Just one last bit of evidence as to why I prefer butyl tape for deck hardware over Devil's Glue or its extended family of misfit relatives.
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This is the genoa track on our CS-36T as photographed at year 31. The track is still bedded with the original butyl tape she left the factory with in 1979. The track 31 years later is still BONE DRY, does not leak and has not leaked, ever, in 31 years and 50,000+ nautical miles. We run a 150 genny most of the year, just as the previous owner did so this track sees some heavy loads.
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I've seen some 4 year old boats bedded with Devils Glue or its relatives dripping wet with rust stained bolts and wet core at year four and sometimes earlier.
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Oh and this genny track was installed without countersinking the holes. Just an aluminum genoa track bedded with butyl tape in 1979. Bevel the holes and it will probably go 70 years without a leak.. (wink)
Just a quick tip on removing hardware. A cordless impact driver can make short one person work at removing the nuts on the inside of the boat.
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For stanchions and other hardware I often re-install them with hex head bolts rather than Phillips or slot headed screws. This allows me to tape a wrench to the deck using Gorilla Tape to keep it from moving then hit the inside with the impact driver, wrench or socket wrench. If you use the impact driver to re-install pleas DO NOT over do it. These tools are powerful and fast. I would advise against the use of one for re-installing the hardware until you know you are competent with it.
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Impact drivers work via hundreds of rapid fire quick impacts or beats per minute sort of like a machine gun. These small, short, very fast beats or impacts will almost always break a nut free from one side without even using a wrench or screw driver on deck.
This is one of my impact drivers, it's a cheap Ryobi and does the job. While I much prefer the quality & torque of a Li-ion powered Makita, Bosch, Hitachi or other premium brand I won't lose sleep if I hand this one off to Davey Jones and that kind of power is just not necessary here..
One last trick. We've all removed old hardware from a boat only to be left with a hole in the fiberglass. You can try to patch it with gelcoat, and may succeed, or you may make it worse if you're not well versed in glecoat repair. Here's a quicker way to get back to boating.
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Simply countersink the hole then use a truss head machine screw, or your preferred style, and butyl tape to cover & seal the hole. Truss head machine screws are available from most nut and bolt suppliers like Fastenal. Truss head machine screws have a much wider and lower profile head than a pan head machine screw. The truss head machine screws lend themselves well to plugging old holes with butyl tape..
Have one person hold the screw head with a screw driver to keep it from spinning then go below and install the nut and washer and tighten it down..
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I will leave you with some general rules for bedding deck hardware:
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#1 SEALANT ON DECK - Never bed or use sealant on the inside of the deck. If it leaks you WANT to know about it. By sealing the backing plate side or the inside of the boat you will force the water into the core, if not sealed. You can also cause any trapped water to become starved of oxygen. This can lead to pitting or crevice corrosion of the stainless bolts potentially leading to a catastrophic bolt failure. Only seal the deck side.
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#2 TIGHTEN ONCE - Whether you use butyl or a tube type sealant Please don't listen to that old wives tale about letting sealant cure and then tightening it a second time. The second step in that process is waiting for the sealant to change consistency. With butyl or a marine sealant, done with countersinking, there is not a need to wait for a change in consistency. While in "theory" this sounds all warm and fuzzy, and can work if done well, the raw reality is this is often a disaster waiting to happen because it's rarely done well..
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Countersink the deck hole and tighten it once. Well, technically, a little bit at a time with butyl. There are just too many variables that can change the outcome with the "two step". It has perhaps been the cause of more deck leaks than if you were to use Swiss cheese to bed your fittings and I strongly suspect Swiss cheese might actually work better, if counter sunk. I have had my moisture meter & sounding hammer on lots of DIY and "professionally" done "tighten twice" boats and there is huge correlation to "tighten twice" and wet decks, huge.
