DIY Arch

[travler37]

Boat is a Pearson 35 [73]
Am in the desighn...finding, process of building a arch for solar and wind.

Panels are 3.5x5....two of them
Wind is Air Breeze

Plan is to go with sch 40 stainless tubing.Have the Tig and the knowledge to weld it.

Two bows with braces.ect......this is easy to do.
The deck attachments have me a little.....well am old so just need some advice for my mind i guess.

Have seen premade arches that use a universal fitting on the deck.basically a 2in round with a adjustable angle socket for the tube.Has anyone used these with allot of weight on them?
These would look good but even with backing plates am dubious as to the supporting abilities.
My first thought was to use 2inx4in...mabe 1/8th thickness and backing plates for each bow.Cosmetically worse but .......
The forums thoughts please
Mark

[Cavalier]

Originally Posted by travler37

Boat is a Pearson 35 [73]
Am in the desighn...finding, process of building a arch for solar and wind.

Panels are 3.5x5....two of them
Wind is Air Breeze

Plan is to go with sch 40 stainless tubing.Have the Tig and the knowledge to weld it.

Two bows with braces.ect......this is easy to do.
The deck attachments have me a little.....well am old so just need some advice for my mind i guess.

Have seen premade arches that use a universal fitting on the deck.basically a 2in round with a adjustable angle socket for the tube.Has anyone used these with allot of weight on them?
These would look good but even with backing plates am dubious as to the supporting abilities.
My first thought was to use 2inx4in...mabe 1/8th thickness and backing plates for each bow.Cosmetically worse but .......
The forums thoughts please
Mark

What size schedule40 are you thinking of? I guess you'll be wanting to scale your mount-plate thickness to the wall thickness of the tubing... I'd go for a plate of OD(plus allowance for weld throat) x 3OD so you can be sure to reduce the pressure of the plate-ends due to moments from the frame while allowing ample room for your socket-set or wrench down onto the fixtures based on the c-c of the holes in the plate either side of your tubing.

..I assume you're going to remember the all important nitric acid treatment on the welds after cool-down..

[travler37]

Cavilier,
Plan was for 1in sch 40.Would rather error on the big side for support plates.Thank you for your input.
Wish i could find a different way to home treat besides acid but haven't found one yet....But thats another day for me.
Thank You
Mark

[idpnd]

Somewhat related: how do you attach solar panels to the arch?

[Cavalier]

Originally Posted by travler37

Cavilier,
Plan was for 1in sch 40.Would rather error on the big side for support plates.Thank you for your input.
Wish i could find a different way to home treat besides acid but haven't found one yet....But thats another day for me.
Thank You
Mark

With the 1" you're spot on with the 2x4" plate. I wouldn't be too down about the paint-on nitric goop.. many professional shops still use it to clear the post-weld area and IMHO it works just as well as a full (and expensive) submersion bath. I've always found that the procedure of holding the gas on over the the bead while the 'visible heat' disappears is more important to the future integrity of the weld than any post-weld treatment (in addition to pre-weld area prep, of course). Amazing how many people you see pull the tip away from the weld-area the second they release the trigger!

The only other (maybe overkill) thing I could think of was to place a small breather hole in the plate directly in the centerline of the tube-placement.. that was you can get to the interior part of the weld with Tectyl 51x or a similar wax-based protectorant. I guess the feet of the frame are most likely to be awash with green-water occasionally, so it may be worth having the peace-of-mind knowing that the inside of the weld is protected against repeated salt-based wetting and drying..

You should upload a photo of the finished thing: would be good to see how it all came together in the end!

Phil

[Lancerbye]

I have been toying with a similar project, however some of the information here is somewhat confusing. Sched 40 is very heavy for arch work and is a reference to pipe not tubing. Pipe is measured ID while tubing which is measured OD and is approx. half the thickness of Sched 40. Most of the nice arch work I have seen around uses 11/8 in.tubing to 1 1/4 in. tubing. To get the nice polished finish you have to get polished tubing.

[Randyonr3]

we build a lot of biminis and arches here at our shop. and most from 1&1/4 inch polished stainless tubing. and brackets are readly avalable for the tubing, most with No welding at all. My dodger and bimini are built from 1&1/4 and I have two 230 watt panels atop them...
As far as the welding, we stay away from it as much as possible.. the reason being, everything moves on your boat, if even to the slightest amount and welds dont move where a bracket will.

[travler37]

Originally Posted by Randyonr3

we build a lot of biminis and arches here at our shop. and most from 1&1/4 inch polished stainless tubing. and brackets are readly avalable for the tubing, most with No welding at all. My dodger and bimini are built from 1&1/4 and I have two 230 watt panels atop them...
As far as the welding, we stay away from it as much as possible.. the reason being, everything moves on your boat, if even to the slightest amount and welds dont move where a bracket will.

Have ben loooking at brackets/fittings and doing it that way.The big thing for me is price.Costs a little rod and argon to make a weld.Can not find a suppplier for fittings that is afforadable to me.Any sugestions.
As to things moving.Add another brace if i have a problem.Am planning on taking my Tig unit with me anyway.Look for the Pearson with the WELDING sighn on the stern.
Mark

[travler37]

Originally Posted by Cavalier

With the 1" you're spot on with the 2x4" plate. I wouldn't be too down about the paint-on nitric goop.. many professional shops still use it to clear the post-weld area and IMHO it works just as well as a full (and expensive) submersion bath. I've always found that the procedure of holding the gas on over the the bead while the 'visible heat' disappears is more important to the future integrity of the weld than any post-weld treatment (in addition to pre-weld area prep, of course). Amazing how many people you see pull the tip away from the weld-area the second they release the trigger!

The only other (maybe overkill) thing I could think of was to place a small breather hole in the plate directly in the centerline of the tube-placement.. that was you can get to the interior part of the weld with Tectyl 51x or a similar wax-based protectorant. I guess the feet of the frame are most likely to be awash with green-water occasionally, so it may be worth having the peace-of-mind knowing that the inside of the weld is protected against repeated salt-based wetting and drying..

You should upload a photo of the finished thing: would be good to see how it all came together in the end!

Phil

Am planning on drilling all the bases out for future wire runs.Never thought of coating the inside for corrosion protection.Thanks for that idea.Will get a pic up when i get to boat and get it finished.
Thank you
Mark