Idle Days Posted May 4, 2021 Report Share Posted May 4, 2021 I’m charged with installing a washing machine in our boat. To do so I will have to drill a 22mm hole through the hull side for the drain outlet. I need to avoid drilling through a hull rib and therefore need to locate their positions. The only way I can think of finding the position of these ribs, without removing panelling, is to use a stud finder on the inside lining and hope that I can find one sensitive enough for the task. Has anyone a better idea before I splash out on yet more kit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murflynn Posted May 4, 2021 Report Share Posted May 4, 2021 take a chance ........................... you've got a much better than evens chance of missing a hull stiffener. the side stiffeners usually meet up with the bottom stiffeners - perhaps you have some knowledge of some of the locations, and the spacing? ...................... of course sod's law says that logic doesn't apply and you will hit the stiffener web head on 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy D'arth Posted May 4, 2021 Report Share Posted May 4, 2021 Do it the surveyor way, a hammer on the outside will find the ribs and bulkheads. No need to do any damage, a good solid bang with a clean mallet will do. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Mack Posted May 4, 2021 Report Share Posted May 4, 2021 14 minutes ago, Idle Days said: The only way I can think of finding the position of these ribs, without removing panelling, is to use a stud finder on the inside lining A stud finder will find the timber battens to which the timber lining is attached, but is unlikely to find the steel frames to which these are attached. But you can probably find the timber battens by looking carefully for the lining fixing nails/screws or just by tapping to find the area that sounds least hollow. The trouble is that while most shell builders use vertical stiffeners which coincide with the transverse frames across the bottom, a few use horizontal stiffeners, and you may not know which you have. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty40s Posted May 4, 2021 Report Share Posted May 4, 2021 While we still have frosts, look at the side of the boat early morning, the first strips to melt will be where the struts are 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEngo Posted May 5, 2021 Report Share Posted May 5, 2021 Conversely, on a cold morning without the heating having been on, put a kettle on and allow it to boil for a few minutes. The condensation on the sides and roof will occur first on the stiffening struts. N 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackrose Posted May 8, 2021 Report Share Posted May 8, 2021 Do it from the inside. Tap the wooden paneling with the handle of a screwdriver and you should hear the note change when it's over something solid behind the panel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewbacka Posted May 8, 2021 Report Share Posted May 8, 2021 On 05/05/2021 at 08:35, BEngo said: Conversely, on a cold morning without the heating having been on, put a kettle on and allow it to boil for a few minutes. The condensation on the sides and roof will occur first on the stiffening struts. N I located my roof ‘ribs’ by looking across the outside of the roof of the unheated boat on a frosty sunny morning, the frost melts last above the cold struts. Bit late in the year for this method though. I did mark inside the finger tip rails so now I know where they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Mack Posted May 8, 2021 Report Share Posted May 8, 2021 Look carefully from the outside. You may be able to see where the stitch welds are that join the ribs to the shell plating. Admittedly easier on the thin plating of a curved roof than the thicker plating of hull sides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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