Port Light Rebed

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Ian Palmer
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Boat Name: Valhalla
Boat Type: 1978 Pearson 365

Port Light Rebed

Post by Ian Palmer »

Hello guys I am currently trying to stop the leak in my port late… I have those cheap aluminum port lights that come standard on almost every boat through the late 70s and 80s picture is attached. So far I disassembled the porch light and put it back together using silicon sparingly. I then used butyl tape to mechanically mount the frame on to the fiberglass and secured it from the inside using the screws. However it did not work in fact he got worse… Your advice is much appreciated. Also I was thinking about changing them all out to fancy port lights are open but that would be pretty expensive and I’d have to research all those parts so if this is doable DIY job I would of course hope that could work. Thank you cheers
80D9CBF4-2163-4CA8-AA74-CE9012377DDD.jpeg
svMira
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Re: Port Light Rebed

Post by svMira »

I did mine last summer. The four large ones on my Wanderer. Replaced the plexi with some fresh mildly tinted plexi. It was so nice to have windows that you could look through. And the tint is pretty cool as well.
I just rebed them with butyl tape. It ended up I was a touch lean with the tape and two of mine leaked a little later that summer, but this last summer none of them did. Go figure. Because I replaced the plexiglass, I had to reseal the plexi to the frames. That I did wish some kind of black lifecaulk if I recall. It was quite eye opening to take them apart and see how no matter how well I would have sealed the aluminum to the cabin, they would have leaked if I had not redone the seal between the plexi and the aluminum frame.
I'm sure someone is going to jump on you for the silicone. I'll try to do it gently. <grin> You really don't want to use actual silicone pretty much anywhere on your boat. the residue is too hard to ever clean off and getting a good long term reseal on the second round that lasts is pretty much impossible. Once you go to lifecaulk style poly sealers, you'll never go back.
And, to seal your windows, if it is leaking between the aluminum frame and cabin... More butyl!

[Just an opinion, but because it's mine, it's pretty much gospel. <grin>]
Marvin - s/v Mira - 1971 Pearson Wanderer #174
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CapnK
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Re: Port Light Rebed

Post by CapnK »

Hi Ian - Where is the water coming in: between plexi/glass and aluminum frame, or between the frame and the boat? If between frame and boat, based on looking at this picture, you may have tightened the frame too much because I can see where it is bending around the screws themselves. This might have caused the butyl to squeeze out...?

Think of butyl as a caulk, a sealant, but *not* as an adhesive. There has to be sufficient material in there for it to work, and over-tightening can create leaks by forcing too much out.

If you have the space/width around the edge of your cutout and under the lap of your frame to do so: use thin foam weatherstripping in addition to sealant to make sure any gaps due to surface irregularities are filled. I used the black foam strip material, approx .25" thick and wide, adhesive-backed, applied just at the edge of the fiberglass cutout, then put sealant around that (or towards the outer edges of the frame). The foam strip is right in the corner of the frame where it meets the boat, behind the sealant, creating a physical gasket to back up the sealant itself. You cannot tell it is there by looking, you'd have to disassemble the portlight to see it.
I did this as an experiment that has held up well so far, though not tested extensively at sea yet. Can't think of any reason why it shouldn't continue to work well.
Kurt and Barque, the CrewDog.
Sundance, '71 A-30, #429
Katie Marie, Ariel #422
Melelani, Islander 36 (shoal)

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atomvoyager
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Re: Port Light Rebed

Post by atomvoyager »

svMira and Kurt have some good advice. If you rebed something that had silicone on it you need to thoroughly clean the surface using a varnish scraping tool or chisel followed by sandpaper. I also avoid silicone but do use it on some gaskets and plastics because other sealants are said to react chemically with the plastics/rubbers and breakdown over time. I've seen it happen rapidly in some cases but its hit or miss and often it doesn't seem to react badly at all. For example, I've replaced some lexan and plexi windows that were heavily crazed and the caulking sealant crumbling in the contact zone and leaking badly. It looked like some type of polyurethane sealant. use Dow 795 on plexi and seems to work very well. Maybe you could use butyl or other types of sealant caulk on the plexi but some experts don't recommend it even though in many cases it could work fine. I can't say. You need to address every surface in the assembly, such as frame to fiberglass, frame to rubber gasket, if there is one and rubber gasket to plastic lens. Leave a water hose running above it on deck and look inside to identify where the leak is, then disassemble and redo.
Ian Palmer
Bottom Paint Application Technician
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Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2018 1:07 pm
Boat Name: Valhalla
Boat Type: 1978 Pearson 365

Re: Port Light Rebed

Post by Ian Palmer »

Thank you guys for your reply is very much appreciated and now I have something to go on continue with. I am feeling like maybe just replacing these portholes with “lights but I found on defender.com and there are three models that are within my budget. Can I please leave the leave them here if you guys can take a look and see which of the new things will be my best choice. Much appreciated thank you

https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?na ... id=2145489

https://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?n ... id=1018159

https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?na ... 0&id=85907

https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?na ... id=2145643
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atomvoyager
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Re: Port Light Rebed

Post by atomvoyager »

The medium duty Vetus PZ633 looks adequate but I haven't installed any so don't have firsthand experience with them. I'd avoid plastic frame portlights if given the choice.
CharlieJ
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Re: Port Light Rebed

Post by CharlieJ »

You might also look at Beckson- They often have overstocks at much lower prices.
paul45c
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Re: Port Light Rebed

Post by paul45c »

svMira wrote: Fri Dec 07, 2018 8:59 am I'm sure someone is going to jump on you for the silicone. I'll try to do it gently. <grin> You really don't want to use actual silicone pretty much anywhere on your boat. the residue is too hard to ever clean off and getting a good long term reseal on the second round that lasts is pretty much impossible. Once you go to lifecaulk style poly sealers, you'll never go back.
And, to seal your windows, if it is leaking between the aluminum frame and cabin... More butyl!

[Just an opinion, but because it's mine, it's pretty much gospel. <grin>]
Just a quick comment on my experience with rebedding acrylic lenses to hatch frames after the previous owner used silicone. Don Casey had talked about this problem, and he said though it adds more work, it's not impossible to get a good bond on something that had been siliconed before. After the scraping and sanding, he said to alternate between Xylene and Toluene and a ton of clean rags. So, I was patient, hunkered down with half a roll of paper towel, lots of small sandpaper strips and went to work. It positively amazed me how much black these two solvents raised up out of the aluminum frame LONG after the surface looked perfectly clean silver to the eye (the old silicone used was black). I'd wipe with one solvent with a clean sheet, sand a little, wipe with a clean sheet with the other solvent and on and on...It's been 6 months and no evidence of the new sealant giving up anywhere. And since that acrylic lens is not held in with any mechanical fastenings, I think that's a decent test of Mr. Casey's advice. So far, so good.
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