E-34 Leaking Windows

Butyl seems the way to go

We re-bedded all of our fixed and operable portlights on our 1990 E38 this summer with butyl tape. Several of the portlights were actively leaking and/or showing signs of leakage, not to mention the white sealant looked moldy.

It took about an hour per portlight to clean off all the original 1990's sealant (5200?), and about 10 minutes to re-install with butyl. About 15 inches of rain so far and no leaks. I'd recommend it. We bought it through here: http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/rebedding_hardware&page=2

Mark

I rebedded one of my E29 port lights last weekend and I had the opposite problem -- the cutout was smaller than the frame. I swear they must have assembled the frame inside of the cutout. I had to Dremel saw about 1/4 inch out of the top and sides of the cutout. No way I was going to take the frame apart. I use the foam tape for the frame to boat contact and silicone for the glass to frame bead.

By the way I remember a blog entry on this site long ago that gave a step by step for cleaning up the frames with sand paper but I can't find it now. Don't know if it was lost in the hack or bad search skills. Any help?

Paul
E29 "Bear"

paul culver said:

I rebedded one of my E29 port lights last weekend and I had the opposite problem -- the cutout was smaller than the frame. I swear they must have assembled the frame inside of the cutout. I had to Dremel saw about 1/4 inch out of the top and sides of the cutout. No way I was going to take the frame apart. I use the foam tape for the frame to boat contact and silicone for the glass to frame bead.

By the way I remember a blog entry on this site long ago that gave a step by step for cleaning up the frames with sand paper but I can't find it now. Don't know if it was lost in the hack or bad search skills. Any help?

Paul
E29 "Bear"

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Hi Paul,

I believe the attached file is the one that you are asking about.

Carefree Sailor said:

Hi Paul,

I believe the attached file is the one that you are asking about.

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Yes! Thanks Carefree.

What is the port lens made of and how do you clean it?

I appreciate the posts others have made here and find them helpful in planning my own projects. I am now working on rebedding my ports, both fixed and opening. I just removed an opening port. It only took a few minutes to remove it. The port had been leaking and ruined the teak underneath it. I disassembled the port and found that it has three levels of sealant....actually perhaps two of sealant and one cosmetic.

On the outside, around the edges of the lens and adjoining the metal frame was the first. It appeared gray in color and I thought it might be a gasket until I disassembled it and found it to be a bead of silicone. The next level of sealant was a black gasket that went around the edge of the lens between the lens and the metal frame. It appeared intact and servicable. The last was a black "gasket type" material that is visible from inside the boat, between the glass and frame. This appears to be cosmetic. These findings are consistent with what I have read here in the forum although the silicone bead was unexpected.

From my initial inspection it appears that the leak must have been from around the port edges and not through the port assembly.

I mention these things "for the record" and for the benefit for those who travel this path in the future.

I have read that once a surface has seen silicone nothing will adhere there again, including silicone. That will be a problem for me because there was silicone not only in the bead around the outside of the lens but also where the assembly was bedded into the boat.

Now a question: What is the lens made of and how do you clean it? Mine seems cloudy in areas as well as dirty. I am wondering if I should just replace it while I have it out and the port is disassembled. This would be an opportunity to change my ports to a tinted version which might be helpful in the Florida sun.

Hi Tony,

I think all the fixed ports are glass. As I recall, Rick installed new ones--he'll tell us where he got them.

I was OK rebedding despite some previous silicone after scraping it off with a plastic scraper, sanding, acetone, and generally worrying the stuff to death.

Oh, I see Rick mentions his new ports earlier in this thread.

Christian Williams said:

Hi Tony,

I think all the fixed ports are glass. As I recall, Rick installed new ones--he'll tell us where he got them.

I was OK rebedding despite some previous silicone after scraping it off with a plastic scraper, sanding, acetone, and generally worrying the stuff to death.

Oh, I see Rick mentions his new ports earlier in this thread.

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They are Boman out of Quebec. Alain is the contact. They have you trace your opening and mail them the tracings. They then send you a lifesized CAD drawing so you can tape them in place. They are of the "Measure as many times as it takes" philosophy. Once you are satisfied, they custom make your new frames. Like Christian, I used Lifecaulk instead of butyl tape. No leaks yet. :nerd:

Boman

Rick,

I removed and cleaned up the lens. The frame is old but servicable. Although the gaskets I removed when I disassembled the port seem ok, I think I will order the gasket kit from Catalina Direct to renew the gaskets.

Did you order both the lens and frame from Boman? If so how much did that cost?

Thanks to you and Christian for your help.

Tony

SeaRogue said:

Rick,

I removed and cleaned up the lens. The frame is old but servicable. Although the gaskets I removed when I disassembled the port seem ok, I think I will order the gasket kit from Catalina Direct to renew the gaskets.

Did you order both the lens and frame from Boman? If so how much did that cost?

Thanks to you and Christian for your help.

Tony

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Tony,

Give that a try first. IIRC the Bomans were about $500 each.

E-34 Leaking Windows

A leaking portlight will eventually lead to water damage. I recently removed all my leaking portlights and sent them to Select Plastics. They replaced the lens with marine grade acrylic and replaced the inner seal and horizontal seal. The portlights were replaced and sealed with butyl tape (the same product used to seal automotive windows). Butyl has been used in marine applications for many years with positive results. We have had numerous hard rains and I have yet to see any sign of water intrusion.

Ccaptain