teak decks and caulking

[perthamina]

Has anybody had experience of simpson caulking failing and turning into a sticky black mush, no chemicals have been used on our deck which was beautifully replaced by anke marine in turkey, and still look fantastic, but the caulking is going in patches.

 

[grumpygit]

Has anybody had experience of simpson caulking failing and turning into a sticky black mush, no chemicals have been used on our deck which was beautifully replaced by anke marine in turkey, and still look fantastic, but the caulking is going in patches.

Sorry to hear your having problems as I have only heard good about Simpson, which is made by Bostik. Have you tried to contact them direct ?

Hope you have luck on getting to the bottom of your problem and keep us informed please.

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[Bobobolinsky]

Two part polyurethane goes like that when it ages, though I have never seen that happen to anything from a tube. I've had castings turn to sticky mush, especially seals on blast pots

 

[aegina yacht services]

We use Simson caulking now for years on end and never had a problem. Are you sure they used Simson and not Sika Flex caulking. With Sika we had a lot of trouble.

 

[emmalina]

Last time we re caulked I used Sikaflex 290DC but with the bonding agent, Its been fine for the last 5 years !
It took 96 sausages so I'm not in a hurry to repeat the operation LOL
Only thing you need to watch is the sell by date !
We wet the decks with seawater every other day so all is fine .

 

[wazza]

Was the date ok.? Did you do it yourself so you know it was Simpsons, that said I've used "cheap" caulking on my deck and it's also been fine..
It could be a dodgy batch, if it's in date get the number and contact them... I've used several different on my teak deck, Simpsons being one of them and not had this problem with them.

 

[aegina yacht services]

Hello Wazza. We only buy from the importer in Greece (by now friends of us), taking care that production/expiring dates are OK. In the past we only used Sika Flex (the importer is still a friend of us and we meet regularly and he knows we don't use his products anymore), since the last five years we use only Simson or 3M. Next month we have to lay a new deck on a Halberg Rassy. We will use only Simson products. This sounds like a witch hunt, but Sika does not function in the heat of Greece.

 

[aegina yacht services]

Hi Emmalina. You might have used the last good composition of Sika. We were always a big fan of Sika, until we changed 9 through hull fittings in the hull of a sailing yacht about four years ago. Suddenly (within 3 months) we got an e-mail in from the owner that we did a sh.... job. He stated that we did not use Sika as sealant as we promised. The yacht made water on all the fittings we replaced. The sealant turned into a kind of chewing gum gue. Mind, we used Sika. He got hauled out at an other yard in the north of Greece and had to refit the fittings again. We had the same experience a view months later with two other yachts that luckily came back to our boat yard, so we could re-do the fittings again ourselves (after sales service for Sika with a Simson product we never got paid for) . A friend of mine used Sika caulking 3 years ago in his cockpit. White bikini bottoms come out like zebra bottoms now (beautiful bottoms). I ventilated this with the Sika importer in Greece and still have no technical answer to this problem and please believe me, we confronted him. I sincerely wish Sika can improve its quality and I am waiting for positive input.

 

[emmalina]

Maybe different manufacturers around here because believe me the Tropics are a lot hotter than Greece. We haul out every 2 years and I resealed my through hulls last 2 years ago.. One while in the water. Can't say I have had any problems. Last time I saw caulking problems i.e. dissolving was from cleaning products. Is simpson cheaper ?

 

[aegina yacht services]

Simson is slightly more expensive than Sika. 3M is in Greece around 50% more expensive. I know the heat of the tropics, was born on Sumatra island in between the rubber cultures. You might be right suggesting different factories world wide. Who knows. I only use little washing liquid to clean decks. Caulking might also be sensitive for sun tanning lotions. This could be a thread on its own.