Leaky windows
- Thread starter AADIVER
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Go to the hardware store and get self-adhesive gasket in the right diameter - about $15. I spent a year with Catalina customer service just trying to identify the ports installed on my '93 unsuccessfully. I re-did all my ports with gasket I found - no leaks. Just take a bit of ingenuity to install - and be sure to clean the aluminum track well so the new stuff sticks.
Don't try and cut corners. This is too big of a project and too imortant to try. I have a 1984 Catalina 30 and I got the kit from Catalina Direct, and I am glad I did. There are two different gaskets you will need. Take your time, do it right and you will not have to mess with them for a long time.
AA,
Here is an old Catalina Yachts drawing for the leaking portlight repair if you haven't seen this before, sorry it's such a bad copy, but you get the idea.
The portlights can leak either frame to glass or frame to deck (or both!).
Frame to glass is mostly what that drawing is about and if while it's raining you go inside your boat and pull out part "C" "Large Vinyl Extrusion" and the frame is full of water you likely have a frame to glass leak. The drawing will instruct you to cut out the sealant with a razor blade and replace. I used Boatlife Life Caulk with good results.
If your leak is frame to deck (water is dripping onto your cushions just after it starts to rain) then the leak is likely frame to deck. The hardest part of this repair is pulling out the portlight and cleaning up all the PO's previous attempts at repair by smooshing silicone all over everything!
Anyway, pull the frame out, clean very well and rebed. I use butyl and have been very happy with it. In fact, now, everything on my deck is bedded with butyl and I haven't had a leak in about 3 years, it's good stuff.
Personally the windows are such a pain that I eventually pulled all of them out, cut out the old sealant, cleaned and resealed them, and then reinstalled them using butyl on the frame to deck joint. I had a few that weren't leaking but I figured it's just a matter of time after 25 years so it's a better project to just do once and be done with it for hopefully another 10 or 20 years or so. Also and dry cabin was very important to me.
I believe the Catalina Direct kit will have you pull the glass out of the frame and replace the gasket around the glass and I've heard mixed results about how difficult that is, but I have no idea personally really. One of the many problems with these portlights is that they are flat and then we attatch them to a curved surface, the cutouts in the deck look like they were cut with a chainsaw (you'll see!) and they are just not great quality to begin with.
Mine have been dry now for about three or four years though using the information in that little drawing fwiw.
Good luck!
DanM
Here is an old Catalina Yachts drawing for the leaking portlight repair if you haven't seen this before, sorry it's such a bad copy, but you get the idea.
The portlights can leak either frame to glass or frame to deck (or both!).
Frame to glass is mostly what that drawing is about and if while it's raining you go inside your boat and pull out part "C" "Large Vinyl Extrusion" and the frame is full of water you likely have a frame to glass leak. The drawing will instruct you to cut out the sealant with a razor blade and replace. I used Boatlife Life Caulk with good results.
If your leak is frame to deck (water is dripping onto your cushions just after it starts to rain) then the leak is likely frame to deck. The hardest part of this repair is pulling out the portlight and cleaning up all the PO's previous attempts at repair by smooshing silicone all over everything!
Anyway, pull the frame out, clean very well and rebed. I use butyl and have been very happy with it. In fact, now, everything on my deck is bedded with butyl and I haven't had a leak in about 3 years, it's good stuff.Personally the windows are such a pain that I eventually pulled all of them out, cut out the old sealant, cleaned and resealed them, and then reinstalled them using butyl on the frame to deck joint. I had a few that weren't leaking but I figured it's just a matter of time after 25 years so it's a better project to just do once and be done with it for hopefully another 10 or 20 years or so. Also and dry cabin was very important to me.
I believe the Catalina Direct kit will have you pull the glass out of the frame and replace the gasket around the glass and I've heard mixed results about how difficult that is, but I have no idea personally really. One of the many problems with these portlights is that they are flat and then we attatch them to a curved surface, the cutouts in the deck look like they were cut with a chainsaw (you'll see!) and they are just not great quality to begin with.
