2010 210 Guardian - Installing Thru Hull Fitting

Repair or modification of Boston Whaler boats, their engines, trailers, and gear
PeterO
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Location: Quadra Island, BC, Canada

2010 210 Guardian - Installing Thru Hull Fitting

Postby PeterO » Sun May 02, 2021 7:30 pm

I have a 2018 210 Guardian. I want to install a through-hull fitting in the hull bottom for a raw water pump.
I believe the hull is the same as the 210 Montauk as the specifications are identical.

The through-hull fitting will be installed by a boat yard with lots of experience with pleasure and commercial vessels, but not many Boston Whalers.

Unless advised otherwise, I plan on installing the through-hull water for a water pick-up in the factory location shown on an old drawing I came across for a 210 Montauk, shown in Figures 1 and 2 below.

fig1_.jpg
Fig. 1. Excerpt from Boston Whaler drawing with circled location for a through-hull fitting for raw water pickup.
fig1_.jpg (35.94 KiB) Viewed 3358 times


fig2_.jpg
Fig. 2. Excerpt from Boston Whaler drawing with circled location for a through-hull fitting for raw water pickup.
fig2_.jpg (31.17 KiB) Viewed 3358 times


Brunswick Marine could not tell me whether the area would be solid epoxy or foam core.

My understanding is that if the area is foam core, some of the foam needs to be removed and packed with epoxy to form a "putty puck."

Please give advice on how to [remove foam and create a putty puck].

Please recommended materials to do this.

Your advice and recommendation be appreciated, and i will pass them along to the boat yard.

Peter O.

jimh
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Location: Michigan, Lower Peninsula
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Re: 2010 210 Guardian - Installing Thru Hull Fitting

Postby jimh » Mon May 03, 2021 8:16 am

I believe the term you are suggesting is "putty box." A putty box was created in certain hulls at a particular location where there was anticipation that a large diameter hole would be made in a hull bottom for various purposes, such as installing a large SONAR transducer or perhaps for a raw water pick-up.

Review these prior discussion which include the term "putty box" for more information:

OUTRAGE 23: Through-Hull SONAR Transducer, Putty Box
http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum8/HTML/003684.html

1990 MONTAUK 17: Thru-hull SONAR Transducer
http://continuouswave.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=340

Transducer Placement on 1999 Dauntless
http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum8/HTML/003450.html

My general impression was a modification to a hull like this would be a factory-only installation. Since your 2010 hull's ten-year hull warranty is over, I don't see a concern that an installation of a large hole in the hull will void the hull warranty--the warranty is already over.

Also see

Live Well Plumbing
http://continuouswave.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1006

PeterO wrote:Brunswick Marine could not tell me whether the area would be solid epoxy or foam core.

This seems odd. If the people who made the boat don't remember how they made it, I am not sure who would have better information. Try contacting Boston Whaler instead of Brunswick. They might have more advice to offer.

Also, I doubt that any large volume of "solid epoxy" could exist. Big lumps of solid epoxy resin are not particularly desirable in boat fabrication.

My inference about the purpose of the putty box: to provide a water-tight barrier in the area so that any water leaking from the through-hull fitting cannot get to any foam. The putty might also better resist the compression force on the hull created by the through-hull fitting.

jimh
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Location: Michigan, Lower Peninsula
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Re: 2010 210 Guardian - Installing Thru Hull Fitting

Postby jimh » Wed May 05, 2021 12:51 pm

Peter inquired with Boston Whaler regarding the location of a putty box. He received the following reply and attachements which he sent to me. I have extracted the image files and the text, which I reproduce below:

BostonWhalerCustomerServiceRepresentative wrote:...while we no longer use putty boxes...the area you are looking at should be solid. [Figure 3 below shows] a layer of putty that is applied to the boat before we close the molds...


linerDetail01a.png
Fig. 3. View of the underside of the liner molded part showing where putty is applied.
linerDetail01a.png (24.44 KiB) Viewed 3305 times


BostonWhalerCustomerServiceRepresentative wrote:...and [Figure 4 below] shows the location of the [PENSKE] board. [PENSKE] board is not wood or phenolic, but a rigid fiber reinforced compressed foam. You should be good to install a thru hull in this location. Just note that if this is not done at a Boston whaler dealer, you will void your 10-year-hull warranty.


linerDetail02a.png
Fig. 4. View of the inside of the hull molded part showing where reinforcement material is applied.
linerDetail02a.png (11.15 KiB) Viewed 3305 times


Also worth remarking: as I noted above, modification to the hull bottom such as making a large diameter hole through the hull is something at will void the 10-year-hull warranty as was explicitly noted in the reply from Boston Whaler, unless the installation is done by an authorized Boston Whaler dealer. This is something to consider if planning modifications like the one being discussed here.

Regarding PENSKE board, that name may be obsolete, and the product may now be called AIREX PXw. AIREX PXw material is made by 3A COMPOSITES CORE MATERIALS. Here is some information about the material formerly known as PENSKE board:

    AIREX® PXw
    Fiber-reinforced structural foam

    AIREX® PXw is a closed-cell, fiber-reinforced urethane foam with special formulation that offers significant advantages in comparison to conventional sandwich core materials. A special manufacturing process is used to evenly distribute continuous fiberglass filaments with mesh in the foam. This creates a product with increased bending resistance and rigidity, which enables utilization with and without face sheets. The foam is dimensionally stable, maintains stiffness even when subjected to moisture and is resistant to chemicals and high temperatures.
More at the 3A COMPOSITES website.

tlsch377
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Re: 2010 210 Guardian - Installing Thru Hull Fitting

Postby tlsch377 » Mon May 10, 2021 7:32 am

PeterO--Are you going to replace the raw water intake through-hull fitting?

If [the boat] has Penske board, is it necessary to do anything special when you renew the through-hull fitting?

ASIDE: This is a very good topic.

jimh
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Location: Michigan, Lower Peninsula
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Re: 2010 210 Guardian - Installing Thru Hull Fitting

Postby jimh » Mon May 10, 2021 8:03 am

tlsch377 wrote:PeterO--Are you going to replace the raw water intake through-hull fitting?


The inference is that the 2018 210 GUARDIAN boat does not presently have a raw water intake. Peter says that in the initial post.

PeterO wrote:I have a 2018 210 Guardian. I want to install a through-hull fitting in the hull bottom for a raw water pump.


A futher inference is given in the reply from Boston Whaler:

BostonWhalerCustomerService wrote:You should be good to install a thru hull in this location.


Since the word "install" is used rather than "replace", I don't see a reasonable basis to think that there was already a fitting in place and that Peter was going to replace that fitting with a new fitting. He is seeking advice because he is going to install a new fitting where none was.