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Replacing lexan in 1989 E34 long windows

TorMar

Member II
Our boats lexan windows are 'crazed' to the point you cannot see through them in bright light. I intend to take the windows out - they've been out to re-bed with fresh sealer before, so I know they will come out. Looking closely I think the outer aluminum is two pieces - a top and bottom half that can be taken apart to free the existing lexan and neoprene seal. If so, it should be an easy matter to cut a polycarbonate replacement, place it into the old, or a new seal if needed, then fit it into the outer aluminum frame and re-install on the boat. Has any one tried this?
 

Art Mullinax

Member III
Been there

Just after we purchased Issaqueena (71 E29 # 53) I completed this project. Our ports were tempered glass instead of Lexan. The ports were cloudy around the edges like the glass on an old automobile. I removed the ports, drilled out the pop rivits and separated the 2 halves. I carried the old glass to a local glass shop and had them cut duplicates using 1/4" tempered glass. The seal around the old glass was shot. I looked around for a replacement and the closest thing I could find was made for a glass shower door. I cleaned all of the old mess from frames, cut the seal to wrap around the glass(cut it on a 45 deg angle and not square), added a little boatlife caulk for good measure and put them back together using aluminum pop rivits. When I re-installed the ports I discovered that, when installing a "flat" port on a "curved" cabin top side, if you try to tighten it down too much, the glass will BREAK!
Now, 10 years later, I have the same original cloudiness and another cracked glass, but its not so bad. It doesn't interfere with the halyards or tiller or icebox. The mast isn't going to fall or the engine fail. They don't leak and I can sail just fine. Boat time is a premium now and I can spend it fixing stuff that may or may not matter or I can hoist a sail and do what I love most!!!
Art M
 

TorMar

Member II
Lexan replacement

Thanks for the advice - and I share your thoughts about what I'd rather be doing.
 

Jeff Asbury

Principal Partner
Check out the New Windows for E27

Check out the New Windows for E27 in the Owners and projects section of this site. Not a original installation but a nice looking alternative.
 

hcpookie

Member III
I'm currently doing this to my E27 but only because the seals are leaking real bad. The glass on mine is fine, once I cleaned it and used a razor to scrape the old caulking residue from the glass.

Check the Specs & Documents link for a doc that shows how the windows are put together. I think it was in the E27/W29 section.

Basically all of the window is on the outside, with a clamshell type of aluminum frame holding it from the inside. Mine was screwed in with SS screws, and show signs of serious anodization on the aluminum frame. I used a hand drill & wire wheel to remove the buildup. I'm replacing with new SS screws (from Home Depot) and plan to spot-caulk the screw holes too just to complete the seal.

You can get the new weather trim and sealing tape at Home Depot. The trim is listed as "RV/Marine" seals. They are in purple boxes, made by "MD" and guaranteed for 10 years. The package says they are EPDM cellular rubber and are the "same thing" used by factory installations. Dunno.

The internal seals in-between the frame and glass on mine are inaccessible since the aluminum is clamped "around" the edge of the glass and a shim has been welded to where the ends of the frame meet. The glass is captive since, unlike a car windshield, there is a lip that surrounds the seal. There was a ton of sediment buildup in mine, and it took lots of simple green and a toothbrush to remove. I'm going to seal over it with some DAP butyl rubber "roof flashing & gutter" caulk. I'm choosing this caulk material because butyl rubber is not water permeable and should last a long time in-between applications. You can get this in the caulk aisle in black and aluminum grey.

hth,
- Jerry
 

TorMar

Member II
Lexan window replacement

Thank you all for your suggestions and advice. When I get into the project I'll post pictures of what was involved.
 

kevin81

Member II
Window replacement

Try using the Search option and type fixed ports. There are several past posts and discussions on this subject. One of the posts noted a company named Select Plastics and includes a link to their website.
When are you planning to do this? I also have a 1989 E34 with the same problem. I have the fixed port replacement on my winter "to do" list.

Good luck and let us know the results.

Kevin
E34 Serenidad
 

escapade

Inactive Member
Me Too!

