I may have screwed up - Listing to starboard

Why is that crazy? It's exactly what I mentioned above.

Acetone is an idea, but... most likely what will happen is it will only make a small channel through the foam and collect on the inside, lower edge of the stringer. Meaning, it won't come close to dissolving anywhere near all the foam. However, IF it eats away all the foam on that lower, inside edge (tilt the boat up and down), it COULD help with any possible drainage of water.
Yes the thought of drilling the holes is the same part . It is the use of acetone was my crazy part of that equation. Thinking to put the shop vac exhaust end to a hole in the top and pickup at the bottom end. Some more research is needed on my end before I attempt this . Definetly would like to know where structure lives in there first might be less work and risk to just cut the inboard face wide open with a oscilating saw and manually dig the foam out then glass that back in place
 
You might find you’ll have to go through both layers of laminate to get into the outside cavity. See the attachment for what Searay was able to send for our 290 as an example of what you might get. Not exact measurements, but really good insight. they got them to me in 2 days, great service!
Hey Strecker, do you have a contact at Searay. I have been running in circles and landing on voicemails so far. If you have a contact please share.

thanks
 
Yes the thought of drilling the holes is the same part . It is the use of acetone was my crazy part of that equation. Thinking to put the shop vac exhaust end to a hole in the top and pickup at the bottom end. Some more research is needed on my end before I attempt this . Definetly would like to know where structure lives in there first might be less work and risk to just cut the inboard face wide open with a oscilating saw and manually dig the foam out then glass that back in place
Things to be aware of... acetone, and it's fumes, are highly combustible. To use a shop vac, you need to VERY sure that everything is fully gassed off or the product could be ignited inside the shop vac. Given that a shop vac is not ignition protected, you also need to be darn sure there are no gas fumes in the bilge - it would be better to keep the vac out of the bilge.
 
Things to be aware of... acetone, and it's fumes, are highly combustible. To use a shop vac, you need to VERY sure that everything is fully gassed off or the product could be ignited inside the shop vac. Given that a shop vac is not ignition protected, you also need to be darn sure there are no gas fumes in the bilge - it would be better to keep the vac out of the bilge.
This ^ is a very good point. They do make explosion-proof vacs (either pneumatic or sealed electric) but they are very expensive and not common. The electric motor in a standard shop vac will have a spark capable of igniting those fumes.
 
Things to be aware of... acetone, and it's fumes, are highly combustible. To use a shop vac, you need to VERY sure that everything is fully gassed off or the product could be ignited inside the shop vac. Given that a shop vac is not ignition protected, you also need to be darn sure there are no gas fumes in the bilge - it would be better to keep the vac out of the bilge.
Good points I have long hoses.so I will have the vac outside on the ground maybe best to just inject air into the cavity with my compressor an vacuume the remnants once they exit the bottom holes
 
I am curious about my 268having saturated flotation foam in the boxes in areas of the bilge where my freshwater tank water heater and a battery are located. Looking at different ways to access that spot and remove the old foam and replace it.
I have a crazy idea on that which is to drill a couple of holes with a 1 inch bit as close to the hull as possible to drain what I can then drill a few one inch holes in the top surface .
Now the crazy part ,...
Thinking since foam dissolves with acetone to pour acetone in through the top and shop vac the residual components of foam out the bottom.i could then spray foam the interior and seal it all up,
Please say I'm crazy or it's dangerous or another way that would.be better to remove that foam. My stern is sitting deeper than I feel it should , my transom and stringers are rock solid
Handsome,
I just read an article in Workboat where a barge exploded in Chicago last Monday. It was being cleaned after carrying, yes, you guessed it - acetone. Look at the pictures by googling “barge explodes Lemont, Illinois.” In my full time job, I operate a fire boat. A possible fire on one of these boats is not what any of us wants to deal with. Please do not intentionally introduce an explosive chemical into the confined spaces of your boat while trying to rid yourself of a benign liquid - water. How sure are you that you can get all the vapors out of the void spaces? How much vapor does it take to ignite and start a fire? Interesting idea, but how about we just leave it as at that.
 
Handsome,
I just read an article in Workboat where a barge exploded in Chicago last Monday. It was being cleaned after carrying, yes, you guessed it - acetone. Look at the pictures by googling “barge explodes Lemont, Illinois.” In my full time job, I operate a fire boat. A possible fire on one of these boats is not what any of us wants to deal with. Please do not intentionally introduce an explosive chemical into the confined spaces of your boat while trying to rid yourself of a benign liquid - water. How sure are you that you can get all the vapors out of the void spaces? How much vapor does it take to ignite and start a fire? Interesting idea, but how about we just leave it as at that.
 
