineered product out to
our research department - you guys and gals - cup our ear and listen,  If
there is no screaming from the victims, we assume we did it right.  Between
the internet and all owners having our home phone number, this technique
seems to be working.

Rummy, as always, is correct.  Caulking the trim rings to stop a port from
leaking is as good as closing the barn door after the flock has escaped. No
Rhodes owner is silly enough to do this.

The early boats had the ports put on with a caulking type sealant - but this
was not 100% successful since few know how to do this:  The caulking should
be evenly spread by just lightly screwing the part, letting the caulking set
to form a gasket and then coming back to complete the tightening of the
fasteners.  My guys were tightening from the start and oozing out all the
caulking so when parts pulled back a little there was nothing to expand and
fill the later gap. To make things idiot proof and to make it easier for Ann
to pull a port when her hard cursing racing efforts blows a port on her
brand new Rhodes, we now use a special closed cell compressed tape that
easily expands to fill future gaps, no matter how hard it is compressed by
the fasteners.  And, coincidentally, makes it much easier to replace a
broken port.

The screaming down the road will tell us if this new system is the final
solution.

Incidentally, no one in our 44 year history has ever had a port blow out on
one of our boats (and live to tell us about it) so we do not think this
consideration trumps our aesthetic concerns.

ss/gbi

John Tonjes wrote:

> Marc,
> The trim ring on the interior is just that, a trim ring. It has NO
> structural value. Proper caulking and using the proper screws to attach
> the port on the outside is all you need to do. The trim ring is held in
> place with caulking.
>
> Rummy
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: rhodes22-list-bounces@rhodes22.org
> [mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces@rhodes22.org] On Behalf Of Roger Pihlaja
> Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2003 9:14 PM
> To: The Rhodes 22 mail list
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Robert & Roger: - trim rings
>
> Marc,
>
> It all depends upon how & where you intend to use your R-22.  If you are
> ever out in heavy weather & take a good solid wave into those ports the
> way they were installed; then, they will almost certainly blow out.  You
> would be amazed how much water will get below thru even one blown out
> port in heavy weather!  A seaworthy installation would always be thru
> bolted as per my description in the FAQ.  You're a big boy & you can do
> it however you wish, but remember you were advised on the correct way to
> do the job.
>
> Roger Pihlaja
> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Karen Fiske / Marc Beroz" <kfiske@erols.com>
> To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2003 4:05 PM
> Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Robert & Roger: - trim rings
>
> > Robert:
> > The process so far has been painless. One port had been installed with
>
> > silicone & popped right off. The other was had some type of adhesive
> > caulking & took just a bit more time to free. Both ports were held in
> place
> > by 10 screws that went  through the flange of the port into the
> > fiberglass skin (cabin side). These screws were about 3/4" long & only
>
> > went through
> the
> > inner skin of the cabin wall. There was no foam or wood between the
> > inner
> &
> > outer cabin skins. There was a narrow band of caulking where the port
> spigot
> > passed through the outer cabin wall.
> >
> > I removed the screws and pulled the ports out. Then I just had to lift
>
> > the trim rings off (only held in place by silicone or caulk). Took
> > much more time to clean  the caulking off the ports & fiberglass skin
> > than to do anything else.
> >
> > Beckson has installation instructions at
> > www.beckson.com/installport.html
> >
> > Roger:
> > Thanks for the link. Beckson's website describes installing trim rings
>
> > either with flush mount barrel nuts through the trim rings or just
> > using silicone with no fasteners through the rings. The latter is
> > certainly
> easier
> > & is what my prior installation was, - but it does not seem to be a
> > very ship-shape way to do things. At this point I'm either going to
> > use
> silicone
> > only or use silicone with  pan head screws through the trim rings &
> > outer skin to hold them in place. I do have any  wood or foam filler
> > between the
> 2
> > fiberglass skins & am not planning to put any in. I 'd like to
> > re-install the rings as GB had done it originally (without fasteners)
> > but I wonder
> how
> > I can get a good silicone seal between the ring & fiberglass surface
> > doing it this way. Apparently both GB & Beckson didn't see it as a
> > problem so maybe I'm just fretting over  nothing. Marc
> >
> >
> >
> > _________________________________________________
> > Use Rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
> >
> >
>
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