bobwpe
09-03-2007, 02:02 PM
Way back in May when I was drilling the holes in my stringers for the engine mounts, I noticed varying degrees of moisture in the drill shavings that came out. After a few days of denial and hoping the stringers would dry out through the drill holes, I decided it was time to face up to my newest desperate situation.
I searched this forum and found what I was hoping for in a post by gcarter where he mentioned cutting a groove at the base of the stringers, sealing off the area, and running a dehumidifier for a few weeks. I ran this by my glass guy and he said he'd had success with this in the past, but suggested I cut away a one inch wide strip on each stringer to provide more surface area for the dehumidification. I did this in the area between the transom and forward bulkhead of the engine compartment, put in a closet type dehumidifier, sealed the area and waited. I also bought a Delmhorst J-Lite moisture meter so I could get a relative indication of my progress.
In the beginning, the meter pegged out at 30%(its maximum reading) moisture content in about 1/3 of the areas I checked and was between 15-30% for the remainder. I ended up letting the dehumidifier run continuously for 12 weeks during which time I drained about 1.3 liters (approx. 46 oz.) of water from the dehumidifier resevoir. The area shown in the photos below (before, after, and glassed up) was by far the worst and the meter remained pegged at 30% for about the first six weeks so it was probably significantly higher in the beginning. In the end, it was in the 10-12% range and the other areas were below that.
I'm really glad I did this and feel it was well worth the time and effort even though it blew my summer schedule to pieces. I also want to thank gcarter and this forum for getting me started in the right direction.
I searched this forum and found what I was hoping for in a post by gcarter where he mentioned cutting a groove at the base of the stringers, sealing off the area, and running a dehumidifier for a few weeks. I ran this by my glass guy and he said he'd had success with this in the past, but suggested I cut away a one inch wide strip on each stringer to provide more surface area for the dehumidification. I did this in the area between the transom and forward bulkhead of the engine compartment, put in a closet type dehumidifier, sealed the area and waited. I also bought a Delmhorst J-Lite moisture meter so I could get a relative indication of my progress.
In the beginning, the meter pegged out at 30%(its maximum reading) moisture content in about 1/3 of the areas I checked and was between 15-30% for the remainder. I ended up letting the dehumidifier run continuously for 12 weeks during which time I drained about 1.3 liters (approx. 46 oz.) of water from the dehumidifier resevoir. The area shown in the photos below (before, after, and glassed up) was by far the worst and the meter remained pegged at 30% for about the first six weeks so it was probably significantly higher in the beginning. In the end, it was in the 10-12% range and the other areas were below that.
I'm really glad I did this and feel it was well worth the time and effort even though it blew my summer schedule to pieces. I also want to thank gcarter and this forum for getting me started in the right direction.