Do you have experience w/ Sailrite's White Butyl Tape?

M

Maine Sail

Member III
jstaff said:
I'm trying to decide what to use when bedding my handrails and some other deck fittings.

The white Trimmable-Butyl-Tape that Sailrite sells is one possibility.

http://www.sailrite.com/Trimmable-Butyl-Tape-3-4-Bedding-Deck-Hardware-Sealant?

Does anybody have experience with this product?
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I know the product well, tested it thoroughly, (though I bought it direct from the manufacturer) and it failed every parameter I have for a marine butyl. Sail Rite is simply buying an inexpensive low grade butyl and re-selling it. There are HUNDREDS of formulations of butyl tape out there most of which perform poorly in a tight compression situation, when compared to a product specifically formulated for such use.. There are also hundreds of formulations of polyurethane sealants for construction, kitchen & bathrooms etc. but not all are formulated for marine use. Sika for example has piles of polyurethanes, across many industries, but only a few tested and designed for marine applications.

I have been trying hard to develop a white butyl, that has the performance of Bed-It gray, but so far my lab can not nail it due to the fillers needed to make it white. If I could have manufactured a white butyl that, performs the same as Bed-It gray, it would have been done four+ years ago. I am now on my 15th or 16th formulation with my lab, at great expense, and as of yet no white butyl that will wear the Bed-It brand name.

Lots of folks are jumping on the butyl wagon but none have been willing to physically develop a quality product specifically engineered for the purpose, likely due to the expenses involved.
 
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M

Maine Sail

Member III
jstaff said:
I'll probably buy the Butyl Tape from him as well....

I believe that I read that white butyl isn't as sticky because of minerals added to it.
Click to expand...

It is actually way more involved than that. White butyl can be sticky, a cheap way to achieve this is that they just add more solvents to it, but when pressed to 1/64" thick and then the hardware flexes the butyl can fracture and allow water into the gap. Once water and contaminates get in it makes a re-seal much harder. Low grade products are also prone to "cold flow" and creep something that Bed-It has been specifically formulated to resist. You want the product to stick well to both surfaces, and to itself, and to resist fracture under deck fitting flexing..

Years ago the pre-EPA butyls were mostly pretty good. Today's butyl tapes are nowhere near what they were in the 70's, unless you are willing to pay for it with expensive alternative raw materials to match the earlier formulations.. I have now tested over 60 "brands" of butyl and about 28 manufacturers from the UK to Canada, US and even China........

The bottom line is all butyl is not the same.....
 
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J

jstaff

Member I
I just got my PayPal receipt for my order of Bed-It....

Thanks Maine Sail, for the additional information.
 
Christian Williams

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
By the way, Sailrite are a great outfit and an invaluable source of sewing know-how, and I have probably put in a dozen orders with them in the past year. Service is good, prices are fair (by which I mean neither under or over-priced).

However, the Sailrite team and the shop culture knows very little about sailing or real world issues of yachts. In many cases their designs for yacht canvas are logical but untested, and often come up short on aesthetics. They can show you how to make a good cover for your Jet Ski, and strip away the mystery of recovering cushions--which is a great thing.

Use them for fabric and fabric components and very basic design--they don't have yachting expertise beyond that.
 
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