Jig for porthole caulking

[Sven]

Ok, so after caulking the porthole with butyl it still leaked, but that was probably novice timidness with the butyl. With the butyl it will be easy enough to undo it next weekend and with the jig everything will still be held in place as we apply a manly amount of butyl to convince all water to stay on the outside.

I made the jig out of 3/4" plywood scraps that I doubled and just screwed together. Some all-thread with some nuts and washers held the jig together as a clamp.

We put the jig in place with the trim ring in place so the inside porthole part will be held in place throughout as we applied the butyl on the outside.

With 7 portholes the jig will be well worth the time it took to make it. Nancy got really tired trying to hold the first porthole in place from the inside while I did the caulking from the outside. With the jig she doesn't need to strain previously undiscovered muscles trying to hold everything in place as I push the butyl in place.



-Sven

 

[CSMcKillip]

May I give a small amount of advice, use gray butyl tape. I used black a couple of years ago on our deck to hull joint on the Capri, in the summer in Oklahoma the stuff dripped onto the deck. A total mess.

 

[Sven]

Hi Chris,

May I give a small amount of advice, use gray butyl tape. I used black a couple of years ago on our deck to hull joint on the Capri, in the summer in Oklahoma the stuff dripped onto the deck. A total mess.

Where do you get the gray butyl and are you sure it won't melt too ?

I considered putting a bead of white caulk around the perimeter to lock in the butyl for exactly the reason you mention but figured one step at a time.

Thanks for the suggestion.



-Sven

 

[tenders]

Sven, I think I bought mine here:
http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/caulks-sealants/48463.htm

but it's also sold here:
http://mobilehomepartsstore.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=403311

and probably many other places as well.

Where are you pushing butyl tape? I put it on the edge of the fitting, applying very generously, then align/install the fitting, tightening down firmly, and drag a blade around the perimeter of the fitting to pull off the excess. No pushing involved.

 

[CSMcKillip]

I think I got mine at pepboys. The butyl tape was used to seal a T-track down the lenth of the side of the boat that held the deck to hull joint, it's a Catalina Yachts thing. Any small piece was seen on the deck and I found the stuff really hard to work with, it was a 20' track and it was bent to the hull. I took two days just getting the track bent with the holes lining back up, endless process. The tape when hot does get really gooey, think about a candy bar set out in the sun, same thing.

Any way, the grey just seemed to clean up better than the black stuff.

I found that wd40 worked the best, but it's a huge process with the black, it has a reaction with the butyl tape, then creates a oil slick, several attempts got the crap off of my deck.

Take your time and you should be ok.
Hope this helps.