[C320-list] Leaking portholes fix?

[Jon Vez]

Bill,

One word of warning--when you tighten the screws on the frame, be *very*
careful not to strip the holes--the aluminum is quite soft. Mine were loose
and I started with this step, but alas was not my leaking problem.

Yes you can get the 3M caulk from WM, however I found that the 3 stores in
my area only carried the white, so I had to order. I ended up ordering from
Defender. If I don't need something yesterday, I tend to order from them.
Unfortunately it only comes in the 10 oz cartridge, which is way more than
you will need.

Here's what I did--

1. I used an exacto knife to cut out all of the grey caulk on both sides of
the frame. If you go to a home depot or crafts type store you can find an
angled exacto with handle that makes this job much easier than a standard
razor. This was very straightforward and not hard to do. You will find that
the grey caulk has hardened to almost a plastic consistency, so once you get
a start you can pull most of it out with your hands.

2. I cleaned up any remnants of the old caulk with a dental pick and then
swabbed the area with denatured alcohol to clean up the surfaces for good
adhesion

3. Using blue painters tape, carefully tape around the edges of the
horizontal gaps. I also taped the back of the open seam (the opening on the
inside of the boat) to prevent the caulk from oozing inside.

4. I bought several small syringes from West Marine--these are typically
used for working with resins and epoxies. I squirted the 3M 4200 from the
cartridge into the syringes. I then used the syringe to fill the gaps. I
overfilled them and then used a putty knife to press in and smooth the caulk
on the outside. Remove the tape before the caulk sets and you are done.

I 2 complete rebeds on the ports until I realized I could get away with this
much easier approach. The above took about an hour for the remaining ports
start to finish. The complete rebed took about a week due the difficulty I
had removing the old silicone completely from the ports. If you do rebed the
ports I highly recommend the Bomar hatch tape!

Hopefully this isn't too confusing, but if you have any questions, feel free
to contact me offline...Good luck

Jon 

-----Original Message-----
From: c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com
[mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf Of Bill Sloane
Sent: Sunday, February 27, 2011 11:04 AM
To: C320-List at catalina320.com
Subject: Re: [C320-list] Leaking portholes fix?

Jon and John,

It sounds like your solutions are very similar.  I might try Rick's solution
right now because my boats has about 6" of snow on it at the moment. Jon, if
you are willing to supply more details, I would be grateful.  Is the
UV4000/4200 something I can get at West Marine?

Bill
C/320 No. 554

On Sun, Feb 27, 2011 at 6:46 AM, Rick Sulewski <rsulewski at bex.net> wrote:

> Bill,
>
> A short term solution that worked on our hull # 277 was to simply tighten
> the frame and compress the gasket. It was amazing how the leaks
disappeared
> one we tightened all of the frames that had plenty of space between the
> shrinking gaskets and the hull. So far that solution has lasted over 4
> years. The day will come when I will have to address the gaskets, but in
> the
> meantime, buying some time is working for us.
>
> Rick
> My-Ria # 277
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com
> [mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf Of Jon Vez
> Sent: Sunday, February 27, 2011 8:38 AM
> To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
> Subject: Re: [C320-list] Leaking portholes fix?
>
> Bill,
>
> I had leaking portlights the season before last and addressed it this past
> spring. Before you remove the portlight or go after the gasket, try this--
>
> Pull out the grey caulking on each of the horizontal slits in each
> portlight
> and then refill with black UV4000/4200.
>
> I have hull #582 and I started by removing the frame as I saw the cracking
> you mention--However I found the caulk was in really good shape and still
> quite waterproof under the frames themselves. My experience is that
> removing
> and rebedding the frames and replacing the gasket was unnecessary in my
> case. If you can get away with just doing those grey slits you will save a
> lot of time and aggravation. You do not have to remove the portlights to
do
> this job. If you like, I can give you more detail on how to do this job if
> this is the approach you choose to take.....
>
> Regards,
>
> Jon Vez
> Solstice #582
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com
> [mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf Of Bill Sloane
> Sent: Saturday, February 26, 2011 12:23 PM
> To: c320-list at catalina320.com
> Subject: [C320-list] Leaking portholes fix?
>
> After 13 wonderful dry years, my 1998 Catalina 320 is starting to leak at
> the LEWMAR operable portholes. At first I thought the leak was from the
> black rubber interior gasket, but then I looked at the exterior aluminum
> frame of the windows and noticed the gasket between the aluminum and the
> fiberglass of the cabin top is also cracked.
>
> Has someone had this same problem and fixed it?
>
> Bill Sloane
> Endless Summer
> Catalina 320, No. 554
> Olympia WA
>
>
>