Sealant for new Deck Hatch

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Rafiki

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I have just bought a new opening deck hatch to replace one of my existing ones. It is in the foredeck so very exposed to rain and the occasional wave in heavier weather. What sealant would the team suggest using for bedding it down. I was going to use Sikaflex but the problem of course is if the seal doesn't work for some reason, maybe I don't clean up the mess from removing the old one well enough say then I will never be able to get the hatch off again. So what's the view bearing in mind this will be on an exposed position .

I'm replacing like for like so hopefully no fitting problems, it wasn't easy to obtain a Bomar hatch in this country though !

Andrew
 
I fitted a new hatch and used 3mm butyl tape. It comes in various thicknesses and widths (mine was 20mm wide from memory). It made the fitting very easy and you can cut pieces for the corners. I am not too good with a sealant gun.
I left it a few days and gave the screws a little nip up. There were bolts through the hinges. No leaks so far.
 
I fitted a replacement Houdini hatch last year, Houdini recommend using a Buyl based sealing compound as opposed to a silicon based compound, in fact they even supplied the sealant free of charge with the hatch. The sealant supplied is made by Adshead Ratcliffe Trade Name Arbo butyl based sealing compound.
Like all mastics it’s horrible to use especially if your like me and you get sealant everywhere as well as where you want it, but it bedded down well is totally watertight and apparently is relatively easy to separate if for some reason the hatch has to be removed at some stage.
 
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I also use butyl tape for all my bedding purposes, both under water and above. Used to rebed my P bracket last year, no leaks.

I'm about to fit a small hatch over the galley soon and will use butyl tape. Mine is about 12mm wide x 3mm thick, left over from installing double glazing in our extension 5 yrs ago.
 
Praxinoscope said:
I fitted a replacement Houdini hatch last year, Houdini recommend using a Buyl based sealing compound as opposed to a silicon based compound, in fact they even supplied the sealant free of charge with the hatch. The sealant supplied is made by Adshead Ratcliffe Trade Name Arbo butyl based sealing compound.
Like all mastics it’s horrible to use especially if your like me and you get sealant everywhere as well as where you want it, but it bedded down well is totally watertight and apparently is relatively easy to separate if for some reason the hatch has to be removed at some stage.
Click to expand...

Arbomast is butyl based!!!
 
Thanks everyone, almost unanimous advice for a butyl based product. I will try to source the butyl tape from somewhere. No hurry, but at least my trip to the boat today showed that I had bought the right size ..phew!!. why do the Americans still insist on imperial measurements down to 1/16 of an inch.
 
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