Removing portlight on 40/40
Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2019 7:28 pm
We've been tracking down a leak on the side of our 40/40. We've been seeing rusty water coming down from the top deck main traveler and also noted some rusty water stains on the bulkhead inside the head. Thinking these two were related, we took down the ceiling in the head and noted that the there was no evidence of any leaks in the traveler bolts and overall no leaks. We then took down the ceiling above the galley and all the traveler bolts looked like they were in very good shape with no evidence of rusty water. That was the good news - everything looks water tight in those concerning areas.
Bad news is we don't know where the interior leak is coming from. Next, we decided that we would remove the portlight right above the nav station because during our survey the surveyor noted that there might be a soft spot around that portlight and there had been some dampness around the nav station and it's on the other side of the galley wall. So, we removed the exterior rim, removed all the screws on the inside and tried to remove the silicone, caulking, don't know whatever else was there. Despite scraping for over a good hour, the portlight wouldn't budge (even with tapping (hammering) on the portlight). This makes me feel very good that these portlights are so solid and so solidly in place, but now what to do? Has anyone removed and replaced portlights on these boats? Any suggestions?
I think there's a chance that the leak was coming in from the external screws on the portlight, since some of them looked slightly rusty, so we could just rebed these with silicone or some sort of adhesive. Would you put anything between the external rim and the fiberglass - any sort of caulking type material?
At this point, we have the boat on the hard with the cover on and looking to figure out what to do with this portlight, so that we could launch at the end of April. Any thoughts, experiences, ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much!
Riki
Bad news is we don't know where the interior leak is coming from. Next, we decided that we would remove the portlight right above the nav station because during our survey the surveyor noted that there might be a soft spot around that portlight and there had been some dampness around the nav station and it's on the other side of the galley wall. So, we removed the exterior rim, removed all the screws on the inside and tried to remove the silicone, caulking, don't know whatever else was there. Despite scraping for over a good hour, the portlight wouldn't budge (even with tapping (hammering) on the portlight). This makes me feel very good that these portlights are so solid and so solidly in place, but now what to do? Has anyone removed and replaced portlights on these boats? Any suggestions?
I think there's a chance that the leak was coming in from the external screws on the portlight, since some of them looked slightly rusty, so we could just rebed these with silicone or some sort of adhesive. Would you put anything between the external rim and the fiberglass - any sort of caulking type material?
At this point, we have the boat on the hard with the cover on and looking to figure out what to do with this portlight, so that we could launch at the end of April. Any thoughts, experiences, ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much!
Riki