Custom sub enclosure advice

[David Analog]

I'm in the process of building a sealed sub enclosure for my 2013 LSV. I'm using 3/4 birch ply, and planning on coating with bedliner.

My boat has the hump that is made of fiberglass, not carpet. My plan is for the bottom of the enclosure to sit on the hump, anchored by l-brackets. It will follow the angle of the hump. I'm going to have a facade with either carpet or vinyl covering the front.

My question is, do I need a dampener (carpet or foam strips) between the bedliner of the enclosure, and the fiberglass hump? I'm just wondering if these surfaces will cause a bit of rattling. The enclosure will be several inches above the floor, so moisture shouldn't be a problem.

csm,
Once you have an enclosure build method that protects the enclosure from failure due to water damage then the next concern is providing for drainage and evaporation under the enclosure, for two distinct reasons. First, moisture over time can wick up through most any protective but micro porous surface coating. The bottom seams are always the first point of failure. Even fiberglass hulls can eventually blister on a boat that stays in the water. Second, you have to counter mold and mildew growth and the resulting odor issues to follow. An enclosure resting on carpet is a real problem. So if the enclosure is riding up on the hump then lay down several narrow polymer strips as a buffer between the enclosure bottom and boat surface. 0.375" thickness is enough.

[kaneboats]

Yea, I relocated one of those panels up a lot higher when I did mine.

[csm]

David - My hump is only fiberglass. It doesn't have carpet or padding of any kind. I think this is a change in the newer boats since they used to have carpet on these humps.

Uniwarking - Did you move your buss bar over onto the left side wall? It doesn't seem like there's much play in the bundle of wires, so I'm not sure how far I could actually move mine...... But that would definitely make things easier.

[David Analog]

[QUOTE=csm;243392]David - My hump is only fiberglass. It doesn't have carpet or padding of any kind. I think this is a change in the newer boats since they used to have carpet on these humps.

If that's the case then I would definitely de-couple the sub enclosure from the fiberglass hump with some rubber feet around the perimeter.

[csm]

If that's the case then I would definitely de-couple the sub enclosure from the fiberglass hump with some rubber feet around the perimeter.

Is this for sound purposes, or airflow? If I can build the box the way I want to, then the amount of fiberglass that would be in contact with the box would only be a strip that is 3.5" x 13"

[MLA]

Is this for sound purposes, or airflow? If I can build the box the way I want to, then the amount of fiberglass that would be in contact with the box would only be a strip that is 3.5" x 13"

I could also see the figer glass hump rubbing through the enclosures coating.

[uniwarking]

David - My hump is only fiberglass. It doesn't have carpet or padding of any kind. I think this is a change in the newer boats since they used to have carpet on these humps.

Uniwarking - Did you move your buss bar over onto the left side wall? It doesn't seem like there's much play in the bundle of wires, so I'm not sure how far I could actually move mine...... But that would definitely make things easier.

Yes, I moved it to the left side wall. I had to cut a few zip ties and re-route things but it can be done pretty easily.

As for the enclosure and the hump... my baffle (front panel) sits slightly ahead of the hump and the rest of the enclosure is a little above the top so it doesn't actually rest on it. The baffle carpet is barely touching the fiberglass and that only goes back a couple of inches. I really doubt that I will have enclosure failure do to moisture, mildew or rubbing of any kind. There is some gap, plenty of airflow and I honestly doubt I'll own this boat for 10+ years. I used MDF which is a bit more at risk than the birtch you're looking to use... but I also put several coats of truck bedliner on it and I sealed all of the seams inside and out with caulk prior to the bedliner. Worst case, I'll build a new one... but for now the sub is pounding and the enclosure is solid

[csm]

Thanks for all the advice in this thread. Thought I would post a final picture. The dimensions of my box are pretty similar to Uniwarking's, but I decided to make it a little bit shorter (height), and a little longer. The net result is around 1.15 cubic ft. The pros are that it's easier to fit in between the hump and the steering column without having to move the hump forward. The cons are that it sticks out about 1.5" beyond where the original facade did, but that really doesn't bother me. I decided to add some LEDs to the backside of the facade to take advantage of that space.

I added some non-skid type pads between the fiberglass hump and the box, so the box isn't making contact with the hump at all. I used rope caulk to seal the terminal cup, and the sub, and it sounds great. This definitely has me wanting to add more LEDs now. In the pic, it looks like you can see the individual lights, but that's actually the reflection of the lights off of the hump. For some reason in the picture, the facade doesn't look level, but it is in real life.

Sub.jpg