Ocean underdeck trunking/conduit

[Nasher]

One of the things I’d like to do whilst refreshing The Nashers Revenge, my Ocean RIB, is to see what the possibilities are to increase the diameter of the underdeck trunking from the console to the transom area.
Or add another one the Port side to mirror the Starboard side one.

Before I start cutting holes and putting in more small inspection hatches I wonder if any of you guys who worked for the Windsor Brothers remember any details. - Mr K???

The hull has full height Hull to deck longitudinal Stringers either side of the fuel tank, and several cross bulkheads I know of between the two main longitudinal stringers, but I don’t know what the situation is within the long cavities on the outer edges of the hull/deck assembly outside of the two main stringers mentioned.

Being an Ocean I’m sort of convinced the underdeck conduit will just be laid in the cavity and turned up at the ends with very little stopping it flapping around in the middle, although there could be a couple of cross bulkheads in there as well that would need opening up.

Has anyone seen under the deck of an ocean and can comment?

Thanks

Nasher.

[Redgull]

Is their a drainhole for the cavity you could insert an endoscope? I've used one of these in another application, checking my shower drain, and it worked a treat.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Endoscope-I...56299194&psc=1

[Nasher]

Unfortunately not - yet.

I think I'm going to have to put some very small inspection hatches in just to check what's going on in there.

I don't actually like the idea of there being voids in the hull that can't be accessed for inspection, to see if they are staying dry for a start. Putting in a good quality small round hatch that seals properly seems like a good idea.

I have however been thinking of an Endoscope like you've suggested for a while, but mainly to help me keep an eye on the internal state of my old Ducati engines.
They are a great tool to help access the condition of a bike you are thinking of buying as well.

Nasher.

[gtflash]

What you thinking about for actual conduit? I think several use upvc gutter

[Nasher]

It's currently got some sort of Convoluted plastic pipe a bit smaller than drainpipe, but I want to go as big as I can to make life easier getting the Hydraulic steering hoses down there.

Whatever I use needs to be a bit flexible as I'm obviously going to be trying to replace it without taking the deck up.

Nasher.

[jeffstevens763@g]

Originally Posted by Nasher

It's currently got some sort of Convoluted plastic pipe a bit smaller than drainpipe, but I want to go as big as I can to make life easier getting the Hydraulic steering hoses down there.

Whatever I use needs to be a bit flexible as I'm obviously going to be trying to replace it without taking the deck up.

Nasher.

mine had land drain in there the stuff with holes in so it drained flexible cheap

[Nasher]

I managed to get half an hour in down at the yard yesterday morning between the rain showers to see what I could work out with regard to this underfloor trunking amongst other things.

I remembered that inside the Port side Jockey seat there are a couple of holes in the deck either side of the main longitudinal stringers, the outermost of which routes the fuel line back to the transom via the outer hull void.

With the Witches hat removed I managed to push my tape measure through the hole all the way back to the transom and 3M towards the Bow, the length of the tape.
So there is no obstruction on the Port side, meaning I could add another conduit from the Console to the transom on that side.

I’m assuming there is also no obstruction on the Starboard side, but still don’t know if the existing conduit is fixed in place in any way.
The existing one is @95mm ID Convoluted tube which is bent at right angles both ends to come up through the deck and really needs to be bigger to get all my electrical cables and hydraulic hoses down it.

When I fitted the steering all those years ago I gave up trying to get the hoses down the conduit using the mouse line, and routed them through the side of the console and along under the tubes back to the transom, which I’ve never been happy with.

If the existing conduit isn’t fixed in place I can cut around it either end, pull it out, and pull a larger diameter tube through in its place. There is plenty of room as the gap from under the deck to the hull is @240mm at it’s biggest, but of course the limiting factor will be putting a right angle bend, or curve, in whatever larger diameter tube I can get down there.

I’m going to have to cut another hole in the deck on the Starboard side to see what’s going on down there, but can at least cut the hole inside the Starboard side Jockey seat and put a small inspection hatch over it. I will of course be mixing up a small pot of flowcoat to paint on the cut edges of the plywood to stop them rotting.

