[dieselboy]

This weekend i learned a big lesson.. Portlights are not cheep and when your boat is 39 years old they leak.....BAD.. The previous owner bonded tracks under them to re route the leaking water to the bilge..
So i have looked and looked for three weeks for replacements... No such luck and what i did find was high dollar.

Now my glass is dis colored and one is broken so i need to do something.. I did. I pulled them out. All of them this weekend.
Which was rather easy since the sealer has turned to powder! I cut out the 10 layers of silicone and took them all apart. I took the best 2 of 4 chunks of glass to a local glass shop and for $130.22 i got 4 double pane, ash tinted,laminated, uv polarized replacements cut.. WOW.
I took the frames and had them glass beaded and i laid the first of three layers of powder coat on them " the cook on type not the out of a rattle can".
And soon i will re installing them back in my boat..
I did think about Lexan replacements but i have race cars and i am here to tell you that they are a short term gain and a long term loss. Even the best Lexan discolors, is easily scratched and you may only clean them with soap and water or they will dry out. Unless weight is the primary reason or the reduction there of i don't recommend them.

The whole set up is going to cost around $300 total which is less than i was about to spend on one replacement portlight..
I have seen others in the same situation i was in and i can say this looks like a good way to go.. maybe these will last for another 39 years..

 

[Ricemarket]

now I don't know anything about glass, but if you were to get that replacement glass, would it be as good as the glass you would've bought? Is there such thing as marine grade glass?

 

[dieselboy]

From what i was told .. no. My replacement glass was just what i brought in as a pattern.. Double pane, laminated just like the front windshield in every car. " safety glass..
Now my original glass was green tinted which i can still get but i liked the ash tint better and being polarized just made it that much better. No glare, and very little uv penetration of the boat. Through the glass any way.
I can shoot a few pics if any one wants to see?

 

[mwrohde2]

I can shoot a few pics if any one wants to see?

Please do.

 

[PorFin]

D Boy,

Quick recommendations for you:

1. Before you bed the panes, take the extra time to seal the edges of the laminated glass with a couple of coats of epoxy. This will add another layer of protection from water getting between the layers and delaminating the glass (which leads to the cloudiness.)

2. Choose your bedding compound carefully. Although the glass should be impervious, some sealants will attack the adhesives used to laminate the glass, giving water a runnning start at getting in there. (Hopefully not an issue if you do step 1, but why tempt fate right?)

Hope it all goes well,
PF

 

[dieselboy]

D Boy,

Quick recommendations for you:

1. Before you bed the panes, take the extra time to seal the edges of the laminated glass with a couple of coats of epoxy. This will add another layer of protection from water getting between the layers and delaminating the glass (which leads to the cloudiness.)

2. Choose your bedding compound carefully. Although the glass should be impervious, some sealants will attack the adhesives used to laminate the glass, giving water a runnning start at getting in there. (Hopefully not an issue if you do step 1, but why tempt fate right?)

Hope it all goes well,
PF

I have 17 rolls " don't ask i got a good deal and did not read the size of the auction till after i got them" It is a sealer designed to be put in to an aluminum frame with glass. It a polly based seal that seems to be more like a roll of puddy and was built for aircraft and boats. We did one boat with it and it works very well.. Now its my turn..

You install the seal then the glass and compress and the excess is forced out and trimmed with a x-acto blade. It will never harden and looks like a thick taffy??

 

[mitiempo]

Sounds like butyl to me.
Brian

 

[mitiempo]

pic of butyl tape

 

[dieselboy]

Hey that's the stuff or so it looks any way.. Any one need some i seem to have a lot of that and one side sticky seal.. I got lots of that too.
Far to much of both to just do one boat.. Any one close????

 

[nickmerc]

I am interested in some of that butyl tape. PM me to arrange a time to meet. I keep my boat at Warergate on Back Creek.
________
Cheap vaporizer

 

[dieselboy]

Ok, so i have received a few pm on port light glass.. here are the pics before and after..

 

[dieselboy]

 

[dieselboy]

As you can see the ash looks much better than the crappy green..
$135.. for all 4 cut out off the old glass as a pattern..

 

[jack2]

Glass for replacing hatches

Is tempered glass (1/2") as good as plastic for a forward hatch light?

 

[mitiempo]

No, as it is likely to break if something is dropped on it or if someone stands on it. For ports yes, hatches no.