[C320-list] Portlight Replacement/Repair?

[P.F. Ross]

Hi David,

I used butyl tape on all seven of my replacement portlights.  But as Jeff
said, the "Bed-it" butyl tape that I really liked is not currently
available from marinehowto.com due to RC's medical situation.

Also along the lines of Jeff's comment, I used two layers of tape but I did
this by simply folding the tape over on itself along its length as I stuck
it to the frame.  I stuck it to the angled edge of the frame that would
contact the hull first and not to the flat, somewhat recessed portion of
the frame that looks like it was made for sealant.  I slowly tightened the
frame over a couple of days and would trim off excess using a plastic razor
blade (this is a real and handy thing, look it up on Amazon) and then clean
up with some mineral spirits.  All are now leak-tight.

Good luck, please let us know if you find a good stretchy, sticky butyl
tape.

Frank Ross
Beta Wave #206
Naples, FL



On Tue, Apr 12, 2022 at 7:51 PM Jeff Hare <Catalina at thehares.com> wrote:

> David,
>
> If *I* were rebedding side portlights, I would be using Butyl Tape. While
> I use Bed-It brand from Marine How-to, he's very unfortunately recovering
> from a tragedy and his store is offline (maybe for good). Butyl Tape is far
> less messy and easier to get right than polysulfide, Sikka or similar
> adhesives in my opinion. I would be likely to use more than one layer.
> Dicor BT-1834 is a butyl tape that might be a good option but I haven't
> researched it much. If you go this route, look into applying the tape to
> the window frame in a couple layers to be sure that it will conform and not
> leave any voids.
>
> Clean the surface well first. Colinite 920 does a good job.  Best to
> tighten the frame gradually on a warm day so that the butyl can properly
> fill out all the space. Remove any squeeze-out as soon as you can.
>
> That's what I believe I would be doing if I had a hatch to rebed. I did
> the center salon overhead hatch like this years ago when I swapped the Aft
> Cabin emergency hatch with the main salon center hatch. The center had
> become crazed, so I swapped them. You don't have that option since your
> hull doesn't have the escape hatch in the aft cabin. That was an addition
> on hulls somewhere around 2000 or so.
>
> -Jeff H.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: C320-list <c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com> On Behalf Of
> David Wellerstein
> Sent: Monday, April 11, 2022 12:39 PM
> To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
> Subject: Re: [C320-list] Portlight Replacement/Repair?
>
> So I broke down and bought four new Lewmar portlights for the cabin.
> We’ll tackle the others later but for now I’m excited to get these done.
>
> Looks like removal is the toughest part of the job so I’ll do one at a
> time and see how it goes.
>
> Big question is what material to use to bed the ports?  It seems 4000 or
> (the variant from Pettit which I got for free at a local boat show) are
> right for a caulk-type.  But I’m reading a lot about butyl tape.  I would
> love for the C320 hive and to weigh in here.  I’d love to hear from anyone
> who’s done both and what you’ve landed on as the best choice.  Seems that
> since fasteners are holding the inner and outer frames together that
> adhesion is not the issue.  It’s really about waterproofing and the butyl
> tape looks like it works fine.  Add to that the ease of working with it and
> the ease of removal…seems like the right choice.
>
> Thanks as always!
>
> —David
> C320 #118, Dream Catcher
>
> > On Mar 27, 2022, at 1:32 PM, Troy Dunn <troutwarrior at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Some folks have had success just replacing the gasket on the Bomar hatch.
> > I had no such luck.   The problem is that the sealant (Dow795) that seals
> > the lens to the frame needs to make a tight seal against the gasket too,
> > mine kept leaking no matter what I did.   Since my hatch lens was over 20
> > years old it was EOL anyhow.  I ended up making a new lens  and
> > refurbishing the hatch.   Worked out well.   You can search the emails
> for
> > the write up.   Pictures in my gallery.
> >
> > Troy Dunn
> > Wonky Dog
> > Hull#514
>
>