How to seal a leak through the skeg slider, Valley Sirona?

[Frederick Goodman]

I have a Valley Sirona with wire operated skeg.  The wire is threaded through a poly tube.  There is a leak where the tube penetrates the hull, from the cockpit to a skeg control box on the deck.  I am looking for advice for sealing the leak.  In particular, what is an appropriate sealant, and how was the thing sealed in the first place?

So far I have not tried taking apart the skeg control slider, which apparently has several parts and fits into a recess on the side of the deck.  Like everyone else, I have had experience taking things apart and discovering they are more complicated than I thought.  I think I may need to take it apart, because it may be that the poly tube is not being held properly in place and its movement has broken the seal.  

Edited November 14, 2022 by Frederick Goodman

[mhabich]

3M 5200

[Frederick Goodman]

Just bumping this to check if anyone has experience with the skeg slider on newer Valley Kayaks.  

It has a slider block secured into a recess on the deck with 4 screws and also a set screw that clamps to the tube through which the actual cable is threaded.  I thought that if I removed all the fasteners I could slide the block forward out of the way, but the block won't budge.  The block is closed in back, so it's not going to lift out of the way either.   Force is not a good idea here, as the tube is terminated with some sort of brass ring bonded to the tube (according to info on the web)  and if that brass ring doesn't want to slip out of the slider block, then it might decide to un-bond from the tube instead, forcing a much more complicated repair.

[JanetL]

I put a blob of Lexal sealant on the inside of my old plastic valley kayak where it was leaking in the skeg control, seems to be holding up ok.

[Frederick Goodman]

Thanks, Mike and Janet.  With enough gentle encouragement, I eventually got the slider block free,

Just in case someone looks at this thread later for advice, let me say that the trick to getting the skeg control block free was to hook a tool (*) behind the plastic tube and pull the assembly a bit out away from the boat before wiggling the skeg block to the left (in the picture below).  This allowed the block to clear the fiberglass protrusions that you see in the picture, while lining up to clear the brass ring on the plastic tube.  I was really stuck for a while before I figured this out.  Re-assembly was completely straightforward.  The set screw needs to be tightened just until you feel a little resistance; it hits the plastic tube just aft of the brass ring.

(*)  I used a dental pick. 

 

Edited November 20, 2022 by Frederick Goodman

[Jim Snyder]

I'd be inclined to live with an occasional drip rather than put a bunch of goo in there...

[Frederick Goodman]

It's not an occasional drip, Jim.   It's a whole lot of water sloshing around after an hour on the water. 

[mhabich]

Sticking with my answer.

[Jim Snyder]

16 hours ago, Frederick Goodman said:

It's not an occasional drip, Jim.   It's a whole lot of water sloshing around after an hour on the water. 

Trying to be actually helpful this time. Here's a thorough article on Valley skegs. It recommends epoxy putty from the inside. It seems like this is more likely to form up well.

https://www.kayakacademy.com/pages/valley-sea-kayak-skeg-cable-replacement-pre-2011-models

[David M]

Hey Fred. 

One item as I read back through the thread. 

Mike is right in recommending 3M 5200.  It's a go to in the boating market.  Although there are some caveats to its use.

I was reminded of an experience within the past year when I watched, and minimally assisted a pro install a deck hatch and bulkhead on my P&H Virgo.  

There was a good deal of conversation on which sealant/adhesive to use connecting the hatch rim.  While we settled on 3M, research on their flagship marine products 5200 and 4200 indicated one key difference.  If you may ever have to access/remove/work on the area again the 4200 stood out.  5200 is so good as an adhesive there is a real challenge if you ever have to break/remove this "permanent" bond.  

Here's a brief summary of a comparison of the two products...

Finally, concluding the comparison between 3M 4200 vs. 5200 depends on the specific situation in which you will consider using either of these adhesives. You can go with the 5200 adhesives if you need long-time connectivity, more hardness, durability, and excellent joining for parts under or above the waterline.

But going with 4200 is also not bad as it provides faster curing with the latter dissembling of those joined parts.

The epoxy putty referenced in the video is also an able product for the repair you're tackling.   Many use it for covering the sharp, dry bag destroying screw tips left exposed when installing a deck compass on both plastic and composite boats. 

The best of luck with this.

[Frederick Goodman]

Thanks everyone.  

Interim report:  I used Lexel because it was a bit of guess what would work, and Lexel claims to be more tolerant of cool temperature application.   The leak seems to be sealed for now.    (I'm still getting water in the boat, but by some other channel.)

[Pintail]

Frederick, Lexel is excellent for use in plastic boats (bulkhead sealing, etc); but I'd have thought one of the above recommendations would have suited you better?  Anyhow, good luck with it.  Lexel will probably clean off easily enough if it does <not> prove watertight over time...

[EEL]

Fred;

This was helpful info as today  I had to deal with a very stiff skeg on a just purchased boat.  If fully retracted it was almost impossible to deploy the skeg, but once partially deployed it was manageable although with too much effort.  Cleaning helped only a little so I needed to inspect the cable. I found this thread which gave me the courage to dig in as removing the black box with the four screws is necessary to pull out the cable from the stern enough to check for an unusual bend.  I foolishly thought the black box lifted out and was flummoxed for awhile. Instead it has to be pushed forward to slide off the poly cable housing.  Doing so without dislodging the brass ring is  important, but with a little lubricant and a gentle tug it all came apart.  I looked at the info from Kayak Academy which was also  helpful.  Jim inadvertently posted the pre 2011 page and the post 2011 page is here if anyone encounters the same issues.

https://www.kayakacademy.com/pages/valley-sea-kayak-skeg-cable-repair-replacement-for-2011-and-later-models

Pulled out about six inches of cable and there was a sharp bend.  With modest manual manipulation it was back to a normal gentle curve and skeg works fine now.

BTW, some 5200 or 4300 had been spread around where the cable housing came out into the cockpit so your issue may not be an isolated one.

Again, thank you for posting.

Ed Lawson