Removing Sealant on Ports

[msc1212]

I just removed my ports in the cabin of my E35. Is there a solvent which will remove the sealant from the aluminum frames more efficiently than a chisel and wire brush?

 

[Sean Engle]

What kind of sealant is it?

//sse

 

[msc1212]

I'm not sure. I only purchased the boat in October. Given how hard it is and how difficult it has been to remove it I would guess Life Seal.

 

[Sean Engle]

Boatlife LifeSeal

Boatlife Lifeseal? That's a polyeurathane based sealant with strong adhesive properties... Hummm...

How to remove the Lifeseal... Hummm, I'm not sure... The specfication sheet (see below) on it shows that it's holding power is pretty serious, and provides no resolution for removal. My suggestion is that you contact the manufactuer and ask them about it.

Sorry I cannot be of more assistance. Hopefully some of the others can provide some input and suggestions on removal, etc.

Please do let us know what happens, however - as I would be interested to hear.

//sse

 

[Chris Miller]

3M general adhesive remover

... works pretty good. Double check to make sure it's safe for your purpose. It's still a LOT of work, but doing it right this time will mean you won't have to do it again any time soon.
Chris

 

[NateHanson]

I've got a bunch of silicone on my frames, and I was able to cut off 90% of it, and was planning to use a wire wheel for the rest, think that'll work? Any better ideas for silicone removal.

 

[Sean Engle]

...Any better ideas for silicone removal?

I thought I had found a chemical sometime ago that dissolves silicone - as I was going to get it to get rid of all the silicone that the PO used inside the dorade box to stop the leaking (instead, I chose to cover the entire thing with a teak cover).

Now when I look again, I cannot locate it, and everything I see says that short of gasoline, you really cannot 'dissolve' silicone...

Does anyone know about this - dissolving silicone?

//sse

 

[msc1212]

Thanks for your responses. I spent a few hours researching solvents.. first on the net, then at Home Depot and finally with some window installers who I thought would have advise on removing silicone and adhesive. There wasn't any good advise offered. I tried Goo Off (Zylene), Methyl Hydrate and Acetone. In the end I found that it took about 30 minutes with these solvents. If I used a wire brush and a chisel it took about half an hour. Life Seal does sell a solvent formulated for removing Life Seal. It's listed on the West Marine website but I couldn't find any in stock at the local shop. Thanks.

 

[u079721]

Toluene or xylene can help

In general it is not possible to dissolve anything once it has been crosslinked, which is what happens to a caulk when it cures. But you can soften them with certain solvents, which cause them to swell and lose their adhesion. I usually just remove cured caulk with a scraper, but if you want you could soak the trim pieces in toluene or xylene (available by the gallon at Lowes) which should soften the caulk. But don't ever soak anything made of plastic or resin.

 

[P Abele]

I'm not sure it will help in this case, but to get most of the material up you might try some heat to soften the material up then use a scraper. You'll probably still need a solvent or a lot of patience to clean up the residue once you do this, but I have found my electric heat gun is usually worth a try in a case like this - just be careful not to overheat things in the process...