how do u remove silicone from gelcoat?

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A

Al

Hey, All! I'm getting my boat ready for painting (finally nice enough outside to do that) :) When making surface preparation I ran into a problem that most of you have already encountered - SILICONE! Nothing desolves it, no paint would stick to it, so i have to remove it. (Mainly, I'm talking about the spots where stanchions(or any other hardware) were mounted and then removed. A smooth surface is no problem-a sharp blade would scrape it of no problem, but what to do with nonskid that was covered with silicone...or some of those textured "rippled" nonskid surfaces??? How do you remove that silicone? Some suggested heating it up with heat gun...I gotta try that...WHAT ELSE??? Any advice???...Ideas...??? P.S. I'm not an original boat owner, so have no idea what type of silicone was used. Can only assume, it was 3M 4200...Anyway that is what I'm going to use when installing my new hardware. Any info is appreciated! THANKS, alexderiy@yahoo.com Alex
 
Maine Sail

Maine Sail

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Feb 6, 1998
11,701
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
Rub it with your thumb

until you rub it off or get blisters which ever comes first.. Nothing else will get it off trust me! This is why products like 5200 and Silicone are not allowed on or near my boat....
 
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r.w.landau

3M caulking remover

It will take some time to soften, but it seems to do the job. Have lots of paper towels. r.w.landau p.s.I hope you are not going to use silicone to rebed it, what ever it is....
 
Don12364

Don12364

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Dec 2, 2003
1,637
Hunter 376 Warsash, England --
Not Heat

Silicone rubber compounds are normally good to about 200°C = approx 400°F. Your gel coat will be suffering before the silicone does.
 
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Rich

West Marine house brand adhesive remover

Al, West Marine has an adhesive remover in a pump sprayer under their house name that works like nothing else I've tried and doesn't damage or stain gelcoat. (the link below is to their picture on the web, but it's in a sprayer bottle and this year's version doesn't have the citrus smell). If you spray this stuff on your silicone spots and give it 15 minutes to sink in you'll find scrubbing gently with some plastic-bristle brush will take most of the silicone off; then spray the surviving bits and redo until it's gone. Use Acoustic's thumb suggestion for those last stubborn spots...
 
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Al

What do you use to seal the hardware?

I'm not sure if 3M 4200 is silicone based, but i thought, it was specifically designed for sealing hardware....am I wrong? What do you recommend using for mounting cleats, winches and stanchions? Thanks, P.S. My co-worker today suggested gasoline to remove silicone...(his personal experience!) He says it works great! What do you think???
 
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Rick

LifeCaulk

Use LifeCaulk above the waterline and below to bed through hulls, instruments, winches, stanchions, etc. The product is very good, not permanent like 5200, and not shiney/greasy like silicon. I use Acetone to remove the silicon sheen.
 
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Cap'n Ron

4200 - 5200

4200 is faster drying 5200...? Rick, Lifecaulk is a good product. My reasons for using 5200 for all through-hulls, cleats, winches et al, not instruments is the old WWII strategy of, the key, to the key, to the key; they ended up bombing ball-bearing factorys, as no war machines could be built without them. Permanent is safe, I want to use the very best, stickeiest, strongest, most adhesive and water-proof substance know to man; 5200! I have removed it from my mast partner wedges...twice, but ya gonna remove a winche each year? A through-hull? I may not be around in ten years anyway, so it is some other swabs worry...;-)
 
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Steve Dion

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Dec 2, 1999
15,184
Hunter Vision-36 Rio Vista, CA.
Cap'n Ron....

Cap'n Ron: 4200 & 5200 are different products. 3M does make a Fast Cure 4200 & 5200. Both products are polyurethane. Life Caulk is a polysulfide
 
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