My FXone is going to spend the winter in my basement.

Assuming that when the boat was originally put together the beams were siliconed into the hulls does anyone have any good tricks or ideas to break this bond?

Also does anyone think that using a thin gasket material that won't bond to either the hull or the beams be a good idea? It would be nice if I go somewhere south this winter that I could haul the boat in an enclosed trailer in pieces to save it from getting covered in road goo, and pelted with rocks, roadkill and whatever for the 1700 miles it takes for me to drive somewhere where the climate is tolerable during the winter months.

Silicone or any 3M product, such as 5200, are not good bedding compounds. In the case of the 3M product it is a permanent bond and you will destroy your boat attempting to separate the two. However, if you bought your boat new, chances are that the beams are NOT seated in anything.

To properly bed a beam to a hull socket, wax the beam with a quality carnuba wax (or splurge on a mold release wax). Build a damn around the beam socket and any through-bolt holes with thin strips of modeling clay. Tape up the hull around the beam to make any over-run of epoxy easy to clean up (use the painter's masking material with the masking tape and plastic sheeting - works great!). Mix up epoxy with a hard filler. I prefer to use milled glass fibers adding until the mixture starts to approach the consistency of a raw egg. Then add cabosil (fumed silica) until it's the consistency of pudding. Pour mixture into the beam socket and lightly, but snugly, bolt the beam in place. Once cured, a light tap with a rubber mallet will usually release the beam and you can clean up the clay and bolt things together.

Karl,
Your FX X bars are probably not 'bedded' in anything if it was built by a dealer. They did however use a doughnut of silicone around each bolt hole underneath the xbar. Undo the bolts and add a little torque by picking up a bow and it will break loose.

I take my FX apart each season and that seems to work prety well. Never use 5200. You'll be bummed.

Hope that helps!

Jake I'm assuming your bedding technique can be assembled and disassembled at will? Its just to fill all of the little voids to get a more appropriate fit?

Yes, just make sure you wax the beam, and the bolts.

Whether they are bedded or not, there are products that dissolve silicone and 5200.

Yes - completely removable and it makes an INCREDIBLE difference in the stiffness of the platform.

5200 remover works great when you can get it to the 5200. If the beam socket is 15" wide, you'll never get the remover into the center even using needles and anything else you can think of. I've witnessed it and seen the ripped deck.

My port deck was ripped in two when I disassembled my boat that the previous owner bedded down with 5200. I went throught alot of "so called" 5200 solvent. It might work in small applications but cannot migrate to the center of the beam sockets. I was very careful and was sucessful with 3 of the 4 attachment points, but the last one, not so good. It tore a about 8- 10 inches of deck and I am still having trouble getting it solid. As far as I am concerned 5200 is permanent, If I "might" need to get it apart I use something else.

Jake, where did you see the ripped.........oh! nevermind <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

You've got that humongo garage. Why not hang it from the ceiling?

Try a pice of nylon string that is breaded not twisted. Pass it through the gap between the beam and the hull by pulling from ether side it will take two people if the tramp is on. I geuss you could soak it in the remover first give it try it mite work.

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It gett's messy for me when I don't follow the lables

That's my cabinet shop. Nothing is safe in there.

I won't be knocking it apart untill the end of October. I wonder if a high test fishing line would be suitable for cutting through the silicone? The braided stuff might have enough abrasiveness to make short work of it.

Afraid someone will make some cool lookin' FXone end tables?

Actually tried one better. I wrapped wooden dowels around the ends of a Guitar B string, Even injected the remover in several places with a insulin syringe. Still ripped the hull. 5200 is just a beast!

No, there's always something flying around in there. Some intentionaly, some not. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> It's like working in a phone booth now, hang a boat from the ceiling it'll be like working in a dishwasher.


I don't know what it was put together with, Jeremy is probably right and its just plain silicone. I hope so anyway. I don't have anywhere else to put it, and I really hate the idea of my boat sitting outside all winter long. The poor thing has to sit outside all summer long. When I build a new shop, hopefully next year, I've planned on adding a small lean too on one side so I can park it in there year round.

About a million Hobie-years have passed since the first one spent its snowy winter outdoors. It doesn't care if it's cold-- if it's covered & dry inside.

The same does not apply if it is baking on a hot Florida beach in the sun and full of water. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

I knocked the boat apart yesterday. It was just silicone and came apart quite easily. I like the having the boat in the basement. When I get around to finishing it I'll have to do some planning so I can still get the hulls in through the window and down there.

I weighed the hulls and was shocked.

Starboard hull 73.5#'s
Port hull 74#'s

I would've guessed they were going to be way lighter than that.