I also have this project on my to-do list. My '88 E34's are also crazed to the point of being opaque. Keep us posted on progress. Sounds like a common problem.
Bud E34 "Escapade"
 

Mark F

Contributing Partner
Blogs Author
I had foggy windows and one broken window in my E23 when I bought the boat. I replaced the broken one with tempered glass and promptly broke the glass installing it. You really have to be careful tightening the interior aluminum frame piece. I decided to replace all of the windows with Lexan. After installing them with new frame-to-Lexan rubber gasket they leaked worse then before I started! It turns out the old aluminum frames were pitted and the gasket wasn’t enough to seal the Lexan. I removed them again and squirted silicone into the groove for the glass before installing the Lexan and rubber gasket. This time, no leaks. I also used white glazing tape to seal the frame to the cabin sides, it works great, it’s flexible and cleans up nicely.
 

TorMar

Member II
fixed port replacement

Kevin, I intended to do the job this fall but will have to postpone it until spring. I just had ACL replacement surgery this week. It will be months before I'll be able to do any work on the boat. I will post details as I do it when I get there.
Tor
 

Steve J

Member I
Micro Mesh Scratch Removal Kit

Have any cloudy or even crazed plastic boat windows.

I redid mine with the ultra fine wet/dry sandpaper kit.

The kit contains course to ultra fine grits of sandpaper
as well as some liquid very mild abrasive cleaner.
I was a little hesitant at first to use sandpaper so scrubbed
and scrubbed forever to remove the cloudy surface. The 6000
grit took less than 5 min even finishing up with the liquid.
Kit is about $22, but less trouble than new windows.
Read the instructions...sand only in one direction then use the
finer mesh in the other direction to take off the final marks.

The system works well. It is actually for airplane windows.

Micro-Mesh Scratch Remover kit: Varying grades of wet dry sandpaper
from 1200 to 6000 grit. Works best when used as wet sandpaper and
rince often.
http://www.sportys.com/acb/showdetl.cfm?&did=19&product_id=343

Steve Jones
Olson 34
Edgewalker
 

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Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Lens material?

one (key?) part of this thread puzzles me. On my Olson, the fixed ports are Lexan and are unframed. My opening ports are all Lewmar and have acrylic lenses. From experience and observation, I know that the Lexan (i.e. polycarbonate) is easily UV degraded/"fogged". OTOH, the acrylic plastic used in the Lewmar ports and hatches is far more resilient to UV -- it compensates for this by being easier to break or crack. "Everything's a compromise."

My '88 Lewmar ports, with their near-vertical orientation, are still quite clear, and the lexan fixed ports and that we replaced almost a decade ago are quite cloudy (again!).
Both Lewmar opening hatches, with their flat exposure to UV developed oodles of little surface cracks and haze after a decade and have both been replaced by us. We nowadays have Sunbrella covers on both hatches when we are away from the boat.

So, when the thread started, the original Ericson-34 ports were ID'd as being lexan. I thought that all the Ericson ports in the 80's were custom/OEM Lewmar designs -- and therefore acrylic.
The test would be to whack one with a hammer...
:eek:
Any Lewmar or Ericson factory lurkers, please chime in!
;)
Steve, thanks for the link the Sportys site. From the description, it sounds like it is for acrylic. Did you have good luck using this stuff on the big lexan windows?

Loren in PDX
1988 Olson 34 #8
 
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Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Thanks for the photo addition! The window looks clearer in the aft portion and cloudier in the forward section. Perchance, is this a before and after photo as you made progress on that particular window?
Hmmm... maybe we do not have to replace our lexan ports again so soon, after all! Since they never leak, I would very much like not to disturb them again...

Thanks,
Loren in PDX
 

Steve J

Member I
I have not tried the others yet, but the directions in the kit indicate
it will work on all plastic, even the heavily crazed according to
them is a surface phenomena and can be sanded out.
The ultra fine polishing 6000 grit was as far as I had gone.

Steve Jones
Edgewalker, Olson 34
 
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