My forward ports are in great shape both in mechanical and finish, but the glazing is fogged.
I want to break them down and see about replacing the plexi. I assume any fasteners are under the gasket, but it seems that the gasket is secured with either adhesive or by form/fit so it's difficult to remove.
Am I on the right track, and if so, is there a source for the gasket material?
Ken.
Believe the originals were supplied with 1/4' glass lens, so that means yours have been replaced and who knows what the gasket/caulking material is. Let's hope it is a bead of butyl inside and outside the lens holding it in place.
Given that the port when closed is held tight under pressure there doesn't seem to be a need to weld the lens in with p.sulfide or p.urethane.
The tiny slotted machine screws are evenly spaced around the oval with two on the long sides and one at each end.
Butyl means you can pull maintenace on the ports.
Covering the itty-bitty screws in the lid is 1/4' cord stock that you can get from McMasterCarr (Cat pg 3465). It is Buna-N material (Nitrile) so will have to be replaced seasonally, I would guess. Splice the cord together with superglue.
The is no reason you can't experiment with some EPDM sheet closed cell foam material and Xactoknife out an 'O' gasket for the lid.
Again, I would use tube butyl to hold the stuff in place.
And imco there isn't any argument against using the same butyl to mount these babies back into the cabin. Try butyl tape gasket to control squeeze out.
Have you tried to clean/polish them? I bought Maguires # 10, 17 and 18 at the auto body store. Either # 10 or 17 made a big difference, I can't remember which.
http://www.meguiars.com/estore/product_list.cfm?sectionname=Boat/RV%20Care>Clear%20Plastic%20Care§ionID=58101 (http://www.meguiars.com/estore/product_list.cfm?sectionname=Boat/RV%20Care%3EClear%20Plastic%20Care§ionID=58101)
I might have ruined my plastic by using Windex before I knew better, but there may be hope for yours.
Thanks Ebb, good info, no idea of the history of the boat prior to purchase, so the ports may have been changed. They may turn out to be glass after all, I simply assumed they were plexi because of the fogging... Never did anything to check otherwise!
And thank you too Pete, I'll pick some of the maguires up on my next trip too the auto parts, have plenty of fogged up plastic around so even if they are glass I'll have plenty of use for it!
Thanks again,
Ken.
Mine are glass and I just reused my old gaskets and tighten the ports down good. I never really open them anyway - I use the hatch for ventilation.
Now I remember which product I liked. I found a bottle of this stuff on the boat today
http://sumnerlaboratories.com/index.htm
I've seen it for sale in Marine stores
I see that I wasn't supposed to let it freeze, so it had seperated, but still worked pretty well on one window. If I find my Meguiars stuff I can do a comparison on the other windows.
I don't know which type of acrylic/lexan type plastic I have. There are no markings on it. But it doesn't feel like glass.
still not sure what they are made of, tapping them sounds like plastic, but they're 'cold' like glass, may have to try a scratch test or disassemble them to determine exactly what they are.
Think I have seen that 210 for sale locally, can't remember where though!
Ken.
Yes, the 'lip test' works for most flat material, except maybe eyeglasses.
At ambient temp plastic will feel warm and glass will feel cool.