Mine have been dry now for about three or four years though using the information in that little drawing fwiw.
Good luck!
DanM
I agree with the use of butyl tape instead of caulk for the frame to deck seal. That was what I used. The kit does have the glass to frame seal. It wasn't that hard to replace but they do recommend caulk be also used. I did. A little messy but not hard to do. I agree, they used a chainsaw to do the cut outs. Make yourself a small wood block spacer to use on the bottom of the window, to hold the unit centered, while the outer seal sets. Take your time, you will stop all of the window leaks.
I went through all the leaking on my 1979 Catalina 30 Hull 662 last summer. If all that is leaking are the aluminum frame to hull joints... in the past I used a neoprene gasket 3/4 wide X 3/8 thick that you can buy at any hardware store. It worked GREAT. However, if your vinyl to glass gasket is leaking... I wouldn't recommend trying to fix it. If you check the internet people who have done this repair have "hit and miss" results. I spent about 40 hours this winter trying it and it leaked on the first wash of the boat. I then installed the Cruising Concepts Window Upgrade - Wow what a difference... and NO LEAKS! It makes the boat look newer and there is only one leak point - between the acrylic and the hull.
AADiver,
If the leak is between the glass and the frame, you can try this quick-fix method before splurging for the upgrade kit. This will get you through the remainder of the season, or until you can plan for this big job.
Using a razor / utility knife, cut the old glass-to-frame gasket on the outside at a bevel into the frame. Clean the glass well with a razor, especially the lower and side surfaces. Because the glass is indeed tempered glass, you can use acetone to finish-clean the glass. Then apply a silicone bead.
When you do get the kit and remove the lights and frames, DO NOT use 5200; use 4200, instead. Be sure to load up the glass-to-frame gasket with silicone, as the gasket by itself doesn't seal so well to the glass, especially in the corners.
If the leak is between the glass and the frame, you can try this quick-fix method before splurging for the upgrade kit. This will get you through the remainder of the season, or until you can plan for this big job.
Using a razor / utility knife, cut the old glass-to-frame gasket on the outside at a bevel into the frame. Clean the glass well with a razor, especially the lower and side surfaces. Because the glass is indeed tempered glass, you can use acetone to finish-clean the glass. Then apply a silicone bead.
When you do get the kit and remove the lights and frames, DO NOT use 5200; use 4200, instead. Be sure to load up the glass-to-frame gasket with silicone, as the gasket by itself doesn't seal so well to the glass, especially in the corners.
Thank all of you for your excellent advice! Looks like more than a day's work ;-) I sure wish the windows were installed like those in my now sold 250. I'm going to try and locate someone locally who's already done the resealing on his/her 30.
Jimm, could you be more specific about the repair, i.e diameter of the gasket, and do you mean the interior track? Thanks.
Jimm's got a MkII boat right? I think (although I could be completely mistaken) that the MKII portlights are a whole different affair than the MkI boats. I tried to look at his blog to see a picture but I couldn't tell. Maybe someone knows when Catalina switched to the newer style of windows?
What stumps me a bit about this repair is that I haven't heard of someone using a gasket to solve a leaking MkI portlight so we may be talking apples and oranges here.
DanM.
What stumps me a bit about this repair is that I haven't heard of someone using a gasket to solve a leaking MkI portlight so we may be talking apples and oranges here.
DanM.
Oh, and to hathawayr's post about the quick fix method (which is what I posted earlier from Catalina Yachts btw) it's lasted more than three years on my portlights for what that's worth.
Bedding of the frames can be done many ways, I'd recommend butyl tape (Maine Sail has a source on this forum, or I buy it from Home Depot or an RV dealer) over 5200 or 4200. I just don't see a downside to butyl, cleans up easily with mineral spirits, super inexpensive, easy to pull apart if you need to. I'm sure 4200 would work well too though, or 5200 for that matter, I just wouldn't want the expense or the work to remove it if need be.
