Seemingly good ideas that went terribly wrong

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The idea of this thread is to share information of seemingly good ideas that go terribly wrong or did not work out as expected.

Perhaps sharing information of this sort will help someone else before they too make the same mistakes.

After the long ride home from Arizona, I noticed that the electrical control panel on our 19’ CD was loose and the corner screws had apparently been tightened so many times that their threads were stripped or would no longer grab.

So, I installed a little larger diameter screw which promptly broke off the panel corner, I not only did this once but tried again with the same result, I was just sick about what I had done.

To install a little larger diameter screw, obviously the panel (only) needs a larger hole drilled.

The repair was with bolts/washers & nuts, not screws.

Anyway, I covered up the disaster and moved on.

However, while fixing this little disaster, I noticed that the original pilot holes for these panel corner screws were drilled oversized, from the beginning "at the factory".

Hope someone can benefit from my mistake.

It might be interesting to see/hear about others “learning moments”.

Regards,

Ron Fisher

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I am not sure how oversized the holes where, but you should drill stighly oversized holes in fiberglass in order to not crack the gel coat. The screws may have been over tightened at the factory or at some other time.
 
Just to add to that comment, I don't really find fastening with screws (pointy-end-type) into fiberglass to ever really be that great, because they just don't bite like they do in wood (I understand you were just repeating what was already there though, and obviously it can get the job done). I would prefer drill/tap (if there is enough material), or screws/nuts, or maybe a rivet or riv-nut if neither of the former can be used due to lack of access.

I'm sure I must have quite a few of my own "Oops! :embarrased moments to add here - I'll just have to think of them.

Oh, I just thought of one. The first time I re-cored a deck (sadly, not the last), I did the job from below (decks were pristine, inside of cabin was more-or-less like a C-Dory, so not as "special" as the deck/non-skid). Well I got all the old, wet, core out, prepped as one is supposed to, cut the new core to fit, put it in place with thickened epoxy, and then, after that had cured, I faired it to match the underside of the deck.

Probably you can see what's coming now. (In my defense :oops: this was before the Internet was readily available, so it wasn't that easy to look things up. Still... duh!)

Anyway, luckily a boatbuilder friend stopped by, which is when he said, "Nice fairing job, but aren't you going to fiberglass the underside where you re-cored?" Obviously I didn't yet have a full grasp of the physics of the skin-core-skin dynamic.

After that comment I learned a bit more, and all it cost me was some sanding and re-prepping, some fiberglassing (which I should have done in the first place), and a bit of a "Whew!" feeling whenever I think back on it. I bet the whole thing would have cracked out the first time someone jumped on it the way I had first done it.

Sunbeam :hot

PS: Well actually it cost me a good bit more, as I had borrowed a Multi-Master for the "de-core," and after that I was hooked and had to have one for myself (although I did wait a decade because....they don't come cheap).
 
This is just one of the things I've always loved about boats and things nautical- there is never an end to the learning (and teaching) possibilities. Sheet metal screws in fiberglass can be less than optimum, but are common, quick, and for many applications, adequate. A common ploy to prevent gel coat chipping when using SM screws is to first touch the tip of a, say, 1/4" drill bit to go through the gel coat. Control is critical here...Then drill the, say, 1/8" pilot hole. Something I just learned the other day, but haven't tried yet, is to run the drill motor backwards when countersinking through the gel coat. Hmm.

But there was that time I wanted to "fix" the rotten transom on my Evinrude Sweet 16 by filling the de-cored area with epoxy. Decent plan till my ex's father showed up. He loved to talk, and had nothing to say. Full time job just to politely avoid his conversational black hole, with me mixing up a batch of West System. I got distracted. You ever see epoxy on fire? Aloha, Steve.
 
One quick comment--a counter stink (45 degree taper, not the tapered Fuller type) is often the best way to remove gel coat around a point where a hole is drilled and then a screw inserted. If a larger drill is used, then run it backward--and often running the counter sink back ward is also the best way. Also a screw is often just a fastener to hold the object until a sealant/adhesive makes its bond.

As for the cracked corners; consider some black plastic washers under the new screws/bolts. This may give a better cosmetic as well as mechanical result.

Darn Western Roads...Ok we found that Louisiana was only second to California on our recent trip!
 
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