Transom core material? Water in transom

[pbguy420]

So I've been doing some reading of roger Marshall's fiberglass book since I plan on doing a lot of repairs and modifications this winter and I came across transom rot problems in the book....
I noticed when installing my transducer recently that some dirty water poured out of the lower screw holes at the bottom of the transom, and SEEMED to come from the space between the two fiberglass panels of the transom. I understand the transom is composite on the sea pro which is supposed to be rot free.

The book only talks about balsa cored and foam cored laminates, does not speak of composite laminates....

Is there a foam core on the transom of a 2001 Seapro 2100?

I didn't drill a large hole to check, figured id ask first. If there is water in there and it is a foam core I might have a pretty hefty transom repair on my hands...

I cannot figure out how the water got in originally, sea pro does such a piss poor job of filleting interior corners between the hull and the deck I can't tell if there are leaks and where

[T-Topless]

Yes, foam core - no wood since 1995/1996 timeframe in any SeaPro boat.

[pbguy420]

Ok damn so if it's black goey particles that are coming out on my drill bit its likely waterlogged?

Damn! As least foam transom repair (cut top off, get foam out and pour in new foam) seems much easier than plywood repair (cut whole back off transom)

[easy]

If the core material is black, it's the composit transom! I drilled through my transom and had the same stuff. It came out sort of crumbly and at first I thought, it was wet! It wasn't wet, it was just how it felt to the finger touch! Kind of felt and had the texture of particle board saw dust!

[CaptWoody]

Ironically I'm currently working on mounting a swim platform and have run across the same issue with sections of the trans being hollow and holding a small bit of water. The edges and center (where the motor mounts) are solid with composite but sections of the outer edges appear to be hollow. I've enountered no wood at all (as expected) but also apparently no foam either in the transom. My issue is trying to find something solid for the lower lag screw to attach to.

[pbguy420]

Brother the original screws in my platform were only 1/4 inch, that's all you should need cause mine held up fine... I would reccomend doing the install like noted in the book I refer too.... Drill oversized hole, slightly countersink of you have the option, and epoxy, then re drill the epoxy for your screw....

My top screw heads had to be cut of and punched out cause they were irreparably stripped, I ended up throwing 3/8 lags thru the old holes for security which hold up fine....

In 205 lb and my 1/4 inch screws held up fine..... And in working on my boat at home I boarded in and out hundreds and hundreds of times

[CaptWoody]

That's close to what I'm doing this weekend with the one problem screw. After several attempts with long screws the hole got wallowed out badly so I plugged it with epoxy and glass fibers. This weekend I will sand that down, redrill and hole in it, and use a shorter lag screw with threads that go all the way to the head. If that doesn't work I will have to cut in from the inside and install a backing plate, and I prefer not to do that! The top bolts are both through bolted with backing plates and they will be the ones that carry the bulk of the weight. I had to cut a 4 inch access hole near the bailwell to reach one of them but that is easy to cover with a deck plate.

[CaptWoody]

I repaired the bad lag screw by rebedding as described above and all appears to be working well.

[Deleted]

Could you fill hole with epoxy clamp or duct tape the screw in the epoxy and let the epoxy harden around the screw