Fixed port window.

[Clay Greene]

FYI, CY's written instructions for replacing the windows is in the Tech Wiki.

http://c34.org/wiki/index.php?title=Instructions_for_replacing_large_fixed_side_windows

[KWKloeber]

FYI, CY's written instructions for replacing the windows is in the Tech Wiki.

http://c34.org/wiki/index.php?title=Instructions_for_replacing_large_fixed_side_windows

I attached a low resolution of a newer one.  I have the better quality PDF. but can't get it uploaded to TW.  There used to be an icon to insert media (seems to have disappeared in the last software upgrade?)  I anyone knows how to upload a PDF and link to it in TW I will do that.  I've already spent 2 hrs trying to do that, but all I can get to is, creating a new blank page that I link to, and no apparent way to upload the PDF file itself to wikimedia that I can link to.  The instructions are out of date and don't reflect the current s/w version.  Old dog, no more tricks left. 

Back to the windows --

JTSO / I'm not sure you need to build a rig v. holding windows in place with duct tape per CTY instructions.  SQUISHING the pane in place isn't too good -- you want just enough to hold it against the foam blocks.  The 795 is a tenuous adhesive and using it in commercial glazing applications (I'm talking high-rise here,) you leave a good-size gap (width wise) and block behind it with glazing backer rod.  3/16" to 1/4" of closed cell foam or epdm tape is about the right amount for a good 795 seal and adhesion for these windows.  The key is good adhesion (clean, sanded edges) and not pressure per-se during curing. The adhesion to the pane and the coachroof is what holds the pane in place. 795 has at least a 50% elongation/failure.  Shouldn't squish the tape tight because it's actually (minimally) acting against the 795 adhesion (compressed tape pushing out, 795 trying to hold in.)  Squishing the tape doesn't make it hold better, it just temporarily compresses the rubber until the rig is removed, and it's there just as a spacer, not to adhere anything permanently.  Also you want to be cautious with the 795 -- just enough to fill the gap, but not too much so that it squishes all over the place.  Less is typically more.  The one change I'd make to the CTY instructions, is to set the blacks back enough to place a think fillet over the edge of them.

JTSO, your mileage might vary.
kk

[patrice]

Thanks for the primer information. Is this just normal auto primer?

There is no aluminum frame. Just fiberglass. It had screws that kept the window held tight while the silicon cured. I am not doing this. I am not using screws.  I am building a jig, like Catinlina recommends, that will apply pressure on the outside.

Hi,
Then double check (read ) product instruction.
Reason I'm saying this, my neighbour rebedded one leaking window last spring, and a few weeks later it was again leaking.
When he went back to is supplier, that's when he found out about the missing primer he did not put.  The primer apparently is to make proper adherance of the caulking to the plexi.
Might all depend on type of adhesive and type of plexi (acrylic - lexan - etc. )

[Brad Young]

3m foam rubber: does anyone think I can use butyl tape instead?

[Ed Shankle]

I replaced that same port a couple of years back. Didn't use spacers. Figured if I used enough 795 I'd still have a seal. No mention of primer in my instructions, so didn't have that either. I did, however, use the screws, even though the guys at Select Plastics double checked to be sure I wanted to do that. Figured since I already had them originally, I'd stay with them. No leaks, it's held up great. So I guess there is no absolute to installing a new port or at least that particular port.

Ed

[KWKloeber]

3m foam rubber: does anyone think I can use butyl tape instead?

Again, why not just use what's recommended?

k

[mregan]

I don't think butyl tape would work.  Butyl needs to be compressed with some force to get a good adhesion even when warm and pliable.  Use the Dow sealant.