Replacing rubber seals on main (large) windows/ports [Master Thread]

[Kif]

Worth noting is the rubber seal has a mind of it's own when it comes to the radius. I placed a heavy object on top of the seal in place to help get it to take the shape (attached photo). A little bit of heat from the heat gun also helps relax the rubber.
Hope this will be of help to others!

Curious if you have any tips for corners and the seam with the rubber seal. I just got my first window set in and the rubber seal was popping out at the corners (particularly the acute corner) and also wanted to get squeezed into the gap as I brought the two halves together creating wrinkles. Got it done, but a bit of a mess and some puckers I'm not happy with. Might leave em, but might pull apart and try again. I see you used a weight to hold it in shape for a bit (with heat gun). You happy with that approach for the corners?

 

[frick]

I has used aluminum foil, rolled into a ball to rub off corrosion on my mast. It is softer then the mast so it does not mar the finish, but help clean it up.

 

[Christian Williams]

See Post #1.

 

[hvantrigt]

From some earlier posts on our site, the original manufacturer of the glass weather strip and the channel weatherstrip was Wefco Rubber, which is still in business. I called them and they do still have the channel one, but not the same one for the window. They were still the same price as below, and I believe a 25 foot minimum.

Window channel - Die Number 2154 - 2.00 per foot
Window Filler - Die Number 1256 - 2.00 per foot
Rub Rail - Die Numer 4107 - 2.75 per foot

Their address is wefcorubber.com

As an alternative (again from previous posts here) many have used the Catalina 25 kit:

Aluminum Window Reseal Kit C-25, C-27

Catalina Direct, publishers of the Catalina 22 and Catalina 25 Owner's Handbooks and the largest supplier of parts and Lewmar winches for Catalina Yachts in the country

www.catalinadirect.com

I've decided to go that route. I'd hate to order 25 feet of the widow filler if it wasn't going to fit and the price was about the same (and you get more product)

Don

Still working on our "Never Ending Project" of refurbishing our E-32 Mk II ("CaryOn").
We're currently replacing all of the rubber seals on ALL of the ports.

The smaller ones went fairly easy (not really) but the larger ports/windows are a REAL problem on the small hard radius corners. The rubber seal just won't allow the aluminum frames to go back. Beyond the obvious of coating the rubber with soapy water, using clamps and a rubber mallet - is there anyone out there who has replaced their window/port seals and if so - what did you do to resolve the tight fit issues???

View attachment 17308...View attachment 17476

I'm slowly making progress with the large ports. The old glass is slightly thicker than the new glass used in the smaller ports and the new rubber seal is a tiny bit thicker. This is why I've invented a whole lot more four letter sailing terms. ;-))

View attachment 17478
View attachment 17535

The biggest problem is clamping the two frames together tightly to get the screws and backing plates back in place due to the overly tight fit. I made up a jig that allows the clamps to still hold on the angled design of the ports (photos now attached). It's still difficult but at least do-able now. Of course the forward port is slightly smaller than the aft so two top frames had to be created. (Be sure to leave enough room to access the screws for the locking plates.)

Worth noting is the rubber seal has a mind of it's own when it comes to the radius. I placed a heavy object on top of the seal in place to help get it to take the shape (attached photo). A little bit of heat from the heat gun also helps relax the rubber.
Hope this will be of help to others!

12-09-15 Just a couple more photos to better show how I managed to get the larger port windows back together....FINALLY, the last large window/port is complete!

View attachment 17536

The two new photos show the last port sitting in the template/jig I made to allow better clamping pressures on the tapered ends to get the two halves back together. Note the extra long clamp in the photo. I had to use that horizontally on the two ends to align them up as it went together. Seems they didn't want to meet up perfectly and this brought them back in line and avoided pinching the rubber seal and/or damaging it.

The last photo shows a detail of the area I left between the two wood jigs to allow putting the frame screws back in before releasing the clamps.
...Hope all of this can be of help to any of you taking on this project. (It IS a tough one to say the least!!)

Do you remember where you bought the rubber seal that goes around the glass

 

[shard7]

Hey folks, I'm in the midst of doing the windows on my E27. Everything is taken apart, glass is still in great shape, and I'm slowly cleaning up the frames. Other than some 4200 that a PO had attempted to squirt behind on of them, there was nothing but very old (and crusty) foam weatherstripping between the frames and the boat (I'm amazed that they didn't leak more than they did). On the plus side it's easy to remove and clean up.

I was hesitant to order the kit from Catalina Direct because I was unsure if the seals were the correct size for my specific frames (they don't offer refunds for non-Catalina owners!). But I contacted their tech support, and they kindly updated their product page with detailed rubber seal dimensions, so now we can confirm if they'll fit our windows and order with confidence!

Catalina Aluminum Window Reseal Kit C25 C27

 

[kapnkd]

Do you remember where you bought the rubber seal that goes around the glass

Apologies for the response but I’ve been away from the site for a while now. (Life and other things like our first - finally - granddaughter do get in the way!)

At any rate, there IS a company located close to Cleveland, Ohio that specializes in a multitude of rubber extrusions that has what you need.

Best part, it’s at better than the Catalina kit offerings prices. Look at my previous posts on EYO as I’ve listed their contact information. Meanwhile, I’ll see if I can find it again as well for you.

I’ll also, again, recommend Capt Tolly’s crack sealer which is but a very very thin water based silicone caulk sealant that creeps into tiny crevices via osmosis and actually works well on window/port sealing issues. (Ports on CaryOn have remained dry for several years now!)

 

[kapnkd]

Hey folks, I'm in the midst of doing the windows on my E27. Everything is taken apart, glass is still in great shape, and I'm slowly cleaning up the frames. Other than some 4200 that a PO had attempted to squirt behind on of them, there was nothing but very old (and crusty) foam weatherstripping between the frames and the boat (I'm amazed that they didn't leak more than they did). On the plus side it's easy to remove and clean up.

I was hesitant to order the kit from Catalina Direct because I was unsure if the seals were the correct size for my specific frames (they don't offer refunds for non-Catalina owners!). But I contacted their tech support, and they kindly updated their product page with detailed rubber seal dimensions, so now we can confirm if they'll fit our windows and order with confidence!

Catalina Aluminum Window Reseal Kit C25 C27

View attachment 51212

Found it!!…My original post with the address for window/port seals:


LK Technology, Inc.
5116 Warrensville Ctr Rd
Cleveland, Ohio 44137

(888.663.9830)

GOOD LUCK!!