Thumbs up for Butyl tape!

[selous]

Just wanted to thank everyone who posted their experiences with re - bedding portlights on their boats,I got through re- bedding two of them today.They leaked terribly before.When I finished them,I stood down below and had my buddy run the hose directly on them for 10 minutes.
Not a drop of water!!! So far so good,I definitely encourage anyone thinking of re - bedding to just do it. Not easy getting them out and cleaning up the goop some p o put in there but the end result was well worth the effort.I'm looking forward to having them all done and a totally dry boat. If you do it plan on at least two hours or more per port light.

 

[Frank Langer]

How did you get the aluminum frames out without bending or damaging them? On mine, the previous owner or factory had used a caulking material that was quite tenacious, making it very hard to get the frame out intact on the one I tried.
Any tips would be appreciated.

Frank

 

[treilley]

Butyl tape is way too low tech to be readily accepted by the marine industry except for those who know how great this product really is. It was not designed for the marine environment so it cannot be any good, right? Let's see, it has been used for decades to seal windshields in cars. How many car windshields leak after years of driving at speeds over 60mph in the rain. and the people who install those windshields have no problem removing them after years.

I keep a roll of rope and tape at hand for rebedding deck hardware and portlights.

And you cannot beat the price!

 

[selous]

Frank
I had a sailing friend stand on deck with a razor knife while I pushed as hard as I could outward and evenly as possible,the previous owner had used some nasty gray goop which clung like the devil but eventually the person outside will get a gap big enough to slide the blade between the fiberglass and the portlight flange.There is nothing to damage by cutting the bead of god knows what behind the portlight mounting flange,just rest the blade against the metal edge of the portlight frame,once it starts to give way it will come out fast as long as it's not 5200 or something permanent.

 

[selous]

Right on Tim. Ditto to everything you said. By the time the marine industry tries to repackage,rename it and sell it for fifty bucks a roll ,I'll be too old to sail anymore.

 

[Martin King]

Butyl tape rocks!!

 

[Maine Sail]

Our entire boat

CS Yachts use butyl for years. Our entire boat was done with butyl tape, Tremco Tape, from the factory including the hull to deck joint.

About 80% of the boat has yet to be re-bedded nor has needed it. MSot of the 20% that had been re-bedded was replacements or upgrades. Even the chain plates were original until I opened them up just to inspect. Still bone dry and beded in factory butyl at the 28 year mark..

If butyl can last 30 years and still be bone dry, and amazingly flexible, I will continue to use it. Not a big fan of "marine glues" or "death bond", aka 5200..

Builders will never go back to it because it is more labor intensive and squirting glue in there is cheaper, easier and will usually last at least until the warranty is over...

29 years old...... stretch........!!

Not even the mildest sign of rust or leakage:

Yep bone dry!

I put it back together with butyl too..

P.S. Admins, The image linking function

 

[Loren Beach]

As to butyl, Canadian boat builders must have liked it a lot.
All the fittings and the hull-deck joint on my '81 Niagara were done that way. Good stuff for sure and no leaks. Last time I spoke to the current owner of that boat, there was still some of this sealant oozing slowly out of the hull/deck joint that needed to be removed every other year or so.

As to image-linking, I recall that it is discouraged on this site in preference to direct placement of photos into the site's own db.

While some members rigorously keep their past links up to date, I note that broken links on older posts are common. I police up my own links regularly... as I find problems.
(Admittedly, Maine's excellent site is likely to be the best-linked and maintained of any due to it being his own personal content.)

Regards,
Loren

 

[tenders]

Why is this such a well-kept secret? I have been sailing for 30 years, rebedded my portlights twice...and never heard of the stuff until I read about it here a year ago. Not even the window manufacturer of my replacement windows had heard of butyl tape for marine use.

 

[Maine Sail]

As to image-linking, I recall that it is discouraged on this site in preference to direct placement of photos into the site's own db.

But Loren most of the other forums here, such as "mechanical & maintenance", allow photo linking with the little yellow mountain icon. This seems to be one formm that the feature is turned off on?

I for one have never uploaded any photos to the this site. All my photos here have always been hot linked. I am thinking it is simply and on/off feature in the vBulletin admin panel.

 

[Loren Beach]

But Loren most of the other forums here, such as "mechanical & maintenance", allow photo linking with the little yellow mountain icon. This seems to be one formm that the feature is turned off on?

