leaky windows on " Tango"

[wombat nee blownup]

Hope you get lots of tips young biggles 6666 cos i've had the same problem for yonks. Struggled with various silicones etc but i think its case of glass out and re bed but thats a job for Ron

[wombat nee blownup]

forgot to mention Big Les 36 but a couple of mine actually leak around the frame and not the glass seal itself making the task a tad more daunting

[puddlejumper]

dont take windows out hell of ajob try captain tollys creeping crack cure any good chandlers will stock follow ins on bottle good stuff

craig

[wombat nee blownup]

got a use for that at home as well

[C.Ricko]

sounds like you should have just bought my last 'Tango' for £13k fully serviced with BSS and dry windows

(and its already on the best river network )

hope you get the windows sorted easily.

[Guest]

here are photos

[mjt]

That does look rather a mess. Whoever did it didn't even bother to smooth the sealant off. It constantly amazes me the way some people bodge things.

I think you'll have to bite the bullet and take them out. If you have trouble releasing the frames from the grp try heating carefully with a hot air gun and slip a thin flexible blade such as a putty knife under the frame to break the seal but be careful not to overdo the heat. The chap who did mine used that technique successfully. He then split and cleaned the frames and reassembled with the glass bedded into black silicone sealant. The frames were then refitted to the grp by bedding them onto oil-based mastic sealant. Some people advise using closed-cell foam tape for this but I've had no problems so far. They appeared to have been fitted originally using a mastic tape with similar properties to the tube-based stuff and that had probably lasted 30-odd years.

the windows on the nearside

that's Port to us boaters

[Antares_9]

that's Port to us boaters

No no, that's the "other right" side.

[Stranger]

Hi Biggles i think it looks like a window frame removal project i would remove them clean the frames get some rubber to reseal them and apply a good sealant like sikoflex sparingly then replace the screws with the next size up in dia to get a good bite and dont overtighten best done by hand not with a power tool as stripped holes dont help also easyer to remove the oversealant with a quality sharp scraper

[Hockham Admiral]

Biggles, Hi

You might try Captain Tolley's Creeping Crack Cure as a last resort before taking the windows out...

http://www.captaintolley.com/

It works!

[TeamElla]

Owners of shiny new boats will probably never encounter this, but when you own a 36 year old jobby like ours (that had original window and seals) the final conclusion that you will inevitably come to is that there is no alternative to removing and overhauling all the windows.

We tried creeping crack cure etc. You name it, we tried it.

It was all to no avail (and as a bonus, every time that we washed the exterior, we had black streaks down the superstructure from the disintegrating rubber window seals).

The single most satisfying investment that we ever made in the boat is to have all the windows removed, overhauled and refitted professionally. This included new "U" shaped rubber seals in the frames and mechanical repairs to frames that were coming apart.

It has literally transformed the interior into a totally damp proof environment, with revisits after weeks of bad weather finding it exactly as it was left.

We used BK windows in Brundall, on recommendation of an ex local hire fleet operator

Steve

[Guest]

My front windows are the same. I have tried everything, creeping crack cure, sealant, more crack cure. It doesn't work I'm afraid, it stops the leak for a month or so and then it starts again.

Professional removal and refitting seems the best option, but I'm still paying off my credit card from last years engine rebuild. I guess I will have to put up with leaking windows for a while longer.

[Mowjo]

The jobs an easy one depending on if it's screws holding it in or bolts, so first try taking one out to see if it's a screw or bolt, then go to a good Caravan spares shop, (there's a good one in Yarmouth called Yarmouth Caravans) ask for a roll of window sealant mastic, I think it comes in 20 mtr rolls and cost around £15 to £20 and If I remember it's 3/4 inch wide, on a warm day take the window out, remove all the old mastic from the frame and GRP, then take your roll of mastic tape, remove part of the protective paper and lay it all around the window flush to the outer edge taking it just past the joints in the frame, making sure there are no gaps at the joints, and make sure you don't overlap the mastic tape or it won't seal properly, put the window back in the hole and screw it up just tight enough for the mastic to creep out of the sides, (you may have to use a slightly larger screw if the holes are too big) trim off the excess Mastic flush with the edge of the frame, leave it a couple of weeks to settle, then give the screws another 1/4 turn to pinch the window up tight,,and Bobs your Auntie no more leaks, if you have bolts your problem starts because you have to remove the interior to get to the nuts, other than that it's exactly the same process, looking at your pictures it dosn't look like the rubber is perished, it looks like a bodge job to try and cure the leak, if you look at the bottom of the frame you will see you have weep holes drilled in the frame to let any water getting past the rubber to run out of them, make sure they are cleaned out, if you want to remove that old silicone go to somewhere like Screwfix and get some silicone remover to get it off, as an extra you can apply Captain jacks to the gap between the glass and rubber on the inside of the cabin, but as most windows leak at the joints or around the frame you probably won't need to do that, it reads a lot harder to do than it actualy is, but I've now done my last three boats using this method and never had a leak in any of them, my last Seamaster 813 only took me a day to do and that was all of the windows including the sloping ones at the front,,, the good thing doing it this way is the mastic tape don't set like silicone so if it starts to leak a bit you just give all the screws a half turn to cure it again,,

