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Making a raceboat water tight
Since there is a bit of discussion on this in other threads I thought id start a new one and share the tips I use to keep my boats watertight and others can share their tips
the bathtub is a great tool for testing new boats for water tightness, I have left a boat in the bath overnight and still had no water inside.
The strut:
I tend to run the stuffing tube right through the strut. I put a peice of heatshrink on the nose of the strut where the tube enters as I found a while ago that water could make it into the strut, hit the drivedog, turn around and go back up the stuffing tube into the boat. I also have a 2mm hole in the side of the strut to pump grease in which not only lubes the shaft but provides a good water seal.
Steering rod:
Another great entry point for water. What I use now is a peice of 1/4 k&s brass for the actual hole, and glue that into the transom flush with the outside but protruding 3/4 of an inch inside the boat, I then have the rubber boot on the brass inside the boat and the boot packed with silicone grease.
Cooling system:
One thing that is overlooked a lot of the time is the cooling system, I had a few instances where the silicone tubing had a pinhole or a leaky jacket was letting water in the boat and just pushing water through the system with a coke bottle etc would not cause a leak, I now use a nitro hand pump to pressurize the system while holding my finger over the outlet to ensure there are no leaks.
Hardware fitment:
I Always silicone my strut and rudder's bolt holes on now after finding leaks in the bathtub on a couple occasions.
Tape:
I used to use 3m or similar electrical tape which worked good but did tear off on a big blowover, I now use a 1 inch thick acrylic all weather tape that horticulturalists use to repair tears in plastic hothouses.
Antenna tube:
pack that sucker with silicone grease if you do run a tube, also make sure its sealed to the deck, Now i run Faast 2.4ghz I dont run the antenna out of the boat. So its not an issue for me
Id be interested to hear other tips from other people who manage to run a dry boat
the bathtub is a great tool for testing new boats for water tightness, I have left a boat in the bath overnight and still had no water inside.
The strut:
I tend to run the stuffing tube right through the strut. I put a peice of heatshrink on the nose of the strut where the tube enters as I found a while ago that water could make it into the strut, hit the drivedog, turn around and go back up the stuffing tube into the boat. I also have a 2mm hole in the side of the strut to pump grease in which not only lubes the shaft but provides a good water seal.
Steering rod:
Another great entry point for water. What I use now is a peice of 1/4 k&s brass for the actual hole, and glue that into the transom flush with the outside but protruding 3/4 of an inch inside the boat, I then have the rubber boot on the brass inside the boat and the boot packed with silicone grease.
Cooling system:
One thing that is overlooked a lot of the time is the cooling system, I had a few instances where the silicone tubing had a pinhole or a leaky jacket was letting water in the boat and just pushing water through the system with a coke bottle etc would not cause a leak, I now use a nitro hand pump to pressurize the system while holding my finger over the outlet to ensure there are no leaks.
Hardware fitment:
I Always silicone my strut and rudder's bolt holes on now after finding leaks in the bathtub on a couple occasions.
Tape:
I used to use 3m or similar electrical tape which worked good but did tear off on a big blowover, I now use a 1 inch thick acrylic all weather tape that horticulturalists use to repair tears in plastic hothouses.
Antenna tube:
pack that sucker with silicone grease if you do run a tube, also make sure its sealed to the deck, Now i run Faast 2.4ghz I dont run the antenna out of the boat. So its not an issue for me
Id be interested to hear other tips from other people who manage to run a dry boat
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