Ericson 30-2 lower gudgeon

[tripper_dave]

Moved this post over from "Design and Function"
captainic was asking:

Hi,
Would anybody know the construction details for the transom-mounted rudder lower hinge bracket. Mine is loose (note: I am NOT talking about the bushing, which is loose too, but can easily be fabricated). The hinge bracket forms one piece with a shaft that is inserted into the hull. Is this shaft bolted from the inside then glassed in, or was it originally glassed in without a way to tighten it? Cheers, -Nic

When we dropped Dragonfly off the back of her cradle and snapped the rudder a few years ago we also bent the lower gudgeon. We puzzled and prodded at it for a while trying to figure out a fix. It is, I believe, a solid bronze casting at least 8" long embedded in the glass of the keel area. In the end we fixed it by slowly and carefully bending it back into true with a long pry-bar inserted into the hole. So far there have been no issues, 2 seasons and about 4,000 nautical miles later.

See
[h=3]Rudder/Gudgeon problem on E 30-2[/h]and
[h=3]E30-II outboard rudder lower gudgeon failure.[/h]

 

[captainic]

Thank you Dave for this very useful information! The entire bronze casting in my case has a very slight play (maybe 1/64") but is solidly attached into the hull. I was hoping to find a plate and nut inside the hull that could be tightened, but after reading some of the posts it looks that this is likely not the case. Because the fiberglassing around the casting is hardened and massive (both inside and outside) and appears in very good shape, I decided first to try to inject liquid epoxy around the casting, rather than trying to get the casting out to re-glass it and destroying a good part of its hardened epoxy covering to do so. After some research on various products, I decided to try this by drilling a small long hole along the casting both above and below it, then using a Simpson Crack-Pac kit ( http://www.strongtie.com/products/anchorsystems/adhesives/crackrepair/crack_pac.html ), which is expensive (~ $140) but specifically designed for pressure injection of high-strength liquid epoxy for the stabilization of cracks as small as 1/64" in concrete (wet or dry). I will report on this thread how it goes. If anyone has a better solution short of destroying a good part of he stern bottom to re-bed the casting please chime in. I do not want to leave it loose, even if the play is minimal.

Moved this post over from "Design and Function"
captainic was asking:


When we dropped Dragonfly off the back of her cradle and snapped the rudder a few years ago we also bent the lower gudgeon. We puzzled and prodded at it for a while trying to figure out a fix. It is, I believe, a solid bronze casting at least 8" long embedded in the glass of the keel area. In the end we fixed it by slowly and carefully bending it back into true with a long pry-bar inserted into the hole. So far there have been no issues, 2 seasons and about 4,000 nautical miles later.

See
Rudder/Gudgeon problem on E 30-2

and
E30-II outboard rudder lower gudgeon failure.

 

[tripper_dave]

Thank you Dave for this very useful information! The entire bronze casting in my case has a very slight play (maybe 1/64") but is solidly attached into the hull. I was hoping to find a plate and nut inside the hull that could be tightened, but after reading some of the posts it looks that this is likely not the case. Because the fiberglassing around the casting is hardened and massive (both inside and outside) and appears in very good shape, I decided first to try to inject liquid epoxy around the casting, rather than trying to get the casting out to re-glass it and destroying a good part of its hardened epoxy covering to do so. After some research on various products, I decided to try this by drilling a small long hole along the casting both above and below it, then using a Simpson Crack-Pac kit ( http://www.strongtie.com/products/anchorsystems/adhesives/crackrepair/crack_pac.html ), which is expensive (~ $140) but specifically designed for pressure injection of high-strength liquid epoxy for the stabilization of cracks as small as 1/64" in concrete (wet or dry). I will report on this thread how it goes. If anyone has a better solution short of destroying a good part of he stern bottom to re-bed the casting please chime in. I do not want to leave it loose, even if the play is minimal.

Just a quick thought....
The play in the gudgeon isn't due to shrinkage caused by low temperature contraction of the metal?
Just worried that if you fill the gap, the fitting has no room to expand when it gets hot.

 

[captainic]

Just a quick thought....
The play in the gudgeon isn't due to shrinkage caused by low temperature contraction of the metal?
Just worried that if you fill the gap, the fitting has no room to expand when it gets hot.

This is a good point, however, in this case it seemed like the play was just a bit too much for my comfort.

Thank you Cookie for the original drawing showing the gudgeon, posted here:
http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoex...9-Ericson-30-2-Owners/page2&p=92158#post92158

I tried the epoxy injection around the gudgeon and it seemed to work. I injected above the gudgeon, although very little liquid epoxy got in. However, I did this after grinding down some of the hardened epoxy around the gudgeon; that is, after grinding down about 1 inch of the face perpendicular to the gudgeon, at the yard's advice; the yard then built up the face around the gudgeon with epoxy back to its original level. So far it has held well.

...Unfortunatelty I have developed another totally unrelated problem since then, a crack ahead of the keel well, which I am posting on the Ericson 30-2 owners main thread.