Drain Tube

D

David Lewis

New member
When installing a drain tube when building a boat, when is the best time in the build to do it? Before fiberglassing, then fiberglass around the tube or after fiberglassing? Never installed one before.

Thanks,

Dave
 
I haven't done it, yet. But I will definitely wait until after fiberglass. Then epoxy it in place. Fiberglassing around the tube would be a pain.
 
It is a conundrum. I did it both ways in my boat. The first was drilled before filliting which ended up being too low. The other was done in the transom after filliting. It is hard to drill true through a fillit, but I was able to do the transom from the outside. I did my calculating to get it level with the bottom of the fillit, figured it could not be right, compensated for my judgment and then drilled it wrong. I should have went with my first reckoning.

So, here's what I recommend: Do your transom after filliting, drill it from the outside and use your best reckoning to have the floor of the drain level with the top of your fillit. If you have tube drains as scullpers in other bulk heads, drill them before filliting. Center them high enough that when the fillits are done, the tube will then be level with the fillit. Leave the tube long so you can work your epoxy around it. When the fillit is cured, cut, grind and sand the tube flush.

In this photo you can see the drain tube in the forward bulkhead. This located, drilled and placed before filliting, and, as a consequence, was too low.
PaintedInsideDetail.jpg

 
I may be dense, but how can a drain tube be too low? By the way, the boat is beautiful. Steve
Click to expand...


Steve,

A drain tube can be too low the same way a water hose that has low spots. Water will collect there and not drain on down and out the transom. In the above photo, unless the bow of the boat is elevated to an extreme angle, water will collect and freeze at the point shown. Even during the hunt, there will be a water puddle at that spot, as it will not drain on down to the bilge area.
 
Dave, thanks for the reply. I understand how a water line can have a low spot which will hold water, but I guess I was refering to the picture, which apears to be only a drain HOLE, not a line. I'm assuming that the purpose is to keep water from staying in a compartment and allowing it to drain eventually to the bilge. Not a big deal, I was just curious. By the way, I enjoyed the pics of your trip, looks like you had a ball. Steve
 
I had to raise the drain hole before it was finished and it still has a sump in it. I had to waste one bronze drain tube when I removed it. Trying to raise and place another 1" hole, then get a new tube in was not a fun way to spend one's boat building time. It ranks right up there with fairing epoxy. Below is a photo I found that I couldn't find when I first posted.

HullandBulkheadDrainPlug.jpg


You can see here how a fillit would cover some of the hole as it exists here. I had to bore a new hole that overlapped the first hole, and this was not easy.
 
On my current duck boat build, I didn't install a drain tube. Over time the metal expands and contracts more than the wood and epoxy and the seal eventually fails. What I did was drill an 1 1/4" hole in the drain place. I put duck tape on the outside and pack epoxy putty into the hole. I then took a 15/16 long socket that was inside the finger of a latex glove and pushed it into the hole positioning where I wanted it, just touching the duck tape on the outside. The next day I drilled a 1" hole from the outside just enough to open center to the socket. I then tapped the socket out of the epoxy with a punch. The socket slid out of the latex leaving the latex stuck to the epoxy, which was then peeled away. The drain plug no sits directly in an epoxy drain.
 
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