[bblument]

Howdy, all..

After many, many rewarding hours scraping decades of adhesive, silicone, and various other nefarious substances off my portlight frames and glass, and ordering and receiving the portlight seal kit from catalinadirect.com (yes, IT DOES FIT Pearson 26 portlights!), I'm ready to reassemble my glass into the frames, then put these newly renovated portlights back into the boat.

Here's my worry/concern. The frames bend the flat glass to match the curvature of the cabin. Getting the frames off was pretty difficult due to the stress placed upon it by the bend in the frames. I've tried dry-assembling the cleaned-up frames and windows, but it's really difficult.. haven't been able to do it. I'm hesitant to bend the glass enough to force it into the frame; I'm afraid it might break. I REALLY have to apply a lot of pressure to bend it at all.

Obviously, it can be done; the glass is the original glass that came OUT of the frame. Anybody done this before and have any tips or techniques? Which half of the frame should be done first?

The kit I ordered with vinyl glazing came with silicone (Dow 785 or something like that.. I don't have it handy) and the directions said to run a bead inside the vinyl glazing before applying the glazing to the glass, then to run another bead inside the channel of the frame that receives the glass/glazing. Sounds like a huge mess when trying to reassemble the fixture.

The kit also came with 3m 4000 sealant to mount the portlights to the cabin. How does that differ from 4200? OK to use?

Thanks in advance... best to all.

Barry

 

[Ajax_MD]

3M 4000 is the UV resistant, fast-cure adhesive.
Regarding the curve and the stress in the glass, it sounds like what you really need, is an extra set of hands to help you.

I have a P30, so I'll be doing this eventually as well.

 

[RichH]

The best way to establish the 'curve' of such window glazing is an OVEN and a form/mold upon which to heat bend the glazing.

You'll need extra glazing as the first attempt(s) will usually not be 'perfect' and will be wasted as you experience the high learning curve of heat-bending of sheet plastic.

Most acrylic, polycarbonate, etc. will begin to 'soften' at near 175°-180°F.
Equipment needed:
infrared indirect thermometer
Oven + controllable heat gun
Form/mold onto which the HOT glazing is placed ... and allowed to 'sag' onto the form
THICK gloves (and lots of BURN first aid remedy)

If the above seems daunting and maybe dangerous, and it can be, take your old window glazing and the frames to an industrial plate/sheet plastic distributor and have them do the heat forming for you.

 

[DonScribner]

Are we talking glass or plastic here? Plastic (polycarbonate, acrylic) . . . bend away. Don't heat it, just bend it. It's formulated to be cold formed. Glass, even tempered glass has more give than you think. I tried to find a picture that I've seen with three fat guys standing on the same light of glass. I could only find one fat guy. Either way, the 1/4" tempered that he (Steve) is standing on is bending more that I'm comfortable with. He's about 40' above the concrete floor of a business park in Mass. Different installations.

As far as the mess goes. mask off all the areas that you don't want sealant on. Be sure to follow instructions. They probably say to tool the joint. DON'T skip this step. With silicone and urethane. it isn't warrantied unless it's tooled.

Don

 

[DonScribner]

Not sure how this will pan out but the attached photos are of a church that I did. The dome is cold formed 5/16" polycarbonate.

 

[JimsCAL]

The original in the P26 was indeed laminated glass, not plastic. When I cracked one in mine (many years and two boats ago) I replaced it with Lexan.

 

[bblument]

Are we talking glass or plastic here?

...snip...

As far as the mess goes. mask off all the areas that you don't want sealant on. Be sure to follow instructions. They probably say to tool the joint. DON'T skip this step. With silicone and urethane. it isn't warrantied unless it's tooled.

Don

Don,

Thanks for the response. It's safety glass or tempered.. whatever was in the boat originally back in 1972. Definitely not plastic. I've experiment a bit further w/ it's flexibility based upon your encouragement and I've found that if I rest one end on a counter and place my vertical fist under the other end, I can press on the middle of the glass and get it almost down to the counter. That's probably how I'll get it in the frame; get one end started, bend the glass as described, then have a helper work the frame onto the glass while I hold the glass in the correct position. Again.. thanks for letting me know that glass'll bend more than one would think.

I'm not sure what is meant by "tool the joint." The directions don't mention that. Can you elaborate?

Thanks again!

Barry

 

[Gladrags1]

Maybe you need to make a long pipe clamp that fits over the cabin and squeezes the glass together more uniformly and safely. It would be individually fashioned to fit the boat and shape. I would think you would not get enough leverage otherwise.

Good luck.

Tod

 

[Boredop]

Are you talking about the forward approximately 6"x14" smaller portlights? Looking at mine I really don't see any serious curvature. It all looks pretty flat. I would just screw away.

 

[sulli]

Barry
Is your glass laminated safety glass or tempered? the glass in my 1976 p30 is tempered. It is curved over 1 1/2" deflection in 40" I believe it was oven bent. I think this is too much of a bend to force but I could be wrong. I work with glass (IGU insulated glass units) I asked my supplier if he thought I could force bend it that much,he said keep a broom handy for the crumbs, they don't oven bend.
But tempered may bend more than annealed glass.
I have a leak in mine and plan to R&R the glass this spring then I will know for sure, if it comes out in one piece. PO used 5200 to stick it all together tough even getting the screws to turn.
CRL has the glazing components.
Walt

 

[DonScribner]

Tooling a joint is a fancy term for running a wet finger over the part that is visible. If the joint is say, 1/4" wide, you need to smooth it out, shape it, to get it to seal against the materials. Sort of like tooling mortar to make it waterproof. Home Repo sells a sealant smoothing spray that works well. And to tool, I usually use a plastic spoon. The radius is more consistent than my index finger. Now, if the sealant is just being squashed between the frame and the cabin, more like a gasket, just clean it off. Be sure to mask off whatever you don't want covered. 2" masking tape works great. You can layer it at corners, cut it with a razor knife to make rounded beads. Be sure to pull it off immediately, before the sealant even THINKS about setting up. And don't wear any Sunday-go-to-meetin' clothes.