o'day 272 window discoloring

[Berad]

recently purchased 1986 o'day 272. vessel is in very good condition with the exeption that the forward cabin windows on both side (really just plexiglas fiberglass covers) and the quarter berth window have turned a blue(ish) color. the other 4 cabin windows and the skylight ar the original smoked glass color. have tried various cleaners and polish but nothing helps. any idea's short of replacing?

 

[Joe11688]

recently purchased 1986 o'day 272. vessel is in very good condition with the exeption that the forward cabin windows on both side (really just plexiglas fiberglass covers) and the quarter berth window have turned a blue(ish) color. the other 4 cabin windows and the skylight ar the original smoked glass color. have tried various cleaners and polish but nothing helps. any idea's short of replacing?

About three years ago one of my friends bought a 1986 O'Day 272 up on the other side of Cape Cod and he asked me to help him sail it to Bristol RI which I did. This boat had the same windows issue.
I received emails from a girl in Columbus OH who has a 1988 O'Day 222 with the same issue also. She wound up having some new port lights made up and she used a special type of bonding tape to secure them, instead of the caulking and screws. I have no idea why they would get discolored like that unless a PO used Acetone on them. I would have new ones made up and screw them back on. Make sure that you drill the holes the same diameter as the old holes or the plastic will crack with temperature changes. Also, you will need to use a caulking called Dow Corning 795 which has no adverse effects on the plastic and has good adherence. The boat manufacturers use this stuff for plastic hatches and port lights. It comes in black or white. If you can't find it in your area, Rudy at D & R Marine has it. I bought a tube off him a few years ago and used it to seal my forward hatch. http://www.drmarine.com/ A regular caulking with polysulfide is very harmful to plastics.
Silicone is not harmful to plastics but it acts more like a gasket than a caulking after it sets up. I'm really not sure about this new tape adhesive. Time will tell, I guess. Good luck!
Joe

 

[philziggy]

Just a little update on Dow Corning 795 - I've seen it in white, black, gray, and bronze. I used it on my former boat, a Catalina 27, to rebed all the windows; it came with the window rebuild kit that Catalina offers (so I guess it's builder recommended). It's very easy to work with, good consistency. I couldn't find it anywhere locally, but I see it available on-line; I got mine in black (for my O'Day 322) from Amazon.com.