Drying out

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Graham T
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Drying out

Post by Graham T »

I have a workshop on short term loan - I also have a wooden Osprey which has suffered from being outside over the winter and has water under the varnish. I would like to dry it out fairly rapidly and am thinking of a plastic sheeting tent with a dehumidifer in it. Would this help speed things up or would it cause problems with wood drying out too fast????

Thanks
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Re: Drying out

Post by Ancient Geek »

I am sure a dehumidifier will help especially if you VERY regularly empty it! Hanging a 60watt light bulb in the hull and another under will help enormously too!
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Ed
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Re: Drying out

Post by Ed »

Agree with AG.

de-humidifier will work as long as you can make the workshop relatively air-tight....otherwise you are just de-humidifiing the ambient atmosphere, which is hard work in this country.

When I have needed to do this, I have just turned the boat over and put a 60-120 watt tube heater, like are sold for garages or greenhouses underneath and left it for a few days. You will be surprised how much the heat builds up - you can improve it by either blocking the c-board case or by putting a sheet over that reaches down to the ground. But personally, I just leave it for the air to go around.

Works a treat.



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Re: Drying out

Post by Nessa »

Is there a way to tell if the boat is dry enough to paint, other than by feel?
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Re: Drying out

Post by Rupert »

If it is dripping or steaming, leave it for a while!
You can get tools that measure the humidity of wood, so that would be the scientific way to go.
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Re: Drying out

Post by Garry R »

Obviously if it already painted and not stripped it will take a long time as the water is trapped and can really only get out where it came in and that could be a tiny hole in the paint or varnish so strip off first. A heat gun in this job will help!! However you will find that it is amazing how the water will linger in places like the hog/keel/garboard joint. When I did Gannet I thought it was dry and then when I cut back the rotted wood it was still wet not that far in and wetter even further in!! Light bulbs, heaters etc all have been suggested.
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Re: Drying out

Post by Nessa »

Presumably then it would help if I strip it down? There is not a single inspection hatch anywhere in the boat, only two bung holes in the transom.

edit: sorry, I have just read the above properly this time. I will strip it down. Pond sealer sounds strangely appropriate. :lol:
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Re: Drying out

Post by Ed »

If it has been outside....I would really try and dry it out a bit.

Do cut a couple of inspection hatches and check inside to make sure it is worth the tenner of paint.

cut and then have a good sniff.

bring inside by preference....if not, put a NEW heavyweight tarp over it and leave for a while, preferably with a low wattage tube heater inside.

When dry, coat it all in thinned G4 (pondseal) and that will harden it all up nicely.

good luck

tell us how it goes

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Re: Drying out

Post by LASERTOURIST »

I used to keep my Division II windsurf (a hollow foam core sandwich deck Dobellman DB2 , made by Roga of Spain) at minimum weight by fitting a hair dryer in an opening hatch on the transom (there was a plug at the bow to let air out ) and in any case the hair dryer had a special overheating device -(compulsory for safety)
It also proved worthy for my laser which sprung a leak at the bow after some close tactic racing in Croaria in December 2005 and had to be dryed before epair
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Re: Drying out

Post by Nessa »

I am going to need a very small hatch cover, and probably a new jigsaw - the last one was viciously murdered by some worktop.

I have not cut a hatch hole before - any tips?
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Re: Drying out

Post by LASERTOURIST »

start in the centre with a fast drill just big enough to let the jigsaw blade in , make a first small circle with the jigsaw (new blade , close pitched teeth) check that you are not making splinters underneath (or delaminate if it is a foam sandwich GRP part) if it is OK make a snail like path and end by outer circle (take care of pencil thickness / parallelism when marking, too small a hole can be enlargefd wit a file or sand paper while if too big...
protect the edge with suitable sealant (foam /GRP) or varnish (wood) use bolts rather than rivets and sealant under the hattch rim.
always buy two hatches (if the maker goes bust or changes specs you have a spare one)
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Re: Drying out

Post by Nessa »

Thanks. Time for a trip to Screwfix....via Sailboats...
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Re: Drying out

Post by Garry R »

What, if I may ask is parallelism? Is it not best practice to use a pair of compasses when drawing a circle? I do agree that on plywood it is guaranteed that some area of the circle will splinter as obviously 2 quadrants will be across the grain and 2 quadrants with it. On the outside of the hole use masking tape over the cut line. On the inside there is little you can do. Again pond sealer is fine for sealing edges and you can re-coat in 3 hours.
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Re: Drying out

Post by LASERTOURIST »

Well maybe my english is not good enough..trying to explain...
I use the outer rig of the hatch as "template" to draw a pencil line for the saw cutting, but in an uneasy corner it is all too quick to put the pencil at an angle and get a potato shaped circle...so i'd saw the hole carefully just a little less than the rim / pencil line and finish the adjustment with a hand tool, or sandpaper to get a good close fit.
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Re: Drying out

Post by Bernard »

This may help.
Cut out a smaller hole than you need, then clamp/screw (through the piece to be cut out) another piece of ply to the underside of the cut. Then cut to required size. This should stop any of the splitting to the back side of the wood.



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