Handsome,
I just read an article in Workboat where a barge exploded in Chicago last Monday. It was being cleaned after carrying, yes, you guessed it - acetone. Look at the pictures by googling “barge explodes Lemont, Illinois.” In my full time job, I operate a fire boat. A possible fire on one of these boats is not what any of us wants to deal with. Please do not intentionally introduce an explosive chemical into the confined spaces of your boat while trying to rid yourself of a benign liquid - water. How sure are you that you can get all the vapors out of the void spaces? How much vapor does it take to ignite and start a fire? Interesting idea, but how about we just leave it as at that.
Thankyou I will not do it that way
 
Acetone will not work. Far to dangerous, but that is not the only reasons why you should not try it. It wont work.

Yes it dissolves foam. It also does not really dissolve it quickly. And the foam cavity is full and saturated with water, the acetone will not penetrate the soaked foam and will only barely dissolve the surface. You will not be able to pour any quantity in and it would take a huge amount to dissolve that amount of foam. Because it won't flow out the bottom until it is dissolved, you would have to do it in stages until you could get enough in to fully saturate the already water saturated foam. And then it would have to sit for a huge amount of time before it did anything. It just won't work!

And when you finally have to give up, you will be faced with having to cut out structure to get at the foam that is now saturated with both water and acetone. Using electric tools on that in the bilge in a pool of acetone fumes will be extremely dangerous.

So you could die trying. If anyone has tried it, they may very well be a death statistic already, which is why I would doubt you will find anyone saying they did it and it worked.
 
Acetone will not work. Far to dangerous, but that is not the only reasons why you should not try it. It wont work.

Yes it dissolves foam. It also does not really dissolve it quickly. And the foam cavity is full and saturated with water, the acetone will not penetrate the soaked foam and will only barely dissolve the surface. You will not be able to pour any quantity in and it would take a huge amount to dissolve that amount of foam. Because it won't flow out the bottom until it is dissolved, you would have to do it in stages until you could get enough in to fully saturate the already water saturated foam. And then it would have to sit for a huge amount of time before it did anything. It just won't work!

And when you finally have to give up, you will be faced with having to cut out structure to get at the foam that is now saturated with both water and acetone. Using electric tools on that in the bilge in a pool of acetone fumes will be extremely dangerous.

So you could die trying. If anyone has tried it, they may very well be a death statistic already, which is why I would doubt you will find anyone saying they did it and it worked.
I'm not going to do it, thought it might be crazy which is why I posted and asked first, voice of reason always wins for me . Thanks for everyone who pointed out the potential of danger explosion and death
 
I'm not going to do it, thought it might be crazy which is why I posted and asked first, voice of reason always wins for me . Thanks for everyone who pointed out the potential of danger explosion and death
I guess we are going digging then. I will be cringing the entire time I am cutting the deck open.
 
I guess we are going digging then. I will be cringing the entire time I am cutting the deck open.
Looks like there's no shortcut for this job though I had Hope's sometimes there us truly no better way, itll be a spring job for me Woke up to this today only been out 2 days ugh! I've got an engine and water system to get winterized pronto and then deal with the snow covered enclosure and get this girl wrapped
 

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Acetone is a pretty toxic chemical. When working with it I'd be concerned about the fumes and definitely be using rubber gloves. .
 
Looks like there's no shortcut for this job though I had Hope's sometimes there us truly no better way, itll be a spring job for me Woke up to this today only been out 2 days ugh! I've got an engine and water system to get winterized pronto and then deal with the snow covered enclosure and get this girl wrapped
Why not drill some holes now. Sailors do this when their rudders are (foam on a metal grid) soaked. They drill the holes and let the water weep out over the winter. the other thing to keep in mind is that water expands 10% when frozen - so by letting it weep out you might minimize the pressure of the iced foam against the fiberglass. Here's a link on how they repair the foam packed rudders - you might get some ideas from the link. http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?183817-Water-in-Rudder
 
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Why not drill some holes now. Sailors do this when their rudders are (foam on a metal grid) soaked. They drill the holes and let the water weep out over the winter. the other thing to keep in mind is that water expands 10% when frozen - so by letting it weep out you might minimize the pressure of the iced foam against the fiberglass. Here's a link on how they repair the foam packed rudders - you might get some ideas from the link. http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?183817-Water-in-Rudder
I certainly will right after I get the old girl winterized just plugged in a 100 w lighting the bilge to keep it above 0
 

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