 RL28 Keel Worries |  I dropped the keel out of my RL28 Equinox recently. It was sticking in the case and corrosive expansion around the hydraulic link seemed to be the culprit. The rest of the keel seemed to be suffering from very minor surface corrosion.
That is until I took it to the sandblasters, there seemed to be a staggering amount of corrosion under the fairing. I'm keen to know if anyone else has stripped a keel before and how thick was the metal under it? Rob if you are out there i see from your notes that you faired the keels quite a bit, did they look anything like this when they came from the foundry?
From what i can see I'm thinking a new keel could be in order. Any thought or experiences would be very much appreciated.
I'll try and attach some nice before photos and somewhat confronting 'afters'
| |
|
|
|
| Re: RL28 Keel Worries | No experience but a few thoughts;
Have you by chance weighed the blasted remains to see what % reduction has occured?
Maybe worth looking at newer materials and methods as a replacement for instance looks like shape would be readily cut from sheets or sheets of stainless by water or laser cutting,not sure about cost but would be a more permanent solution.
| |
|
| Re: RL28 Keel Worries | Would a possible solution be to put a thin layer of glass over the keel to seal it from any further rust?
| |
|
| Re: RL28 Keel Worries | Hi Garry & John,
I'm slowly plugging away at this one, work getting in the way of the serious business of boat fixing I'm afraid. Rob was kind enough to share his thoughts on the subject and I really appreciate his advice. The treatment plan is to have the keel blasted to take it down to clean iron. then, as quickly as possible seal with some form of sealant. Rob recommends a layer of un thickened epoxy resin. That will hopefully keep out the moisture and air and prevent further corrosion. Next stage is to fair the damage using Epoxy and 411 filler. Once faired and smoothed another coat of epoxy and some paint. The real challenge will be making the keel wide enough to be a good fit but not too snug so it won't drop easily.
So far I've had it blasted and coated, 3 days to cure completely and ill make a go at the fairing. Invested in a 3 tonne floor crane/engine hoist. Without that and Robb's special keel handling device I'd be lost!
I'll put some pictures up as we go along.
| |
|
| Re: RL28 Keel Worries | Hey Ian, not sure if it is possible but would you be able to weigh the keel?
cheers
alister
| |
|
| Re: RL28 Keel Worries | Yes, I was hoping to take it to the lifters via the weigh bridge to see how much the keel weighs. I imagine it may be a few kilos lighter than mot other 28 keels on account of its anorexia!
| |
|
