Those pesky leaking portlights, plus deck hardware bedding

John K · Post by **John K** » Tue Feb 02, 2010 8:56 am

I know these topics have been discussed ad nauseum here, but I am hoping to revisit this briefly if I may. I got the portlights and frames out with no damage. There was some moisture in the honeycomb, but not too bad. I have been letting the core dry out under a tarp for weeks (this applies to the wet core I found under the lifeline stanchions as well). The factory window gaskets had sustained a lot of distortion and hardening, especially on the sunny side, so I decided that they were no longer useable. I agonized over what method I would use to seal the new pieces of lexan into the frames. I think I have found an old, but wonderful solution. Gray rubber butyl window glazing tape (purchased as an RV supplier). I framed in one of them last night, and it came out great. This stuff has a little bit of adhesion quality to it, unlike silicone. Polysulphides are said to react harshly with lexan, so I knew that was out. I ran a half inch strip of the tape into the weather side of the frames, slipped them onto the lexan, pressed the window down to flatten the tape. Then I removed the frame pieces, peeled the backing off of the tape, then slipped the frame on, and pressed the window firmly onto the tape. Then used a putty knife to gently press the butyl rubber down into the channel all the way around, which pushes the window firmly into the back of the channel. Looks great, done! I plan to re-attach the frames with 3M 4200 and the original screws. The butyl rubber is very flexible, UV resistant, long lasting, and bonds well to itself. In my internet travels, namely on sailnet, I have also found that many people (blue water sailors, mind you) are bedding their deck hardware with this stuff. Stick it to the hardware, trim it flush around the edges, and bolt the hardware down. No mess. Just don't use the black, it's a mess of tar. The gray behaves more like a putty, and is quite easy to clean up. Best of all, I got a huge roll of the stuff for $9.00. After I epoxy seal/fill/drill the area under the stanchions, I intend to bed them with this tape as well. I am in love with this stuff. Some builders used to use it, and I have read accounts of people removing hardware that was bedded with it 35 years ago, and found a bone dry deck beneath when they removed it. Cheers!

J. Austin · Post by **J. Austin** » Tue Feb 02, 2010 10:27 am

Wow great post!
Can you send any photos?
I'm going to have to do this also this year, any info is helpful.
where did you get the tape from?

CaptainScott · Post by **CaptainScott** » Tue Feb 02, 2010 11:17 am

Good info!
Yes, if you have any photos of the process, that would be cool to post here!!

Thanks!
Scott

Bhacurly · Post by **Bhacurly** » Tue Feb 02, 2010 11:41 am

Cool!

I may have to get some for my 27 project... think you just saved me a lot of work!

Thanks,
Billy

John K · Post by **John K** » Tue Feb 02, 2010 12:24 pm

This is the stuff. I'll try to post pics at a later time.

http://store.rvdirect.com/rvdirect/deta ... EM=5903304

Alanhod · Post by **Alanhod** » Tue Feb 02, 2010 10:46 pm

Very cool post. I too will put in a request for any photo's you have of your process, me being a visual it would be helpful.

From what I've read here I'm ready to follow in your footsteps on this repair.

Thanks
Alan

javelin · Post by **javelin** » Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:17 am

Yeah used the same stuff for my ports. It is available at any glass cutting outfit.

Gus · Post by **Gus** » Wed Feb 03, 2010 9:19 am

Thanks for the tip, God know how much I love/hate 3M 5200!!

John K · Post by **John K** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 9:59 am

I don't want to junk up the board with every little thing, so I'll ask this question here. As previously mentioned, I want to fill the areas under the lifeline stanchions with epoxy and then drill. I hope this isn't too stupid of a question, but is there a space between the cabin liner and the side deck sandwich? I tried lookiing down in there with a flashlight, but I couldn't see that extra layer. If I put a medium/low viscosity epoxy in there, and put tape on the cabin liner holes, will that hold the epoxy in, or will it just run all over the top of the cabin liner and down through the shelves, etc? Thanks for any insight.

thepartydog · Post by **thepartydog** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 10:50 pm

Some might leak a little down to the shelves, I covered my shelves with paper and caught it, when I did mine.

javelin · Post by **javelin** » Sat Feb 06, 2010 9:41 am

Just a thought on the leaking ports. I used the Butyl stuff and I am absolutely positive that they do not leak. HOWEVER I still get some brown gunk coming out of the bottom of the stern most ports. Just enough to occasionally have to use a mild solvent or cleaner to wipe it off. My theory is this : one or more of the many fittings on deck are letting a little bit of water in and this is channeling down to the windows and finding an easy outlet. I even get some of the gunk under the windows even though the boat is under a tarps. I think(?) that is from condensation. Russell

Gus · Post by **Gus** » Sun Feb 07, 2010 4:36 pm

John K wrote:I don't want to junk up the board with every little thing, so I'll ask this question here. As previously mentioned, I want to fill the areas under the lifeline stanchions with epoxy and then drill. I hope this isn't too stupid of a question, but is there a space between the cabin liner and the side deck sandwich? I tried lookiing down in there with a flashlight, but I couldn't see that extra layer. If I put a medium/low viscosity epoxy in there, and put tape on the cabin liner holes, will that hold the epoxy in, or will it just run all over the top of the cabin liner and down through the shelves, etc? Thanks for any insight.

When I did mine, I found some plywood right under the stanchion, it might be your case as well. Mine was rotten and I had to removed it, it was a big job, took a lot of time, but I'm happy with the results.