Leaky windows cure ?!

jfkal

jfkal

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I am again battling with my leaky acrylic windows. Has anyone experience with the stuff called Body sealing tape (from German Karosseriedichtband) the stuff the automotive guys use between car body parts. May be known also as Plastic Fermit. The stuff doesnt cure and stays flexible.....
 
I had endless trouble with windows but eventually settled for some kind of 'squidgy' tape I got from a double glazing company.

Basic system was to run this stuff round inside the perspex perimeter area, on the boat. Then put Sikaflex round the perspex and then screw down, lightly, the perspex. When the Sikaflex is a bit 'set', then pull the perspex down a bit more. This way you don't squeeze the Sikaflex out of the joint and get a 'thicker' seal.

Can't tell you more about the name of the sticky stuff, which acts as a sealant, not an adhesive, but it came in black or brown as I recall.

That was about 5 years ago and so far, so good.
 
I had a leaking hatch to the forepeak - a Houdini it is. It was just the sealing compound that was shot - the rest of the hatch was fine. It did drip on you whilst in the bunk tho - not a happy situation /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

I think the theory is that you should be able to undo the screws and take the frame to pieces, redo the seal and put it all back together. Of course the reality of tiny ss screws in an alloy frame is different and there was no way they were coming out.

I was on the point of ripping the whole thing out when I had a touch of the scrooges. I hacked out as much of the rotten sealer as I could on the inside (you can't get at it on the outside cos the frame is tight to the glass) with a broken hacksaw blade, cleaned it out as best I could, then cleaned again with acetone this time, masked it off and used Sikaflex 291.

It worked!! Six months later and not a drip. At least I saved two hundred odd quid for a year or so - hopefully.
 
I simply went round mine (externally only) with Captain Tolleys and 2 yrs down the line still no leaks. Do need to remove the xs from the grp straight away tho as it can mark the gel coat and residue very difficult to remove when dry.
 
The tape you are thinking of is commonly called body moulding tape. On smooth surfaces it sticks like you no what to a blanket. I would think if you used it to stick acrylic to grp the only way it will come apart is in small pieces. I know that a 3 inch door moulding stuck with this stuff will after two weeks withstand a 50 mph impact and not move, pity about the rest of the car.
 
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