sea chest

[ALUMINATOR]

I would like to do away with a few holes in the bottom of my boat and go with a sea chest. I have lots of room but sure would like some help with the design!

What little I know is: A box with sides higher than waterline and some kind of slots in the hull to let in water. Pickups just mount to the chest and the chest is always full of water.

Do you need any type of scoop?
How many and how big of slots for water in?
Can there be any problems with bubbles?
Any reason to have an opening top from the inside of the boat?
Good or bad idea?

Dennis

[peterbo3]

I have seen them plumbed with a large thru-hull & a seacock. I personally believe that if you have openings in your hull, you need to be able to close them.

[Shark Bait]

Aluminator: Nice name by the way - we ALMOST named our new boat ALUMINATOR but in the end did not - it is the DREAM CATCHER. My boat builder, Steve Daigle (EagleCraft), hates thru hulls and will keep them to an absolute minimum on his boats. When I told him I wanted an SS270W with the Hi Speed Fairing mounted on the boat he built a Sea Chest on the inside of the hull. (When I get time to figure out how to post pictures I will send you some). I will try to explain.

After he determined the location for the transducer, drilled a hole in the bottom and prepared the HUGE fairing he built a rectangular aluminum box around the part of the fairing that is on the inside of the hull. It was tall enough so the stem of the transducer has plenty of room. He then built a top for the box that screws down with bolts with a gasket between the top and sides of the box. Where the wires exit the box they go through water tight bulkhead fittings.

If I were ever to rip the transducer off of the bottom all that would fill up with water would be the Sea Chest – about a gallon or so. Cheap – No, Safe – YES. If I have not explained this very well let me know and I try again.

[ALUMINATOR]

I think I am following you. Seems that the box or chest inside the hull is for back up. Loose your thru hull and the water can't get inside.

I will have kind of the same expect I need water in the chest at all times so I can run many "thru hulls" off the same point or chest. Saves a lot of holes in the hull.

[JETTYWOLF]

sign up for photobucket at:

www.photobucket.com - you can take pics from your computer and post them here. Photos need to be "hosted" somewhere.....

Then it'll give each pic several formats you can choose from, one being a format.....just copy that and paste it here and you pics will show up.

seriously EZ... I have my own web site and hosted pics there, and still started a Photobucket album, because it's so easy.

And then can even share my album and video's here on my signiture below.

There even more details in the welcome forum that Daddy-O posted that walks you thru it all....but it's pretty self explanatory really if you have any computer savviness at all.

Hope ya'll give it a try and can help eachother out, thats why we're all here.

[Chaps]

Sea chests are typically used on displacement hulls with inboard engines, is that what you have? I can't recall ever seeing one on a planing hull but they might be common. They are definitely built so the top of the chest (where your fittings are) is below the waterline otherwise the fittings would be sucking air at rest.

Anyway, this is a simple sea chest and you can see that there might be some benefit to having a set-up like this particularly if your hull plates are thin and some peace of mind would be derived from having the thruhull fittings in a heavier built unit.



That said I did install a sea chest in my Maxweld cat for a big transducer. This can was welded in at the tail end of my stbd hull so that the ducer protruded only about 1/4" below the hull. Same kind of deal as Marty's boat but no fairing was needed.

[highland61]

I'm not familiar with bolt on sea chests.....all I've ever seen were welded in. Also, all the piping was horizontal to the hull or level and any valves where within a few inches of the chest.
If you decide to have a sea chest, add a sea Rock and piping to bleed of excess air. It can also be used to blow out debris from the chest.
Always pipe in a strainer.


.

[Ironwoodtuna]

John at www.Ironwoodboats.com cuts out a 2" x 2" square in the hull and then makes a 2" x 2" x 1" block , drills and taps a 3/4" or 7/8" hole in it then the entire block is double welded into the hull. Then he threads a stainless steel seacock into it with Tuff Gel.