400: Re-caulking of seams

[jugga]

Hello everyone ,

The caulking/sillicone seals on my L400S2 from 2014 are no good after 4 years sea and sun... they are black from mould or have shrunk to the point they are useless. This is around windows as well as on the seams on the deck and hulls.
I would like to re-do them, has any one of you done this before, and did you do it yourself or did you have someone do it for you ? Any thoughts on the process, and what material/product was best for you ?

Thanks in advance,
Jugga

[boatman61]

Hi.. I had a Bene 321 1987 with the overhead fixed window going across the cabin top ahead of the mast.. same problem.. Caribe sun.
I dug out the first 273rds of the sealant then taped up, cleaned and primed the area before using this..

https://www.boatpaint.co.uk/acatalog...%20windows.pdf

Lovely Jubbly.. tight as a ducks butt.

[tuskie]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Hi.. I had a Bene 321 1987 with the overhead fixed window going across the cabin top ahead of the mast.. same problem.. Caribe sun.
I dug out the first 273rds of the sealant then taped up, cleaned and primed the area before using this..

https://www.boatpaint.co.uk/acatalog...%20windows.pdf

Lovely Jubbly.. tight as a ducks butt.

Good advice, Boatman. Is that "first 2/3rds" of sealant?

I've done similiar, but use a good UV resistant polyurethane sealant, not silicone. My job was as tight as a fish's bum; that's watertight and not sure how it compares with a duck's. ☺

[jugga]

[QUOTE=tuskie
I've done similiar, but use a good UV resistant polyurethane sealant, not silicone.[/QUOTE]

Why is silicone bad Tuskie ?

[tuskie]

Originally Posted by jugga

Why is silicone bad Tuskie ?

I don't think silicone is bad its just that polyurethane is better.

I'm not an adhesives expert so am happy to follow the recommendations of experts:


Marine Sealant & Marine Adhesive Guide : Marine Supplies : 3M Europe

[jugga]

Excellent, thanks ! And what about the mould issue, what do you do to battle the funky funghi on the sealant ?

[jbbacque]

If you are bedding something that you want to be waterproof, but that either does not require a strong adhesive or you need to remove later, or that works under load etc (deck fittings...) there is nothing (IMHO) better than butyl rubber. Three decades or more should be no problem for butyl.

A good tutorial: Re-Bedding Deck Hardware With Bed-It Tape Photo Gallery by Compass Marine How To at pbase.com

Keep it slightly cool else it gets too sticky and awkward to work with, but there is simply nothing better for bedding, no matter what the salespeople tell you.

ben