It is called "Brutal" Tape for a reason

jibes138 · Nov 26, 2014

Brian D said:
An update on my adventure into portlight maintenance. What a chore it is. LOL OK, after working most of the day dealing with Butyl Tape I have decided it is really called brutal tape. This stuff is very easy to work with if one is VERY patient. But just let it get ahead of you and it is all over. Some lessons I learned today. 1. Never let Butyl Tape touch Butyl Tape, unless you intended it to do so. And even if you did, you had better do it right the first time. 2. Never overlap Butyl Tape. The double thickness will completely prevent anything from laying flat. (I thought by overlapping the tape would compress to a single layer thickness. Nope!) 3. Plan, plan, plan, plan. If you don't plan, expect to do it again. Once it is on do not try and take it off. 4. On rectangular rings, put the corners on first, cut at right angles to the vertical/horizontal edges, add the other strips and amalgamate. This will keep the tape one single layer thick all the way around. 5. Above all... take your time. The stuff is great and looks good when done right. But it will also show you where you goofed up. Maybe in the future I will redo my ports for aesthetic reasons. Of the 4 I did today, only one looks really nice with even Butyl lines on the ring. Need to sharpen my chisel now. So, back to the boat tomorrow for some finishing touches. Heavy rain expected in SoCal this weekend.

Brian, mainesail is the expert but a few of my observations. As it gets hot in the sun and under a compressive load it will ooze out of the joint after a day. I find you tighten the screws and trim the excess a few days later do it again. A few days later again. Eventually it gets to a thin layer fully filling the gap. It might help to heat it a little with a hair dryer to soften it a bit for initial installation and to speed up the oozing. It is certainly a lot less messy than sealants and less costly. Open tubes of sealant go bad. The butyl has little to no waste.

Maine Sail · Nov 26, 2014

Brian D said:
1. Never let Butyl Tape touch Butyl Tape, unless you intended it to do so. And even if you did, you had better do it right the first time.

Yep even a little touch is permanent!!!

Brian D said:
2. Never overlap Butyl Tape. The double thickness will completely prevent anything from laying flat. (I thought by overlapping the tape would compress to a single layer thickness. Nope!)

Yep many make this mistake. Lay them side by side and when you compress the part they will become one anyway. See point #1..

Brian D said:
3. Plan, plan, plan, plan. If you don't plan, expect to do it again. Once it is on do not try and take it off.

Absolutely while it has low adhesion, compared to a polyurethane, it is often way more adhesive than folks expect, especially on something like a large surface area port frame...

Brian D said:
4. On rectangular rings, put the corners on first, cut at right angles to the vertical/horizontal edges, add the other strips and amalgamate. This will keep the tape one single layer thick all the way around.

Excellent point and goes back to #3!

Glad you got it done with no bruises!!

31seahorse · Nov 26, 2014

Background: At some time in the distant past a person told me to "paint" liquid soap around the areas to be bedded with caulking. The reason for that painting was to make the excess caulk easy to remove when squeezed out because it would not stick to the soaped parts. I used that method once with success, but I discontinued the practice because I worried about getting soap under/between the parts I wanted to seal.

I have used butyl tape for the first small project: mounting the ST 60 Tridata face to the forward, slanted end of the cockpit. I have not retightened and cut off the excess, but I did experience the serious sticky feature mentioned by all above. Last night we had over 3 inches of rain here in Florida

and I am interested to see how the tape performed.

Brutal Question: (for future projects) Would the soap-paint procedure be of any use in removing the excess from around the sealed parts?

Ralph Johnstone · Nov 26, 2014

Brian D said:
2. Never overlap Butyl Tape. The double thickness will completely prevent anything from laying flat. (I thought by overlapping the tape would compress to a single layer thickness. Nope!)

One of the most useful tools I've found in working with brutyl tape is a hair dryer. Heat your work after everything is snugged up and keep it hot and continue slowly compressing. The butyl softens to the point where it expels as much as it needs to and doesn't continue to slowly ooze for months on end.

And the beauty of it is, no matter what your job looks like now, you can soften it with a dryer now, tomorrow, or a month from tomorrow and then clean it up.

However, use extreme caution when doing this ....................... if it's your wife's hair dryer

agprice22 · Nov 26, 2014

One trick I have learned in using butyl tape is to keep your fingers wet. The tape will not stick to your fingers, but when you stick it to the parts, it will work fine. With Butyl, less is more.

