Are there any common chemicals or food items that can be found on a boat that can attack and damage fiberglass and the resin holding it together?
Specific Question:
I had a few soda cans leak in a storage locker, and the liquid is now all over the inside of the storage locker and now in the bilge, and I was wondering if the acids in the soda could do any harm if not cleaned up quickly? Other than washing the area down and pumping the bilge dry, do I need to be concerned with anything else? Would the soda acids attack the float switch contacts or the bilge pump? Any thoughts?
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LittleWingCA
1980 Pacific Seacraft Orion 27
Sailing Grounds: Southern California
I'd clean everything I could including the bilge pump, etc with fresh water. The real problem isn't the soda itself but the fact that the infamous polyestermite is attracted to sugar, so clean well.
Brian
i see the real problem with the pump is the sugar getting sticky and gumming up the float switch. to get it out, rinse with warm water with a little soap, then even more warm water. then when you think its all out do more warm water, its cheap.
as for the acid, i dont think it will be a problem
and miti "what the **** is polyosys" ....polyestermite
Seriously, just wash the soda off anything electrical and you should be ok.
As far as the polyestermite, about 40 or so years ago Rudder Magazine carried a tongue in cheek letter about "the dreaded polyestermite". The story was that fibreglass (relatively new at the time) was not immune to the problems that wooden boat owners had lived with for years. The letters went on for years and a lot of people seemed to believe it. It was quite a hoax and quite humorous. I haven't heard about them for years but if you Google the term and several items come up.
Brian
Polyestermites are micoscopic gazortites that are also attracted to the sugars in corn as well as sucrose that is often use in soft drinks. When I was in school, I ate a bag of out of date Fritos while studing for exams. The little buggars infested the oils on the chips which I transfered from my fingertips and they ate/smugged the print off my text book and the printed lettering off my bong! Other than eating the print off your bilge pump, they pose no real health risk. I'd just do a good bilge cleaning as suggested.
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Chemicals that Attack Fiberglass & Resin