Regards Mowjo,,

[Mowjo]

Ok! just did a search online and this is the stuff you need,,,,this one is 1inch wide so will give a better seal,,,,

http://www.caravan-components.co.uk/epa ... SBS303054R

Regards Mowjo,,,,

[jillR]

a brilliant caravan spares place for new and second hand gear..........

robin at

Whiteley Caravan Services

3-4 Zobel Cl

Norwich

Norfolk NR3 2BY

Telephone:

01603 488884

Fax:

01603 488084

[MBA Marine]

I would say yes carfully remove them clean them up and re-fit, but go for tape. If you use Sika then unless you have highly pollished grp it will stick, and i mean really stick. Yes your window will be fixed in and hopfully leak free but if you missed a spot or later down the line you need to remove the window again the the sika is likley to take the gel coat with it! i have seen it and its alot of gel repair.

[Guest]

Hi Gang,

Thank you for all your advices so far

[Guest]

The jobs an easy one depending on if it's screws holding it in or bolts, so first try taking one out to see if it's a screw or bolt, then go to a good Caravan spares shop, (there's a good one in Yarmouth called Yarmouth Caravans) ask for a roll of window sealant mastic, I think it comes in 20 mtr rolls and cost around £15 to £20 and If I remember it's 3/4 inch wide, on a warm day take the window out, remove all the old mastic from the frame and GRP, then take your roll of mastic tape, remove part of the protective paper and lay it all around the window flush to the outer edge taking it just past the joints in the frame, making sure there are no gaps at the joints, and make sure you don't overlap the mastic tape or it won't seal properly, put the window back in the hole and screw it up just tight enough for the mastic to creep out of the sides, (you may have to use a slightly larger screw if the holes are too big) trim off the excess Mastic flush with the edge of the frame, leave it a couple of weeks to settle, then give the screws another 1/4 turn to pinch the window up tight,,and Bobs your Auntie no more leaks, if you have bolts your problem starts because you have to remove the interior to get to the nuts, other than that it's exactly the same process, looking at your pictures it dosn't look like the rubber is perished, it looks like a bodge job to try and cure the leak, if you look at the bottom of the frame you will see you have weep holes drilled in the frame to let any water getting past the rubber to run out of them, make sure they are cleaned out, if you want to remove that old silicone go to somewhere like Screwfix and get some silicone remover to get it off, as an extra you can apply Captain jacks to the gap between the glass and rubber on the inside of the cabin, but as most windows leak at the joints or around the frame you probably won't need to do that, it reads a lot harder to do than it actualy is, but I've now done my last three boats using this method and never had a leak in any of them, my last Seamaster 813 only took me a day to do and that was all of the windows including the sloping ones at the front,,, the good thing doing it this way is the mastic tape don't set like silicone so if it starts to leak a bit you just give all the screws a half turn to cure it again,,

Regards Mowjo,,

Brilliant. Thank you for that. I shall try removing Cattleya's two front windows and rebed on mastic tape. They are fixed with screws. It's worth a go for £15 or so.

[Guest]

I took one of my windows out on Saturday, cleaned up all the mess and used mastic tape from my local caravan shop. It took about 2 hours to do one window, most of that time was cleaning the mess up. I found what what causing the leak, when the window apertures were cut with a jigsaw they cut a centimeter past the edge on the bottom left corner. So in effect I had a gap here and this was exactly where the water was coming in.

[MBA Marine]

I took one of my windows out on Saturday, cleaned up all the mess and used mastic tape from my local caravan shop. It took about 2 hours to do one window, most of that time was cleaning the mess up. I found what what causing the leak, when the window apertures were cut with a jigsaw they cut a centimeter past the edge on the bottom left corner. So in effect I had a gap here and this was exactly where the water was coming in.

Good news, leak found and job done. Well done.