[Rhodes22-list] Lou's portlights
Roger Pihlaja
cen09402 at centurytel.net
Tue Nov 30 22:40:26 EST 2004
Lou,
I took a look at the pictures of your ports. The pictures remind me of a
similar job I did on my Rhodes 22 back in 1988. I can't recall if I refered
you to an article from the FAQ web site regarding how to replace the opening
portlights. But, here it is:
Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
____________________________________________________________________________
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Opening Ports For The Rhodes 22
A boat can never have too much ventilation. It's possible to upgrade two of
the fixed ports on the Rhodes 22 to opening type ports. Because of the shape
and curvature of the sides of the cabin, only the sternmost ports are
suitable for this upgrade. Without a set of custom made shims, opening ports
in the other four positions would have to tend so much to conform to the
curvature of the cabin walls that they would inevitably leak. After two hard
sailing seasons, the two opening ports I installed still don't leak a drop.
Opening side ports are not a ventilation cure-all. Obviously, they must be
secured when the boat is rail down, beating to weather. In addition, wind
driven rain or spray will blow in through an open port. However, at anchor
or at a dock, the extra ventilation above the port settee and galley makes a
significant difference in cabin comfort.
With a boat as beautiful as the Rhodes 22, the appearance of the side ports
is very important. It turns out that a black Beckson 5" X 12" camlock port
is a very close match to the existing fixed ports in terms of color, size,
and shape. Figure 1 shows how the boat looks with the new port installed.
Table 1 gives the parts required for this project:
Table 1
# Required Part Number Description
2 P0512DBS-10 5" X 1211 Camlock, Drain, 1" Spigot, Black Smoked
Glass, With Insect Screen
1 Pack of 25 BB187-02/25 -24UNC X 1/21' Barrel Nuts, Phillips Head,
Nickel Plated Steel
20 10-24UNC X 1-1/4" Round Head Machine Screws, 18/8 Stainless
Steel
4 5-1/2" X 1" X 3/4" Pressure Treated Wood
4 15" X 1" X 3/4" Pressure Treated Wood
1 10.3 oz Tube Dow Corning RTV Silicone Caulk, White
Remove the old ports and clean away any old caulk from the inside and
outside of the cabin. Use the outer trim ring from one of the new ports as a
template to determine where the opening in the cabin wall will have to be
enlarged. Position the trim ring so that it is aligned with the other ports
and mark the outer cabin where material must be removed. You may find it
convenient to use masking tape to establish a line from the other fixed
ports. The safest way to enlarge the hole is with hand wood rasps, round and
flat. However, before you start, tape a garbage bag over the port inside the
cabin to catch the shavings. Take your time and insert the port in the hole
from time to time to check the fit.
When the port fits properly, try to fit the pieces of wood around the hole
in between the outer cabin wall and liner. If your boat is like mine, you
will find blobs of resin on the backside of the outer wall and liner. These
must be removed before the pieces of wood will uniformly fill up the space
between the outer wall and liner. A Dremel mototool [tm] is handy here,
although the job can also be accomplished with your hand wood rasps. When
the pieces of wood will slide in and out with no tight spots, glue them in
place with silicone RTV and clamp the whole sandwich together with blocks of
wood and C-clamps.
After-the silicone RTV cures use your round wood rasp to clear away the wood
in the spigot drain slots. Then, insert the port into the hole. Mark the
locations for the through bolts onto the cabin liner. Remove the port and
drill 1/4" diameter holes through the liner, wood, and outer cabin wall on
these marks. Enlarge the holes through the cabin liner to 5/1611 diameters
to permit the barrel nuts to fit. Assemble the port dry to check fit and
alignment. You are trying to achieve a solid sandwich of outer trim ring,
outer cabin wall, wood, inner liner, and port all held together by the thru
bolts. You may have to slightly enlarge the holes or trim the machine screw
lengths to get everything to fit properly. When you are satisfied, clean the
inner liner and outer cabin wall with isopropyl alcohol or acetone, apply
silicone RTV, and assemble the port for real.
Even in the sternmost port position, there is still a slight amount of
curvature to the cabin walls. It is important not to torque the thru bolts
up to the point where you warp the frame of the port as this may cause the
port to leak. The best procedure is to lay a straight edge on the frame of
the port inside the cabin as you are tightening the thru bolts. Tighten the
thru bolts, a little at a time, in a criss-cross pattern. When the ends of
the port frame are touching the liner and the remainders of the thru bolts
are snug but not so tight as to cause the frame to warp, the port is fully
seated. At this point, the middle of the port frame will be not quite
touching the liner and the gap will be filled with RTV. If your straight
edge shows you have torqued the center thru bolts too much; then, slightly
back them off until the frame of the port is straight again. On the outside,
the much more flexible trim ring will have bent to uniformly conform itself
to the curvature on the side of the cabin. Wipe off the excess RTV, which
has squeezed around the inside and outside of the port and you're done!
In October 1988 this project cost me about $150.00 and was accomplished over
a weekend.
Beckson Marine sold me the ports and barrel nuts direct. Their address is:
Beckson Marine Inc.
165 Holland Ave.
PO Box 3336
Bridgeport, CT 0660
203/333-1412
I'd be happy to give advice to anyone who tries this project.
Roger K. Pihlaja
5326 Sanford Lake Road
Sanford, MI 48657-9327
989/689-3757 (Home)
----- Original Message -----
From: <steadilsr at verizon.net>
To: <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Monday, November 29, 2004 8:51 PM
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Lou's portlights
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