Just one sailors opinion of course...
DanM.
Bedding of the frames can be done many ways, I'd recommend butyl tape (Maine Sail has a source on this forum, or I buy it from Home Depot or an RV dealer) over 5200 or 4200. I just don't see a downside to butyl, cleans up easily with mineral spirits, super inexpensive, easy to pull apart if you need to. I'm sure 4200 would work well too though, or 5200 for that matter, I just wouldn't want the expense or the work to remove it if need be.
Just one sailors opinion of course...
DanM.
All good fix ideas. But as far as 5200 I hate that stuff! Its really messy, sticks to nothing but your hands, runs all over the place and takes forever to set up. When it finally does set up, I've heard that its impossible to remove or seperate what's glued with it. I think I'll try the Butyl on my next deck repair, which after this hurricane I'm sure won't be long!
I bought the Catalina Direct leak repair kit; with delivery, $177.00. A liveaboard on our gangway's agreed to install it, all 8 windows for $200.00; a Mr. Fixit with good recommendations. That's about 400 bucks less than a local commercial boat window repair firm. Acid test will be when the rains hit this winter.
For what it's worth, I replaced my old leaky aluminum windows in my '76 Catalina 30 with the newer styled replacements from Catalina Direct. Absolutely no leaks! And I don't think I will ever have any leaks...no aluminum frames, and it looks like a newer boat to boot!
Good luck. We haven't had rain in so long that upgrade has gone to the near bottom of a long list of honey-do's.
When I purchased my C-30 form VA and had it shipped down to Tampa I noticed my ports leaking everywhere inside so I just bit the bullet out of the gate and sent away for the kit from Crusing Concepts. Now I really never hear alot about them from all you guys but it did update my boat's appearence and most of all stopped the leaking! Its a little late to inquire now but is there a reason I dont hear more people talking about this being the best remedy for an end all upgrade? For those of you who dont know about these please follow this link (Im fairly certain you all know about these).
http://www.cruisingconcepts.com/retroftwin.htm
Is there a down side, I have had them installed for over a year and they still look and function wonderfuly. Please dont tell me they are only good for about 2 years and they fail because they were a little more spendy than all the alternatives that are typicaly posted here.
http://www.cruisingconcepts.com/retroftwin.htm
Is there a down side, I have had them installed for over a year and they still look and function wonderfuly. Please dont tell me they are only good for about 2 years and they fail because they were a little more spendy than all the alternatives that are typicaly posted here.
Catalina 30, hatches & ports: http://www.catalinadirect.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_ID=967&ParentCat=468
This is the repair kit for the aluminum fixed ports. I don't think Catalina Direct sells the replacement ports, that's Cruising Concepts, two different companies.
I love'em
I upgraded to the replacements, and I love them! They look great, and no more leaks. I repainted the entire boat, and the windows make it look a lot newer. You probably don't hear too much about them because most people prefer the original look of the aluminum frame windows and don't want to consider this an ”upgrade”. But I do consider them an up grade. I had a leaky old 25, and I fought constantly with the window leaks. Now, I don't worry about any leaks,.and I have what I consider a better looking boat to boot!
I upgraded to the replacements, and I love them! They look great, and no more leaks. I repainted the entire boat, and the windows make it look a lot newer. You probably don't hear too much about them because most people prefer the original look of the aluminum frame windows and don't want to consider this an ”upgrade”. But I do consider them an up grade. I had a leaky old 25, and I fought constantly with the window leaks. Now, I don't worry about any leaks,.and I have what I consider a better looking boat to boot!
I do agree! It actually gives you about an inch more window from the inside which seems to open up the cabin even more and a better field of vision from down below. People in my club/marina often ask what type boat, what year etc. Did you paint deck and if you did what was your process?
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