Leaky windows on a 1978 27 foot ericson

Recently my windows have began to leak. Not just one of them, but all of them. The water comes in from the seals between the metal frames and the glass. Anybody dealt with this before any and all good suggestions are welcome.
Sadie

leaky windows mystery

Sadie
I have an Ericson 27 and had a persistent leak from my windows. After trying to find the source of the leak I finally pinned it down to the split in the aluminum trim on the outside. There was a small gap there that led the water inside. As the aluminum trim on my boat is secured with some sort of unknown sealant that has resisted any attempts by me to remove it without causing damage to the surrounding surface I cleaned out all the old goop from the split and but some butyl rubber sealant in the split. This has worked so far for me (two years now).
John

I've heard countless horror stories about the windows, but my experience hasn't been that at all. The 27' is the same as the 29', and mine came out easily. It sounds like some idiot may have put yours in with 5200, and it's a common rookie mistake, as this unholy goop is sold so prevalently. Very sad. They should require signatures to buy it like they do antihistamines. And you may be a victim.

If you can get it out, and I've heard some success with prying, and simultaneously soaking the horrid stuff with acetones, goo-gone, (or whatever that stuff is called).

The frames come apart simply, and go back together about the same. The glazing was available at the very first glass shop I walked into, and because of my outrageous good looks, and charming personality, the lady there just GAVE me the stuff. (Actually, when she found out that I work on boats, it was a sympathy gesture, akin to feeding the poor). She said the glazing was common as dirt.

I first put them in with closed cell foam, as Ericson recommended, but it also alluded to the fact that you should re-bed them every year or so. Say WHAT? Nay nay said I. And so I put them back with the butyl. More gooder.

I could have done this stone drunk, blindfolded, in a hurricane, with a rusty and bent screwdriver. In fact, that's EXACTLY how I did it.

damn lazy woman wouldn't..

Sometimes the windows appear to be leaking when the water is actually coming from above and traveling between the deck and liner to other places. I had leaks this way and also at the window perimeter. The Ericson method of only using a foam sealer did not work well on my E27 because the cutouts were so poorly made that a flange mating area was just too small to be effective. My solution was to use foam sealant back a little from the edge which then made a backup for liquid sealant also applied. When I had all the windows removed, I also took the effort to fill in the perimeter space between the outside wall and liner. That eliminated the possibility of other water sources to come out the window and also provided a solid backup when tightening the frame trim. I do not know whether it's better to have all this float independently, but for over 15 years, I had no problems. (I also solidified things between the liner and deck where the handrails are through-bolted.)

I think there are still elastomeric extrusions available to seal the glass to the frame if you are going to take apart everything. There were different thickness glass used, so you have to be careful to get the right product. I wouldn't speculate on how easy or difficult your work will be with getting windows out, apart, or back in place. There seem to be important differences even between same boat models. Some differences can be between boats made in Costa Mesa and those made in Mexico and then dealers made further changes. Once I read someone suggest it was easy to replace the original, strange scupper drainage system with new outlets above the water line. I neglected to note that suggestion referred to a different cockpit arrangement in E27s and my job (with a cockpit divider and pedestal) turned out to be one of the harder modifications I made. Lesson learned - a little late.

Adhesives and sealants have their own individual properties and best applications. Certainly, this situation is not the place for 3M 5200, but there are plenty of situations where it's the only thing I would consider. I'm glad I don't have to pass a test to get some and I'd be sad if it was not available.

I redid several of the windows in my '77 E27, and actually converted the sliding port in the head to a regular solid one. Removing the ports from the boat is pretty straightforward and easy, just so long as a PO has not used 5200 to bed them. just undo the screws on the interior frame molding and then pry them gently out. If it is the bedding that is leaking, just clean up and rebed them (I used a foam rubber tape for bedding and it worked perfectly and never leaked again).

If it is the rubber gasket that holds the glass in place you can order that through Wefco. To remove the glass you there is a small piece of aluminum bar stock with two pop rivets that join the cut ends of the frame together. Drill those out with a 1/8" drill and gently pry everything apart. That was the easy part. Getting the new gasket and glass back in place was a real bear. Use lots of soapy water and clamps. Swearing a lot seems to help as well. Once together put in new pop rivets to hold it all together and reinstall.

I noticed that Select Plastics is now offering the service to redo these windows as well. So you could farm them out. Don't know what they are charging, but if reasonable it would be worth it in my opinion.

Kevin Wright
E35 O Barquinho