It would obviously be so much easier to fit a bigger conduit if I took the deck up, but the other thing I did was go all over the boat with a small mallet checking for rot.
I’m please to say that the only suspect area I found was right at the bottom of the transom, which I’m planning on cutting out anyway to carry out a better repair than has been done in the past.
The deck appears solid all the way from Bow to Stern, which is great news considering it’s a commercial hull built in 1998, and the reputation Ocean have for a bit of inconsistency.

Nasher.

[jeffstevens763@g]

You could consider 150 MM drain pipe with slow 90 degree push fit bends easy to pull cables through especially if you thread a draw string first.

[Nasher]

Originally Posted by jeffstevens763@g

You could consider 150 MM drain pipe with slow 90 degree push fit bends easy to pull cables through especially if you thread a draw string first.

Thanks Jeff, I’d love to, it’s the ideal solution really.

Unfortunately one end is in the console, and the other end up near the transom under the moulding that forms a rear deck and a well forward of the transom.

So there is no way I’ll get anything rigid down the hole(Oooeer missus).

Nasher

[GuyC]

I imagine the bend radius on the hydraulic hose will reduce your options for putting bends in the conduit.

Could you cable tie the hydraulic hose to the conduit and run them together rather than trying put the hose in the conduit. The unsupported length and the potential for chafing would make me a bit nervous but without taking the deck up, it will all be a bit of a compromise. You could put some conduit around the hoses or spiral wrap if space is really at a premium i.e. you would have two conduits, one for hydraulics and one for other cables.

[Nasher]

It's a good option GuyC.

One of my options as mentioned is to add another completely seperate Conduit down the Port side of the boat, which I'd use for the hydraulics.

Nasher.

[jeffstevens763@g]

Still reckon this would be the best Nasher for ease of bending, it self drains plus if you have it stuck out proud of the deck you can glass in up then when all the cables are run you can seal it with plotting compound instead of a witches hat.

https://www.drainagepipe.co.uk/perfo...oil-p-LD10025/

[Nasher]

Ah yes, something flexible like the item in your link is what I will need.

That's basically what's in there at the moment, and glassed in either end as you suggest.

I could do with it a bit bigger, or use the option of another one down the Port side.

Thanks

Nasher

[jeffstevens763@g]

Originally Posted by Nasher

Ah yes, something flexible like the item in your link is what I will need.

That's basically what's in there at the moment, and glassed in either end as you suggest.

I could do with it a bit bigger, or use the option of another one down the Port side.

Thanks

Nasher

Just for info I had hyd steering hoses, fuel line, two transducer cables, bilge pump cables, nav lights, spot light & pull rope in one of these. A conduit threader went through very easy but you can get it wrap around other cables if running a new cable later. Replacing cables is easy by just using the old to pull out the new

[Nasher]

I managed to get a pass for a couple of hours yesterday and spent the time starting to get The Nashers revenge ready for her new(er) engine.

Part of that process was to de-rig as much of the current Suzuki wiring etc that I could, and pack it up ready to go with the engine when it sells.

In drawing the cabling out of the current trunking something didn’t feel right, it was very tight in places despite wrapping the connectors in tape and attaching them to my Draw wire so I could pull on both at once and eliminate any stress on the connector.
On closer inspection with the Endoscope I purchased recently I discovered that it’s actually broken up and is full of holes.
At either end where it’s been formed into a 90deg bend up through the deck it’s completely broken and is only connected by the wire spiral so is trapping all the cables. Although it was possible to withdraw them with care.

This can’t be due to UV damage, and the compartment was completely sealed, so not water damage either, probably just age, unless the layup fumes from the original build in an enclosed space degraded whatever plastic it is.

So I definitely need to replace it, but unfortunately have found that @125mm ID is going to be as big as I can go due to the position of the console side and underdeck stringer.

It’s going to be relatively simple to do, cut both current ends flush, then cut around them and pull it out, hopefully leaving my draw wire in place.
What I’ll then do is make the holes big enough to take @125mm ID conduit of some kind, and elongate the holes so the new trunking can enter and exit the deck at 45deg rather than 90deg to make it easier to run the cables.

I’d love to put a rigid smooth bore pipe in of some kind in but there is just not enough access without taking the whole deck up, so it’s going to have to be something that’s flexible enough to bend into a quite tight radius whilst it’s being fitted just to get it into the console and down the hole. And of course smooth bore if possible.

