Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

With dissolving rope in hand, it's time to get it glued in place and get my floor foamed while we are still with sunshine and in the '70's. Once in place, I will post pics for all those interested.<br /><br />

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

What is the dissolving rope used for? Is it possible for you to share a web link on this dissolving rope stuff?

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

No website,18R. It was my idea to provide below floor drainage. It is the uncut version of corn starch shipping peanuts. It was designed as a biodegradable alternate to the eeeeeeeeeevil plastic foam shipping peanuts.<br /><br />I will glue it down in various places, running it thru bulkheads and stringers, then out the new transom style bilge plug I installed in the forward bilge bulkhead. Then I will apply foam over the top of it.<br /><br />Once water hits this material, it instantly dissolves (liquifies) and just dissappears and will drain out the new hole and into the bilge. Once I foam the floor, I will probably try to gently back flush the material out of the passageways it has left in the foam. Pics of the network will be coming soon. I'm starting to glue it in place as soon as I hit 'add reply'.

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Boomyal – you are obviously having way, way too much fun. Now that you have it glued in place, personally, I would not use the stuff to create routes for water to flow. I would use regular old, el cheap-o sch 80 pvc and foam around it. I would design it so that when the boat is sitting in calm water all channels have an unobstructed down-hill flow right to the bilge pump area.<br /><br />Pvc has the advantages of smooth edges inside (won’t hold water to grow bacteria/stink and cause humidity), you don’t have to dissolve it (ok…dissolving it would be fun!), and it keeps the water out of contact with the foam that surrounds it. What barrier will you have between your water channels and the foam?<br /><br />My boat had sch 80 pvc used to connect bilge drainage thru a mid compartment that needed to stay totally dry (where the alu fuel tank was foamed it). Several lines are placed against the hull and thru stringers that were glassed in. An extra piece of pvc was placed on each side of the compartment hull, higher up, not for water to pass thru; it’s there to pull grounding or other electrical wiring under the floor and thru the foam without having to deconstruct anything. None of the pvc was visible under the foam.<br /><br />If you think you might ever need to run electric from one end of your boat to the other, now is the time to place pvc (or the cheap, gray electrical conduit) thru there, before you foam.<br /><br />Maybe I missed something. Looking forward to those pics.

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

It will be interesting to see (or read) the final results of this project/experiment. Very inventive boomyal!<br /><br />Aldo

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

The rope is in place along with other floatation aids. I secured the rope with contact cement. What you cannot see is the rope passing thru ports in both the stringers and bulkheads. Also the idea for the floatation aids came as a result of an earlier post RE Ping Pong Balls.<br /><br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br />This pic is showing the termination of the rope in the bilge.<br /><br /> <br /><br />These are the 'floatation aids'. I don't think I would have had enough foam without them. They are glued in place with liquid nails.<br /><br />

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Very Impressive. Is there a web site to order that stuff or a trade name I can give to a supplyer for that rope? I love the thought put into your rope idea. I dont think anw water will be able to puddle up or in your boat. Good luck with it.

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Boomyal - is there no risk of the foam either absorbing water or degrading in the presence of water?

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Test a piece of your rope with the foam and see if the heat of the foam disintegrate your rope and you loose your water channels.<br />Hope you don't mind me answering Ralph question,<br />The foam he is using is the best money can buy, it will not absorb water or degrade.

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Originally posted by Ralph:<br /> Boomyal - is there no risk of the foam degrading in the presence of water?

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That's the point, Ralph. The minute water hits it, it liquifies (degrades) and flushes out into the bilge. Should future water get underneath the floor, instead of just staying there getting sucked up by the 2 part foam, it will migrate to the open passageways. When I store my boat, I'll leave it bow up with the forward bilge bulkhead plug removed. I guess you might say that I'm using the cornstarch rope in place of wax in the 'lost wax' process.

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Originally posted by cc lancer:<br /> Test a piece of your rope with the foam and see if the heat of the foam disintegrate your rope and you loose your water channels.<br />Hope you don't mind me answering Ralph question,<br />The foam he is using is the best money can buy, it will not absorb water or degrade.

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Nothing short of a match (or water), will deteriorate it. Solvents don't touch it.

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Originally posted by starrider_68:<br /> Very Impressive. Is there a web site to order that stuff or a trade name I can give to a supplyer for that rope? I love the thought put into your rope idea. I dont think anw water will be able to puddle up or in your boat. Good luck with it.

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I'll get back to ya on that, starrider.

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Boom - I meant the flotation foam not the rope. Can you create a water channel through the foam?

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

How does water get to the bilge in picture #2, will the bulkhead stop it there, didn't see a hole.

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Originally posted by Ralph:<br /> Boom - I meant the flotation foam not the rope. Can you create a water channel through the foam?

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If I'm understanding you, Ralph, that is what the dissolving rope is for. It will just give some clear passageways to allow air in and water out. I made as many passageways in as many places as I thought that water intrusion might get out, should it occur. Being as the rope needed to be anchored, prior to foaming, its placement needed to be along solid surfaces as opposed to trying to create passageways through the middle of the foam. Did that answer your question?

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Originally posted by cc lancer:<br /> How does water get to the bilge in picture #2, will the bulkhead stop it there, didn't see a hole.

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CC, see the U shape of the rope just aft of the bulkhead? The U is formed from the two lengths of rope running along the bottom sides of the center stringer forward of the bulkhead. There are two holes that the rope come thru.<br /><br />There are also several holes thru the outboard stringers so water can get down to the keel passageway.

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Boomyal:<br />Bad news just got of the phone with a Chef, if you corn rope absorbs to much water tonight it may revert back to corn and when the hot floatation foam hits it....well it might start popping........popcorn.

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Originally posted by cc lancer:<br /> Boomyal:<br />Bad news just got of the phone with a Chef, if you corn rope absorbs to much water tonight it may revert back to corn and when the hot floatation foam hits it....well it might start popping........popcorn.

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My tonque is now sticking out between my lips and flapping rapidly up and down.

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Wouldn't popcorn go perfectly with all that soda he's just drunk?

Re: Ah! Dissolving Rope. It's installed w/ pics

Originally posted by Dunaruna:<br /> Wouldn't popcorn go perfectly with all that soda he's just drunk?

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Hey, that's your Queen's own. Schwepps my man. I debated whether to also use the bottles from the other half of that elixer, but I figured it might be bad luck. <br /><br />The bottles in the front center bays are benign apple juice bottles. Didn't wash them out before storing them for future use, so I think the residue has turned to Apple Jack. Yummmm. <br /><br />How's the houseboat roof coming?