Keel Bolt Question

[AlexLindsay]

Thanks Loren,
I did a search on the site for keel bolt torque and found a bunch of threads but none talked about bolt torque or even about keel bolts for the most part. Must not have had my jib set just right.

 

[Loren Beach]

Loren,

ericsonyachts.org keel bolt site:www.ericsonyachts.org

Curious, is that wording the most effective search construction? If so I'll adopt it instantly....

Hmmm..... I find that I first enter the site name and then add on the search-specific words for what I want.
Not sure if that's the best way, but so far it works well.

And now I noticed that my copy-paste attached an extra site addy as well. Mysteries of the internet....

Loren

 

[Christian Williams]

OK, thought I had uncovered some magical redundancy there for a moment

 

[footrope]

I have been getting to 180 ft-lbs (barely) with a 30 inch(?) torque wrench. Mine are 1" keel bolts. They don't want to tighten at all after reaching the limit of my strength with the swing room available in the cabin. To get the wrench to 'click' I have to jerk the handle.

I have loosened and cleaned 9 of the 12 bolts over the past 5 years or so. All but the forward one in the shower bilge exhibited varying degrees of corrosion, almost entirely on the flat washers. I found no corrosion in the threads that were covered by the nuts and washers and very little on the exposed threads. So, the procedure has been to clean up the old sealer and inspect the threads. Install new flat washer, lock washers and nuts (1-1/2 inches across flats), with sufficient amounts of 4200 under and on on top of the washers and on the nuts. Some 4200 was also applied to the threads.

The 3 that I have not cleaned are the forward one in the shower bilge. It is exhibiting no corrosion and is tight.
In the aft most compartment where there are three, the very aft bolt and the one just forward to starboard are not loosening after weeks of persuasion with penetrating oil and an air-impact wrench. I talked to the yard who have no advice for me, and I may just leave well enough alone.

The keel is tight and the joint has been epoxied over for years with no cracks and no saltwater coming in.

 

[mkollerjr]

Craig,

Did you replace your bolts while in the yard or on water? The nuts/washers on mine are showing signs of corrosion. Looks to be mostly the washers and some on the nuts. Some are better than others. The surveyor noted this "minor corrosion" and said the nuts/washers could be replaced one by one as needed. He examined the hull/keel joint and said it was fine. The joint did have a little smile on the front of the keel, but he said this was "perfectly normal" and "to be expected." The E38 owner's manual states this as well. Everyone I've spoken with indicates he's a very respected surveyor, so I hope he was right.

I don't know, reading all the keel re-bed posts on this website has me nervous!



Mark

 

[Christian Williams]

Well, awareness is not exactly the same as worry, or at least shouldn't be. In large measure issues like keel bolts tend to build in the mind into gigantic structures. Same with the rig, the shrouds, the rudder, the steering and any unidentifiable leak.

I had goop around the keel nuts just as Ryan described. Gone now, after many cleanings for cosmetics. My washers are rusty, too, after 29 years.

At first haul-out my keel-hull connection was fairly ugly. The yard shrugged, and filled it with fairing compound.

So, I have rusty washers, a small "leak" I still can't find (after sailing only, no pattern to it), and a cosmetic keel fairing.

This did give me some concern en route Hawaii, when the boat was worked very hard in strong winds for weeks at a time. The strains on the hull and keel are hard not to think about, given the 24-hour violence of motion. I did wish a few times that I had dropped the keel, checked the bolts and rebedded everything.

In fact, the first thing I did in Kauai was to put on a mask, dive down, and look at the keel. The fairing showed no sign of anything, and looked just as it had in the sling. I came up with a smile. And then started worrying about the next thing.

No keel has ever fallen off an Ericson that we know of. Most of ours are of a very low-aspect-ratio design.

 

[mkollerjr]

Thanks for your re-assuring perspective! I loved your Kauai video by the way. Watched it several times!

Mark

 

[footrope]

Craig,

Did you replace your bolts while in the yard or on water? The nuts/washers on mine are showing signs of corrosion. Looks to be mostly the washers and some on the nuts. Some are better than others. The surveyor noted this "minor corrosion" and said the nuts/washers could be replaced one by one as needed. He examined the hull/keel joint and said it was fine. The joint did have a little smile on the front of the keel, but he said this was "perfectly normal" and "to be expected." The E38 owner's manual states this as well. Everyone I've spoken with indicates he's a very respected surveyor, so I hope he was right.

I don't know, reading all the keel re-bed posts on this website has me nervous!

Mark

Nice keel, Mark. I have done all my work on the keel bolts in the yard, but one at a time in the water is probably safe. It's not like you'll get a gusher. I would have the new hardware and some 4200 ready to go if I did do this in the water, though. Five of them were done 5 years ago when I dried out the bottom. I wish I had done the two aft bolts at that time. I may have been able to get them loose then. The rusting and the brown watermarks that collect in my bilge from rainwater are cosmetic issues, up to a point. The brown is primarily from the rust, because I have no bilge odor or nasty growth. I clean the bilge a couple times a year. On this layup, which has stretched out quite a bit longer than I had hoped, I was able to do the four under the mast step, since the mast is out. I am hoping that with the re-wire and resealing of the mast wire runs that I will get a fraction of the rainwater once the mast is back up.

Here is what they look like under the keel since the re-bed and new nuts and washers.