Re-bedding ports question.

[MacGyver]

Acetone for sure.
What I do is after usually the first one you learn how much is too much, LOL, Life Caulk goes a long way.

When cleaning up, I usually use paper towels, wet with acetone, wipe a small one inch section depending on amount that is squeezed out.
Repeat.

This keeps the roll of paper towels unrolling and using them up, but that is cheap and you wont get it all over then.

You can also accelerate the cure time by wetting it down.

A few occasions I have waited till dry, then cut with razor blade in hand carefully, the remove the excess that way.

A little practice and it will turn out nicely.

Got my boat pulled the other day, and today emptied it out.
Tomorrow I will be sanding the bottom, so look for that vid shortly.

Mac

[marc]

Thanks for your help Mac. Did another port today & am much happier with the results.
Marc

[slowshoes]

  I increased the size of my dorades on my other boat this summer. ( from 3 inch to 4 inch), which required routing out the original deck plate holes for the dorades to mount to. I sealed the new deck plates with Life Seal caulk from Boatlife. It's a silicone/polyurethane combination and I was very pleased with how easy it was to work with and clean up. The excess that oozed out from the deck plates as they were screwed down easily wiped up with paper towels. (alot of them!).

  I'm also installing a new stainless port on the same boat (I'm in the middle of that job right now). I emailed Boatlife in regards to their recommendation for the best sealant to use for this job and they responded with a rec for Lifeseal. They said to make sure and thoroughly wipe the mounting side of the stainless port and the fiberglass with their solvent/cleaner before installation. My first experience with it was good so I may give it a shot for the port too. If I don't, I may try butyl.

I've had good experience with Lifecaulk too, but it's real messy and it yellows over time. A real plus of Lifecaulk is if the fitting has to be removed, you don't need a chainsaw to remove it.

[marc]

Bill,
Life calk advertises 200% elongation and 80 psi tensile strength. I wish the elongation was a bit more but should be OK for the ports. I didn't use their cleaning solvent but figured acetone ought to be a reasonable alternative.

Packaging says "Able To Apply Underwater" with no further elaboration. Does that mean you can apply it to surfaces that will eventually be underwater, or that you can apply it to a wet surface already in the water? If it means the latter,  then it can work when the surface is not prepped with solvent. Really don't know what they're saying though.
Marc

[MacGyver]

As far as I understood their claim is just that, able to apply under the water.
Never tested it though... dont know why one would really.....

But I can say this much, you could bed a thru hull in it and relaunch the boat right after you did it.

Mac