I for one have never uploaded any photos to the this site. All my photos here have always been hot linked. I am thinking it is simply and on/off feature in the vBulletin admin panel.

I guess that you are considerably ahead of me in technical knowledge of how this site software works. Strictly in the "FWIW dept", I find that after recently registering on the big PBO site (http://www.ybw.com/forums/index.php), some of the features that I take for granted here do not seem to be in use there. Oh well.

My thought is that on the administrative end where Sean maintains things there may be a lot of multiple-level security and menu items that can be check-boxed on or off.
He's a really busy guy, and I am just really glad that he finds time to keep this stuff functional for us average Luddites.

And to reiterate again further... none of my uneducated comments are meant as any sort of criticism of anyone else posting here. I am not an IT person, as long-time lurkers here will laughingly agree. :nerd:

Regards,
Loren

 

[Dave Hussey]

where can someone buy butyl tape, and are there different levels of quality? if so, what is the best? are there different thicknesses? Thanks in advance.

 

[Mark F]

Check your local glass/window/shower door shop.

 

[treilley]

P.S. Admins, The image linking function photo here [/img ] is inoperable on this forum even when keyed in manually?[/SIZE][/B][/quote]

More info here Maine Sail: [url]http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=8016[/url]

 

[selous]

Dave,I bought two rolls (one did all my portlights on the E27) from a mobile home store but any r.v place should sell it.I took the advise on this site and used the gray color,it was around $4.95/roll.

 

[Glyn Judson]

Where to get Butyl tape.

Dave and all, I have a roll in the garage that I got at an RV supply store. It's used extensively on trailers for all kinds of tasks including sealing everything. I first ran into the stuff at work where it was used to seal the edges of Mylar sheeting used in the vacuum bagging process for the making spacecraft receive antennas on large, 10-foot diameter heated mandrils. When the rolls got too small for use in that application, they'd toss them and when walking through that lab, I'd always check the trash for them. The lab guys used the gray you all have seen and what I have in the garage but also a pink/red colored tape as well. The possible concern of the gray tape outgassing into the composite antenna material comes to mind and maybe the pink stuff doesn't. But that's just guess guys, I'm no rocket scientist. Where are Sven & Nancy when you need them? ; - ) Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA

 

[selous]

Maine Sail,great post! Very informative.I am definitely considering re bedding everything on my boat with butyl, absolutely no mess is another huge bonus.

 

[Maine Sail]

Maine Sail,great post! Very informative.I am definitely considering re bedding everything on my boat with butyl, absolutely no mess is another huge bonus.

Don't be so quick on no mess. Butyl tape will ooze out of joints in hot weather for a good long time. While not a big deal it's easy to clean up but it is not the easiest stuff to work with or to physically bed with. Once you get good at it it's fine but what ever you do DO NOT use black!!

Butyl tapes comes in gray and off white and these colors are far more preferable than black. Don't confuse real butyl tape with butyl foam weather stripping.

Don't even attempt to work with this stuff when it is cold. If bedding something on a colder day keep the butyl tape warm and then heat the fitting with a heat gun as you slowly tighten..

You'll learn the tricks as you go along. Don't forget to bevel/countersink a small recess around each bolt hole too...

 

[Maine Sail]

More info here Maine Sail: http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=8016

Thanks Tim.

I do find it odd that Sean would not want that feature available? Nearly every boating or sailing forum on the net that uses vBulletin has and uses that hot linking feature (Anything Sailing, Cruisers Forum, SailboatOwners, Sailnet, Even here but only specif forums, .

As an admin on Sailboatowners.com I can honestly say we just do not have a real problem with broken or missing links. Interestingly enough when we moved from the old cumbersome format of uploading all photos to the SBO servers to the new vBulletin format with hyperlinking of photos the use of pictures in post nearly quadrupled. We don't consider this a bad thing. Photos are a great asset to sailing and boating forums. They are a great asset to the "Maintenance & Mechanical" forums too..

Email addresses change or go bad, posted links go dead and photo links can go bad too but the reality is that we have not found it to be a big issue over on SBO even with the 50+ forums we host from Trailor Sailors to Hunter Owners to the CS-BB.

Does it happen from time to time that a link goes dead? Sure, but we find it is a very small percentage and worth the risk to keep the linking feature.

Here's my first post on this forum from April of 2007. My photo is still alive and well.

Re-Packing a Stuffing Box (LINK)

I know Sean is very busy but I would hope he would be wiling to re-consider turning the

feature back on in the forums where it is now turned off?