rebed the hardware? go for it! use this!

[MacGyver]

I see people talk about using 5200....... well as a boat repairman I want to make a suggestion
Life Caulk.
Why?
Well life caulk is a pliable product. Can be used above and below the waterline.
It cures with water as well making it possible to use before that storm in the distance. (Which came in handy today for me)

5200 is a hard sell to me..... rips fiberglass off when trying to get hardware out, tears up thruhulls. Etc.

Life Caulk is pretty awesome stuff. Flexible for dissimilar item bonding and etc. I have never had any issues dissasembling items done with it.......not like 5200.........

Any question let me know. And if you have used 5200 and like it please tell me why. I sure don't see the good behind 5200.

[noonmark]

Haven't heard of this so I did a quick search. Was surprised to find west marine had "life seal", where defender had "life caulk". Both made by the company "boat life". Have you had experience with both products?
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=20091&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=50218&subdeptNum=50257&classNum=50260
or
http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|10918|12626|1414372&id=1758452

Would you recommend one of these products or something else if you wanted to remove some of the teak yearly or every other year for a quick coat of my favorite stain&gloss (I would like to stay on top of my brightwork).

I do occasionally use 5200 for things like stanchions or my outboard mount because it simply won't leak. I'm glad it's a pain to remove because it should be used on something that should never have to be removed, at least for a couple decades.

[skip1930]

Life Caulk is about the same thing as Duct Seal. Sold by the brick at Ace for about $3.49 a pound. Never hardenes, never lets water past, stays flexible.
They use it on aeroplanes. The guys call it Dog Sh*t. The County use's it by the ton at the parks department for the pit potties.

Me I'm a 3-M 5200  slow set guy. No big deal.

skip.

[MacGyver]

@noonmark
I use the stuff from Defender, almost, the stuff we get isnt in that style of tube, it is in a metal type of little caulk tube, goes a long way.
I just sealed the teak down with life caulk on our boat, They make it in Teak colored, white, and black.

An example of a issue I ran into this year on a boat was the Depth sounder transducer was leaking, customer wanted it fixed before launch since he was a big boat requiring half a days labor for launching. I went in thinking the regular job, pop her out and reseal........Nope..... 5200, so I did what I could to get it out, and when I knew i was going to break it, I quit, looked up that part to call the customer with a price, and found out you could no longer get those parts, nor that system.....so, after I called him to tell him, We decided that it was better to just seal around the outside best I could with Life Caulk, and when he was feeling flush we would put new electronics in.

If that had been life caulk, I would have had it out and resealed back in the boat in a hour tops.

The last 10 years of doing thru hulls, I havent done the same thru hull from leaking once yet. so I would say a 10 year reseal is safe.

I will use it on all my hardware and stancions because of its flexibility.
I will check tomorrow and get a UPC code for you, or find out where to get these smaller tubes from.

[Bob23]

Jason:
   Good timing with this post: I just removed my stanchions Sunday and will remove bow and stern rails this weeked so I can rebed everything. I'll put a tube of Life Caulk on my Defender order.
   Thanks for sharing all your experience with us.
Bob23

[MacGyver]

No Problem Bob23,

I am sure 5200 has its uses, I just have never been able to justify it myself, and I work on so many boats every year. We sell the 5200 in our store, and 4200 as well. Just always seems right to utilize the Life Caulk instead.

I always think of something my grandpa told me, "Things age, nothing will remain the same, and sometimes it is best just to redo it, that way you know it is right." 

Atleast with the life caulk youll get it apart, LOL

[Bob23]

I have pulled stuff apart that was bonded with 5200 using heat but not a whole lot of fun. I've used Dophinite bedding compound in the past on my grab rails but it seemed to harden up a bit. It might be linseed oil based 'cause it turned very dark.
Bob23

[skip1930]

" Nope..... 5200, so I did what I could to get it out, and when I knew i was going to break it, I quit,..."
The key to undoing 3-M 5200 slow set is to heat to 160 deg F. and beat it out or beat it off.

After my sealed from the factory, aluminium perch for my rudder had all four of it's 1/4"-20 ss bolts and nuts removed from the transom I still could not get the bugger off.

So I heated with a paint stripping heat gun to just beginning able to touch and hold your hand on the metal, that's about 160 deg F. and beat it off with a rubber mallet. Who needs bolts with this stuff? I should note that just a small circle of this stuff was sourrounding the four 1/4" drilled holes through the transom, and it was hanging on magnificently. Good stuff this 3-M 5200 slow set is. You just have to learn how to use it.

skip.

[NateD]

I don't have any direct experience with it yet, but the next time I rebed hardware I'm planning on using a high quality butyl tape.

http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/butyl_tape

[Bob23]

I agree that would be the best choice. if I my order 2 rolls, I may sell the surplus here.
Bob23 

[jthatcher]

hi Nate,  i ordered that butyl tape, and it came within a couple of days..   i used it to bed the part of the self steering system that i just installed on my new tiller..  pretty easy to work with..  as Bob suggests,  I think that i have enough tape to re-bed everything on the boat..  4 times!    well, a slight exaggeration perhaps, but it is a pretty good supply!   jt

[Shawn]

I switched over to using the butyl tape last year and have really liked working with it. Very easy to use, seals well and is easy to remove later on if required.

Shawn

[Pacman]

5200 is a great adheasive (glue)

Life Caulk is a great sealer (leak stopper)

Each has its place and each is very good at its intended use.

However, I don't attach things with leak stopper and I don't seal leaks with glue.

[MacGyver]

I see the actual attachment being the hardware. That's why I don't much care for 5200. Lifecaulk makes the gasket