Proper Sealant for chainplate rebedding

[Craig Illman]

Ok, here's another "religious" question.....  What's the preferred rebedding compound out there for our chainplates?  Boatlife LifeSeal, Boatlife Lifecaulk, 3M 101, 3M 4000, or?? and why...........

Another "Question of the month" opportunity???

Just did the vent stanchions with LifeSeal on Tuesday, my, that was fun!

Craig

[BillG]

I recently used 101, which works very well, but only comes in the large tubes and most of it goes to waste.

[Ron Hill]

Craig : I used silicone sealant on the chainplates and I've had good luck with polysulfide on the 2 vented stanchions. 
The real key (after you get all surfaces clean) is to make sure with the stanchions that you only tighten it back down 50 - 75 %.  Then after the caulk drys/cures for at least a couple of hours, then tighten it down.  If you immediately tighten caulked items down you squirt out all of the caulk!!
Almost the same with the chainplates.  Don't go sailing until the caulk is fully cured!!  I caulk chainplates with the rig tensioned! 

[David Baer]

Good information in the current issue of Practical Sailor on this topic
Price does not necessarily mean good sealing

[Ken Juul]

This was one of the topics discussed at the Catalina Rdvs.  Polysulfide or a Poly/silicon mix seems to be the choice for most applications.  The one new thing I learned was that only silicon works on plexiglass.  As Ron mentiond, getting everything clean to start with is key to having a leak proof joint.

[Craig Illman]

Thanks for all the replies. We used Lifeseal, which is mostly silicone. Cleaning was definitely a chore, since under the trim plate was non-skid instead of smooth gelcoat. I really appreciated the mainsheet article with the references to the nut sizes. I brought both a ratchet and a box-openend for the 15/16" nuts on the bottom of the rods. Why they made the rods about two inches too long is a bit of a mystery. I suspect they were out of the standard size and used inventory typically for larger models. The slot was tapered, with the smaller opening at the deck. I used a hooked knife, usually for cutting floor vinyl, to remove the majority of the old silicone from below and finished clearing it out with a variety of other tools. We filled from the bottom about 50%, then stuck the chainplate up through the hole, connected everything back up and finished the top. When our Seattle rains return in September, we'll see how effective our project was.

All the information from the mainsheet articles, FAQ's and the forum makes tackling these tasks less intimidating. I've had Espresso for 18 months, I figure this owners association has given me about five extra years of experience.

Craig