Been doing a lot of googling and find recommended products that are available overseas but not here - life seal and life caulk.
I removed my companion way hatch cover. The bit that my hatch slides under. It's held to the deck with screws (about 12) and was also sikka flexed down which made it a nightmare to remove.

I want to replace it and seal between and around the screws but will want to remove it again in the future. So I don't want to use Sikka. I often use butyl tape but the flang is so narrow (5mm) it will get a bit ugly.
any recommendations on a sealant that is removable?

Have used these two and they are good in my opinion. Marine flex in white or black, Armourflex in white, black, grey, clear. Available at the green shed.

www.selleys.com.au/products/adhesives/specialist-adhesives/selleys-marineflex/

www.selleys.com.au/products/sealants/selleys-armour-flex/

You can also get Butyl in a cartridge that may be better suited for what you want of the product, just cut the nozzle to the required diameter for the job at hand.

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LooseChange said..
You can also get Butyl in a cartridge that may be better suited for what you want of the product, just cut the nozzle to the required diameter for the job at hand.

I used the Selleys butyl for everything. Just lay a bead and screw the fitting down. Leave the stuff that squeezes out for a few days then scrape it up with a paddlepop stick. Clean it up with turps or just paint straight over it.

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Ramona said..

LooseChange said..
You can also get Butyl in a cartridge that may be better suited for what you want of the product, just cut the nozzle to the required diameter for the job at hand.

I used the Selleys butyl for everything. Just lay a bead and screw the fitting down. Leave the stuff that squeezes out for a few days then scrape it up with a paddlepop stick. Clean it up with turps or just paint straight over it.

This is what I had in mind but I cannot for the life of me find it on the bunnings website. I though it was called butyl mastic but find two items called D Mastic (black) and N mastic. Both as said to be adhesives.

Is this it?
www.selleys.com.au/products/sealants/selleys-butyl-mastic/

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jbarnes85 said..

Ramona said..

LooseChange said..
You can also get Butyl in a cartridge that may be better suited for what you want of the product, just cut the nozzle to the required diameter for the job at hand.

I used the Selleys butyl for everything. Just lay a bead and screw the fitting down. Leave the stuff that squeezes out for a few days then scrape it up with a paddlepop stick. Clean it up with turps or just paint straight over it.

This is what I had in mind but I cannot for the life of me find it on the bunnings website. I though it was called butyl mastic but find two items called D Mastic (black) and N mastic. Both as said to be adhesives.

I use the D mastic. It's not really an adhesive.

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jbarnes85 said..
Been doing a lot of googling and find recommended products that are available overseas but not here - life seal and life caulk.
I removed my companion way hatch cover. The bit that my hatch slides under. It's held to the deck with screws (about 12) and was also sikka flexed down which made it a nightmare to remove.

I want to replace it and seal between and around the screws but will want to remove it again in the future. So I don't want to use Sikka. I often use butyl tape but the flang is so narrow (5mm) it will get a bit ugly.
any recommendations on a sealant that is removable?

Why seal it? At the risk of looking foolish, I've got to ask the question. I've done the exact same thing on my Cavalier 28 and found that the cover was fixed with screws and white goo. I understand sealing the screw-holes with butyl to stop the rain getting into the balsa core of the coach roof. But why attempt to seal the whole flange, especially as the cover has two slots cut into it to act as drain holes for any water that does get under the cover? If I just seal the screw-holes and screw it back, it would be less trouble to get off next time.

(PS. The reason I took the cover off was to support a strong-back on the slides over the engine as we winched it out. If I had supported the strong-back on the cover, it would have squashed and damaged it. I will need to think of a more intelligent arrangement because, as suture as eggs is eggs, I'll need to lift the engine again in future. PPS. I have seen that episode of Free Range Sailing where Troy talks about this).

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Achernar said..

jbarnes85 said..
Been doing a lot of googling and find recommended products that are available overseas but not here - life seal and life caulk.
I removed my companion way hatch cover. The bit that my hatch slides under. It's held to the deck with screws (about 12) and was also sikka flexed down which made it a nightmare to remove.

I want to replace it and seal between and around the screws but will want to remove it again in the future. So I don't want to use Sikka. I often use butyl tape but the flang is so narrow (5mm) it will get a bit ugly.
any recommendations on a sealant that is removable?

Why seal it? At the risk of looking foolish, I've got to ask the question. I've done the exact same thing on my Cavalier 28 and found that the cover was fixed with screws and white goo. I understand sealing the screw-holes with butyl to stop the rain getting into the balsa core of the coach roof. But why attempt to seal the whole flange, especially as the cover has two slots cut into it to act as drain holes for any water that does get under the cover? If I just seal the screw-holes and screw it back, it would be less trouble to get off next time.

(PS. The reason I took the cover off was to support a strong-back on the slides over the engine as we winched it out. If I had supported the strong-back on the cover, it would have squashed and damaged it. I will need to think of a more intelligent arrangement because, as suture as eggs is eggs, I'll need to lift the engine again in future. PPS. I have seen that episode of Free Range Sailing where Troy talks about this).

Errrrr you make a very good point. I'll just seal the screws. I actually over drilled most of the screws and filled with epoxy and will do the test to prevent any water getting to the core. I'll still seal them though.

Countersink the holes, put mastic around the edge of the holes so it's forced into the recess as you tighten it down. If you use bolts don't put sealant underneath.

I've been using butyl tape for years now, with 100% success. I put some under the CS screw-head as per Ramona's post, and put an "O-ring" of the stuff under the flange around each screw hole. This uses very little butyl. It also avoids the ugly bits that squeeze out from under the edge as you tighten if you spread butyl across the entire flange surface.
Try to prevent the screws from turning as you tighten the nuts.

Cheers, Graeme