Seal through bulkhead

[ChrisL]

Just thinking ahead any recommendations on sealing the  service holes(large duct) from engine area through stern bulkhead into the living area 

thanks 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Seal as in water/gas proof? Tricky. Likely to be quite a few wires going through and getting a water and gas tight seal amongst all those is going to be hard. As far as the BSS is concerned, you want something to stop wires rubbing on steel as they pass through. I used some rubber sheet around the wires, through the hole for this. Place the hole as high up the bulkhead as you can to delay as long as possible the point at which water gets through in a flood, or sinking. If it is that bad though, then the cabin interior is going to get wet regardless. 

[BEngo]

A fire retardent sealing foam, available from Screwfix, Toolstation and others will be just the job.

 

You can either mask off before squirting it in and remove  the masking as soon as the stuff has expanded or fill the gaps and tidy up when its set.

 

For smaller holes Henley's Compound.

 

N

 

[ChrisL]

Thanks for response so far, we use to use expanding foam to seal ducts on forecourt but I was wondering about using a rubberised/ silicon  seal 

[magnetman]

How large is a 'large duct'? 

 

 

[ChrisL]

About 100mm

[kevinl]

Read the title and for a minute thought 'seal' as in the marine animal, I know it's cold out there but... Back on topic, I hate squirty foam stuff but it does do the job, however, as has been said some I understand can't be used in contact with electrical wiring, so check the spec first.

K

[magnetman]

24 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

About 100mm

Is this for a warm air diesel heater? 

I think there is an argument here for using silicone roof flashing on the engine bay side.

[ChrisL]

6 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Is this for a warm air diesel heater? 

I think there is an argument here for using silicone roof flashing on the engine bay side.

No 

 

we use to use this system when I was working which would work 

https://www.filoform.co.uk/filoseal-hd-re-enterable-duct-sealing

 

[magnetman]

As mentioned if there are wires it is critical they can't chafe on the steel.

 

One option is to slit a piece of garden hose lengthways and clip it over the edge around the hole. Assuming the hole is circular it will stay in place and provide a soft edge. I'm not convinced sealing up wires and pipes together will be very satisfactory. 

[Tracy D'arth]

That is a big hole, I would try for several smaller ones, segregating pipes from wires, gas from electric, hot from cold etc.

[ChrisL]

3 minutes ago, magnetman said:

As mentioned if there are wires it is critical they can't chafe on the steel.

 

One option is to slit a piece of garden hose lengthways and clip it over the edge around the hole. Assuming the hole is circular it will stay in place and provide a soft edge. I'm not convinced sealing up wires and pipes together will be very satisfactory. 

If your commenting on the link I provided the idea is to basically individual seal as the duct needs to be water tight and prevent any flame passage 

my thoughts was to surround the cables and my heating pipes with some hose then creat a seal. Then seal off each hose hope I’ve explained my thoughts

[magnetman]

Sounds a good idea to me. Silicone rubber is amazing stuff. I have been using a silicone cooking pan holder £4 from eBay as a rain collar for the chimney on my fire for 2 winters and it has been flawless. It seals perfectly never get any rain in. The flue has no sealant at the collar as I made the flue itself to be readily removable. The silicone thing is just a rain cover not fixed to anything. 

 

Its so stretchy and manageable. I cut a hole about an inch in the middle and stretched over the 70mm flue pipe it grips it and seals completely even at very high temperatures.

 

Amazing stuff. 

 

 

 

 

 

You could get an aluminium ring laser cut to the right size to bolt the silicone piece to the bulkhead then just make little holes for the pipes. They will all seal nicely then on the other side make a plywood template with matching holes to keep the pipes in the right location.

 

 

These

 

 

Seriously durable they are. 

I bought two but still on the first one and the flue gets very HOT. The oven ware just doesn't notice the heat at all.

 

 

Its been outdoors since September 2022 only negative effect is a bit of colour fade. No tears or anything. 

[cuthound]

When I worked as a project manager fitting out data centres, we used intumescent sealant to seal small holes. This was approved for use in building under section 20 of the London Building Regulations, for which sites has to be signed off by the Local Authority Buildings Approval Officer.

 

https://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-intumescent-sealant-white-310ml/5689R?tc=VC2&ds_rl=1249416&ds_rl=1241687&ds_rl=1245250&gad_source=1&ds_rl=1247848&ds_rl=1245250&gclid=Cj0KCQiAtOmsBhCnARIsAGPa5ybC4jpDqCN0LmLPP1nAmxxSZnShGQ4wV9g6wXos7fSIqomwLbM3aFkaAlDuEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

[Batavia]

If you are serious about obtaining an excellent seal, then use a cable transit system, such as this:

https://www.powerandcables.com/product/product-category/roxtec-crl-cable-transit-frame/

Sit down before you start looking at prices!

 

Edited to add:

For single cables, just use plastic stuffing glands - cheap (in small sizes) and effective.

 

 

Edited January 7 by Batavia

[Quattrodave]

What we've done in the past that worked well was split the cables /pipework out into smaller manageable bundles. We then installed a number of suitably sized  glands and fed the cables and pipes through these.  If it was a single large cable or pipe then the glands seal up very well. If it was a number of cabled then squirt a bit of sealant in the back of the gland leave it to go off for a few hours then snug the gland down.

Cheap, easy and easy to add to if needed...

 

Edit:

I just happened to have the correct size drill and tap for the large glands so mounting them in steel was a doddle...

Edited January 7 by Quattrodave

[Tacet]

5 hours ago, cuthound said:

When I worked as a project manager fitting out data centres, we used intumescent sealant to seal small holes. This was approved for use in building under section 20 of the London Building Regulations, for which sites has to be signed off by the Local Authority Buildings Approval Officer.

London Building Acts - not London Building Regulations.  In the good old days, building control in London was prescribed by primary legislation.  And enforcement/approval was via the District Surveyor employed by the Greater London Council not the local authority although some parts of the LBAs did survive the abololition of the GLC.

 

Not sure it helps much in deciding how best to close a hole in a bulkhead.

 

 

[cuthound]

28 minutes ago, Tacet said:

London Building Acts - not London Building Regulations.  In the good old days, building control in London was prescribed by primary legislation.  And enforcement/approval was via the District Surveyor employed by the Greater London Council not the local authority although some parts of the LBAs did survive the abololition of the GLC.

 

Not sure it helps much in deciding how best to close a hole in a bulkhead.

 

 

 

Certainly in 2013 when I last worked on a London Data Centre, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets employed a Building Control Officer, who attended the construction periodically to ensure standards were being met and signed off the complete works before it could be handed over to the client.

[ChrisL]

22 hours ago, ChrisL said:

About 100mm

Well it’s not 100mm I measured today when I went to boat it’s 60mm with a 30mm deep pipe, so once I’ve bought my heating pipes through I’m sure I can make a backing which can be fitted into the hole the fire retardant silicon to seal it up 

[magnetman]

A 40mm thick block of hardwood cut with a holesaw the right size then drill the required holes for pipes and wires. Fix in hole with sikaflex. Sealant or silicone pad over it.