30 plus chainplates

[Mike Siegel]

So I resealed every fitting on my deck and I have a question about my chain plates. On my 30+ there is only one "traditional" chain plate that attaches to the bathroom bulkhead. The other 3 rings on deck for the shrouds bolt through the deck to long stainless rods that attach to turnbuckles fiberglassed in the hull . These rods are threaded and adjustable . I imagine the deck has settled over the years and these rods need to be tightened now so the load is not on the deck but transfered to the hull . One was very tight , made a snap and broke free and now moves very easy . The last 2 will not move , sprayed penatrating oil on them . I tried heating the turnbuckles very quickly but they are mounted in fiberglass so can't heat much . They feel like have started moving a little but I'm applying ALOT of force . I'm worried the rod might break . Question is anyone have any experience with this specific problem. Also if I break them any ideas where I could get new ones?

 

[Frank Langer]

Mike,
Have you loosened off the shrouds tension at the turnbuckles on the deck, as these are putting upward pressure on those rods inside. I'm guessing that if you loosen them and continue to work at the rods, they will loosen. From memory, with the rigging loose, the rods should be hand tight plus one turn, and then re-tune the standing rigging as normal.
Others can correct me if my memory on the one turn is not accurate.
Frank

 

[Mike Siegel]

Mast is off the boat . They definitely need to be tightened . Loose in the plates right now

 

[bigd14]

Those are Navtec tie rods. They are available from RigRite. I looked into them and I don't recall the price, but it was exorbitant. I reused mine but replaced the chainplates with new ones from Garhauer and had a local metal fabricating company mill me some new tie rod blocks.

Have you checked the tie rod blocks under the side deck? I am wondering if the tie rods have corroded to the tie rod blocks and that is where the resistance is. If not, its just using penetrating oil, heat, time and pressure in both directions. Hopefully the aluminum threads of the round bar glassed into the hull are not corroded too much. That would be a more difficult replacement.

U-Bolt Type Chainplates

 

[Mike Siegel]

Those are Navtec tie rods. They are available from RigRite. I looked into them and I don't recall the price, but it was exorbitant. I reused mine but replaced the chainplates with new ones from Garhauer and had a local metal fabricating company mill me some new tie rod blocks.

Have you checked the tie rod blocks under the side deck? I am wondering if the tie rods have corroded to the tie rod blocks and that is where the resistance is. If not, its just using penetrating oil, heat, time and pressure in both directions. Hopefully the aluminum threads of the round bar glassed into the hull are not corroded too much. That would be a more difficult replacement.

U-Bolt Type Chainplates

Did you replace your tie rod blocks ? Thats where mine are frozen .

 

[Loren Beach]

One detail that is sometimes overlooked is long term moisture intrusion from the deck surface. Those aluminum pieces will not corrode where the headed rod comes up from below into the socket IF the area remains dry.

My recent experience with these pieces (and all of the other OEM deck penetrations) tells me that EY used good construction techniques when they built out the deck. That said, these must be re-bedded at or before 30 years. Twenty years would be better. I found that 5200 sealant had been used virtually everywhere.

We had these deck fittings pulled for inspection and re-bedding when our spar was down for a new rig, about 20 years ago. Preventative Maintenance, back then. The sealant that the yard used at that time looked like 5200, when taken apart again recently.

The deck coring was dry. Then in 2021, while the boat was dismantled for painting, those holes were over-drilled, epoxied, and re-drilled.
Humidity inside of the boat over the decades had contributed to some light corrosion in those aluminum blocks, but nothing that had glued the parts together.
Link: https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/ubs/gear-removal-progress.786/

If an owner ignores the deck hardware bedding, there will be a very high price to pay. These boats were extremely well constructed, and their procedures and workmanship was well above average. They cost more new, and have the foundations for a very long life.

We are almost all into the period where such maintenance is due and overdue.

Damned Good Thing that their design and scantlings justifies maintaining them. Yup, that's an opinion.

 

[bigd14]

Did you replace your tie rod blocks ? Thats where mine are frozen .

I did replace the tie rod blocks. Had a local machine shop duplicate them out of some incredibly tough aluminum (don't recall the type). Have you been able to expose the blocks and try to use heat and penetrating oil on them? If worse comes to worse, you may be able to remove the ubolts, then rotate the tie rod with the block attached into the cabin and unscrew it from the hull connector to work on it at home. Here is a photo of my corroded tie rod blocks with the new ones:



And one of the new blocks in place:

That said, these must be re-bedded at or before 30 years.

If the tie rod blocks are corrosion welded to the tie rods that means the the chainplates have leaked and definitely need to be rebedded as you are doing, but it may also be time to replace them. Or at least a careful inspection at a minimum. New Ubolt chainplates are relatively inexpensive from Garhauer.

More information here:

Ericson 30+ chainplate U bolt

Does anyone have a source for these Ubolts? They are approximately 2 1/4" wide and 7/16" inch diameter. Thanks

ericsonyachts.org

E38 Chainplate U-Bolts and Replacements

The Navtec U-Bolts used to attach the shrouds to the deck on many Ericsons are similar to those pictured below. The original has a crack starting at the middle of the radius of the bend. I have found at least three (out of 8) that have at least one crack and the one pictured has a crack on both...

ericsonyachts.org

And from the Media section a guide on how to adjust them when back in place:

 

[Mike Siegel]

No the end at the deck is fine . My problem is where they thread into the joint at the hull. There is a barrel of aluminum that they thread into , frozen there

 

[bigd14]

Ah, I misunderstood, sorry. I guess just keep working at it and hope you can break them free.

 

[Loren Beach]

No the end at the deck is fine . My problem is where they thread into the joint at the hull. There is a barrel of aluminum that they thread into , frozen there

That part was "clean" on our boat. That is solid round-bar aluminum. I believe that the secret is to never let any water leak in around that deck bolt fitting, and then run down that ss rod.

Also, if/when you have new aluminum (top) bars milled, be sure to have them Hard Coat Anodized. This makes a big difference in their ability to shrug off corrosion.

 

[dcoyle]

I redid my chain plates several years ago on my E34 and one of the ss rods was frozen to the aluminum pipe in hull. It took about a month to free up. I continually soaked it with penetrating oil, which was difficult since the connection is buried. I sprayed it on rod and let gravity work it down. Also used some freeze spray on rod but not sure if that helped. I borrowed a 4’ pipe wrench from a plumber friend and built a support for it so that it would stay clamped on rod. Then used a ratcheting l tie down strap rigged so that pipe wrench always had tension on it, and added tension to it daily. I marked rod to see if it moved as well. Finally one night while really pushing on the pipe wrench and twisting the ss rod it popped free. Initially I thought I broke it but rod was intact and I could see it moved about 3/8 inch. It took a few more nites of working it to get it free. Took rod to machine shop and they buffed out damage from pipe wrench jaws and cleaned the threads on all the rods. They let me borrow a tap and used that to clean threads in pipe. When reassembling used Tef Gel on all threads. I reused the aluminum blocks after cleaning them up and spray painting with a zinc paint. In hindsite probably should have had new ones made.

 

[dcoyle]

Sorry my boat is an E33 not E34 as stated in last reply.

 

[Mike Siegel]

Sorry my boat is an E33 not E34 as stated in last reply.

I may try that exact thing . Otherwise I'll just use it for the season then cut them out and replace them