Silicone alone is a compressive sealant – in other words, the gasket is made, cured and then compressed. If done correctly, will last for years. If done incorrectly as most boaters and some 'professionals' do not only allows leaks but guarantees them.
Silicone sealants will pull away from the substrate and will wick water in with capillary action to the extent it will leak worse than it would have without the sealant.
Sika is a company that produces a number of sealants/bedding/adhesive compounds for many purposes. Sikaflex is a terrific compound for any purpose except polycarbonates.
For my two cents, then, use either a combination silicone/polyurethane like Boat Life, or pure polyurethane like Sikaflex. Silicone in this application is guaranteed to fail and will result in delamination or core rot because around the chain plates you can't compress the stuff after it cures.
Bob
On Wed, Apr 2, 2008 at 9:25 AM, Joseph Steiner < ([email][/email])> wrote:
Ok, I answered my own question. Sikaflex is a
polyurethane. You won't go too far wrong with that,
though I think it's overkill, and I'm not crazy about
PU in that they sometimes don't cure well and they
don't weather all that well either. I've used silicone
around the deck without any problems and I'm in the
tropics for the past two years.
— John Sommer < ([email][/email])> wrote:Hello,
I will be picking up my new chain plates from the
local machinist this week. In thinking about
putting them back into the boat, what should I use
to keep the water out. The PO used silicone and it
worked quite well. However, my surveyor was not
very fond of silicon and recommened Sikaflex. I
don't want a permenant bond (thats what the bolts
do), I just want something that will keep the water
out.Suggestions?
John Sommer
Indulgence #179
Portland, ME
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Bob Fine
Fine Software LLC
Your data on the web your way. No kidding
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