Thanks,

Andrew

Spindrift NH · Nov 27, 2014

31seahorse said:
Brutal Question: (for future projects) Would the soap-paint procedure be of any use in removing the excess from around the sealed parts?

I've found that the best way to clean up around the finished parts is to outline the part with a razor blade cutting down to the mounting surface then taking a ball of extra "Brutal" tape and dab and pull at the excess.

Skipper · Nov 27, 2014

And never get any butyl on or near screws. It will wind around the screw and never break off, but instead will only pull more butyl in and ruin the seal and make a mess. I had to pull up the whole stanchion and remove and discard all the Butyl, as it does not come off in manageable pieces once it's together.
It's hideous to work with but if it needs to be removed it's easy to get it all off. I think practice and tools are key. I need both.

seanshine · Nov 27, 2014

I'd be hesitant to use the sticky butyl tape on any more windows. On my first attempt, as said, the stuff sticks to everything. The worst part is if it touches a screw. It will spin into a huge glob. Anyway, after finishing up the window, it still leaks a little. The worst part is, the window is stuck so hard to the hull that I can't get it out to fix the leak. I fear too much pressure will break the window or bend the frame. Maybe a little heat will loosen it up.

thinwater · Nov 27, 2014

I find myself wondering if there are not several different products being discussed here. I've bedded many ports and fittings and never encounter most of these problems.

*Wind into a screw? Is this a products with fiber in it, because that should be impossible.

*Difficult to remove? Butyl is viscous and removes slowly with pressure, but is never very difficult; steady pressure is the key.

* Messy? Not compared to a mistake with polyurethane, no way. However, sometimes mineral spirits is needed (not the low odor sort--the real stuff). It can be tough to get out of porous gel coat. But easy to avoid.

* Overlaps? No reason to.

* A perfect bead? That is not what butyl is for, IMHO. If there is a wide sealing surface, just trim it flush.

Like any product, working neatly is key. And don't try to trim the beads perfectly the same day. Come back in 2 weeks, after the flow is finished. I like a plastic knife.

Overall, I find it the easiest and neatest product to work with, specifically for larger projects.

Maine Sail · Nov 27, 2014

thinwater said:
I find myself wondering if there are not several different products being discussed here. I've bedded many ports and fittings and never encounter most of these problems.

There are literally hundreds of formulations of butyl tape out there and then many more products on top of those that use the word butyl in the description that are not even close to being a good product for bedding deck hardware. I have had customers mail me used rolls they purchased as "butyl" that was actually water soluble....

This is why Bed-It Tape was created. It was created so that boaters could have access to a butyl product that was specifically formulated and intended for bedding deck hardware, and that was consistent...

Still, there is a learning curve and that's why I wrote the article back in 2005 that re-ignited using butyl as a deck bedding product..

Bedding Deck Hardware With Butyl Tape

Ralph Johnstone · Nov 27, 2014

Maine Sail said:
Still, there is a learning curve and that's why I wrote the article back in 2005 that re-ignited using butyl as a deck bedding product..

I'd say the learning curve varies from flat to gently downwards.

As long as one understands the facts behind getting a good seal on the project, and a little heat is applied, almost no manual skills are required. Plus .... should anything more interesting comes along while you're working, finish up whenever you get around to it. I cannot think of anything easier for sealing than using this stuff.

Referring back to thin water's five examples, the complaints given by others about butyl tape most likely refer to other "butyl" products. However, I don't agree with being neat. No matter how far it manages to squeeze out, just "poke and jab" it off.

Skipper · Nov 27, 2014

Brian D said:
Just to clarify, I am talking about and using Bed-It Tape. It is good stuff, just wish I had something to practice on.

Me 2 - bed it tape

rgranger · Nov 27, 2014

31seahorse said:
...Brutal Question: (for future projects) Would the soap-paint procedure be of any use in removing the excess from around the sealed parts?

I've only used it one time on a small project. I used it as a backing on the swing keel bolt gaskets.... I got mine at Auto-Zone. But before I tightened down, I outlined the "no stick" zone with a crayon so the tape would not stick. Seemed to work fine. I'm guessing it would work well on gel coat... you could even match the color... I'd think that crisco would also work as a "no stick" pre-coat and can be easily cleaned off with detergent when done.