If I can’t find anything flexible enough with a smooth bore I’ll probably have to go with something like this:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125mm-PU-...53.m1438.l2649

Nasher.

[xpertski]

Originally Posted by Nasher

I managed to get a pass for a couple of hours yesterday and spent the time starting to get The Nashers revenge ready for her new(er) engine.

Part of that process was to de-rig as much of the current Suzuki wiring etc that I could, and pack it up ready to go with the engine when it sells.

In drawing the cabling out of the current trunking something didn’t feel right, it was very tight in places despite wrapping the connectors in tape and attaching them to my Draw wire so I could pull on both at once and eliminate any stress on the connector.
On closer inspection with the Endoscope I purchased recently I discovered that it’s actually broken up and is full of holes.
At either end where it’s been formed into a 90deg bend up through the deck it’s completely broken and is only connected by the wire spiral so is trapping all the cables. Although it was possible to withdraw them with care.

This can’t be due to UV damage, and the compartment was completely sealed, so not water damage either, probably just age, unless the layup fumes from the original build in an enclosed space degraded whatever plastic it is.

So I definitely need to replace it, but unfortunately have found that @125mm ID is going to be as big as I can go due to the position of the console side and underdeck stringer.

It’s going to be relatively simple to do, cut both current ends flush, then cut around them and pull it out, hopefully leaving my draw wire in place.
What I’ll then do is make the holes big enough to take @125mm ID conduit of some kind, and elongate the holes so the new trunking can enter and exit the deck at 45deg rather than 90deg to make it easier to run the cables.

I’d love to put a rigid smooth bore pipe in of some kind in but there is just not enough access without taking the whole deck up, so it’s going to have to be something that’s flexible enough to bend into a quite tight radius whilst it’s being fitted just to get it into the console and down the hole. And of course smooth bore if possible.

If I can’t find anything flexible enough with a smooth bore I’ll probably have to go with something like this:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125mm-PU-...53.m1438.l2649

Nasher.

That’s exactly what I have fitted for the same reasons of needing something flexible to get around the right bends and I went for the same diameter. I fitted 80mm which seemed large enough for my purposes, I also bought 100mm diameter conduit which I have spare if you need it - exactly the same stuff from the same eBay seller you are looking at. PM me if that would be useful to you.

Only thing I would have preferred with it is a smooth inside but after searching long and hard this seemed to be the best stuff I could find

[Nasher]

thanks Xpertski, glad it's not just me that has searched long and hard and not found the ideal product.

Thanks for the offer of the 100mm, but I've room for the 125mm, so will go with that.

Annoyingly the gap I have is 150mm, but as you know the tube is rated at ID not OD, so I can't go for the 150mm ID tube especially as I need to get some Fibreglass around it.

Nasher

[xpertski]

Originally Posted by Nasher

thanks Xpertski, glad it's not just me that has searched long and hard and not found the ideal product.

Thanks for the offer of the 100mm, but I've room for the 125mm, so will go with that.

Annoyingly the gap I have is 150mm, but as you know the tube is rated at ID not OD, so I can't go for the 150mm ID tube especially as I need to get some Fibreglass around it.

Nasher

No problem, current problem I’m finding is I put a pull string in the tube before fitting but it ended up twisted amongst cables so imagine pulling new cables won’t be easy. I’m going to try before closing it all off (one end comes up on console through gap in middle of fuel tank which only just fits the 80mm conduit!

I bought a 5m endoscope you help with routing new cables - wanted one with articulation but they are pricey.

Below is what I did to keep water out

[Nasher]

Reminds me of this:
https://www.rib.net/forum/f8/this-we...ect-29761.html

Which I did on the other side of my RIB just for the fuel pipe.

Nasher.

[A1an]

Just throwing this out there.. Is there a real need for conduit underdeck? I have seen several underdeck solutions from varying manf and some have perforated pipe, some have gutter pipe with holes drilled in and some have fibreglass tray moulded in to hull. All of which let water in and around the cables, if they are going to get wet in the trunking why not let them lie on the hull?

Even the "sealed" trunking has a tendency to let water in if the boat gets a good swamping.