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#3 SILICONE - Avoid silicone! There are only two situations where silicone should be used and that is for bedding acrylic dead lights or plastic fittings that are damaged by polysulfides or polyurethanes such as Beckson products. Dow 795 or similar should be used for acrylic ports/dead lights. Silicone contamination of gelcoat is very, very real. It is nearly impossible to clean and remove silicone from gelcoat and auto body products intended for metal are not safe generally for gelcoat. To effectively remove silicone from gelcoat requires judicious manual cleaning then wet sanding rinsing the paper frequently to clear it of silicone traces so you don't grind it deeper into the gelcoat. To test if the silicone is gone spray the area with a misting bottle of water. If the water beads it is not clean.
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A friend owned a mid eighties Catalina where the previous owner had used silicone to bed the chain plates. Even after re-bedding they leaked every year for four years straight. He had even resorted to tenacious glues like 3M 5200, still it leaked. He finally called me to discuss it and we simply masked off the surrounding areas with 3M film tape and ground and sanded away the silicone contamination. The chain plates have been dry since, lesson learned the silicone must be COMPLETELY removed before any re-bedding. If you think you've cleaned dry silicone with Acetone, De-Bond or any of the other products folks claim have worked guess again. Over many years I have tried every chemical under the sun to remove silicone contamination and the only thing that works is a thorough manual cleaning and sanding. If you want to nearly ensure that the fitting will leak the next time you re-bed then using silicone is a good way to ensure it..
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#4 CLEAN - When bedding hardware clean everything. The deck the hardware the bolts the heads of the bolts etc.. Bolts especially still have cutting oils and residue from machining on them so if you want a good seal clean, clean, clean....
YOU CAN BUY IT RIGHT HERE AND HELP SUPPORT THIS SITE !!
SORRY NO SHIPPING OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES - EXCEPT CANADA (SEE BELOW)
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Bed-it Marine Sealant Tape:
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After hundreds of requests for quality butyl tape I finally got the butyl bedding tape I had been trying to source. It is gray in color, 1/16" thick and 1/2" wide and a 50' roll. It is the perfect consistency & width for bedding deck hardware. This is not the stuff you get from an RV supplier, it is what was used by boat builders such as Sabre and others back when they used to take the time to use a good quality butyl tape.
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For those of you who expressed interest I would advise ordering multiple rolls as I am using USPS flat rate boxes in order to avoid multiple shipping quotes and multiple emails back and forth. I still have a desk job so this will all be done in my spare time. Please be patient. I will ship as fast as I can and reply to inquiries as soon as possible as I want you to be a happy customer!
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Shipping:
For shipping I use USPS flat rate shipping. USA shipping is $11.50 for up to six rolls.
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Clearly shipping one roll for $11.50 is not as good a deal as two, three or four rolls for $11.50. Flat rate gets to be an excellent deal the more rolls you buy!
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Price:
The price per roll is $15.85 for a 50' roll
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Payments:
I am only accepting payments through PayPal. If you are not signed up it is EASY!
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PLEASE include your name, shipping address and how many rolls you would like. Use the PayPal button and quantity drop down below for ordering.
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Steve in Florida
Hallelujah! Answered my questions about fixing a leaking trunk cabin hatch on a 1980 Trojan TriCabin. Everything on this boat was bedded with butyl. Very little of it has leaked and when I remove something, I find that the butyl is still alive and well. I was about to buy some silicone and have at it. Damn glad I didn't!!
Gary Nelson
01-May-2012 19:34
This is a great & helpful site. I have a 1983 CS36 that used butyl tape & I haven't found any evidence of leaking anywhere from the toe rails, the chain plates, the genoa tracks or the traveler bridge. Great stuff.
Jim
22-Apr-2012 00:38
What method of sealing deck do you use to attach snaps [that don't go all the way thru the deck] for a dodger or bimini. Would countersink and butyl be good or should I use the thru deck technique but not go thru the deck.? I ordered the butyl tape this week, thanks. Jim
Guest
06-Apr-2012 15:14
Great site. Thanks for your speedy delivery to Canada. Mike W.........
Robert McGill
03-May-2011 16:24
Love your site! Any experience with 3M 4200 for deck fittings or thru-hulls? Also, do you recommend a similar bedding approach when re-installing chain plates to bulkheads inside the boat?
