Beckson port leak - 28TE

[Norseman]

Less water in galley now.
Read this thread again and the 2 above links.
What is the 10 wood screws on each port biting into?
Fiberglass or the wood/plywood coring?
Tested all 60 screws on my tub today: 2 on each side is not biting, can be turned by hand. Pulled one out, no signs of wood fibers from coring, if anything, a bit of white caulk.
The lose ones were on the bottom forward side:

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Have not taken anything apart yet: Caulked on the top and on the sides of each Port porthole as a temporary measure, could there also be water intrusion at the inner seam of the external face plate, where it meets the main body of the porthole?
If so, I have more caulking to do..

[Norseman]

New caulk on top/sides of exterior trim ring:

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Old failed caulk:

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Can’t figure out from the exploded view if the inner rim needs caulking too, or just the other edge: This picture is not very helpful:

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[Pitou]

I'm sure that you've cleaned the surfaces well, but as a note to this thread:

When using silicone caulk you need to be sure that all wax and silicone has been removed from the fiberglass surface or water will find its way between the caulk and the glass. A quick compound or de-waxer and then an acetone wash will leave things clean.

I'm in the middle of a portlight repair on my 31 TE. One of the spot welds on one of the dogs(cams) on my stainless steels ports let go so I had to remove the unit to either weld or rivet it back on. I'm going with a sealing rivet, which I ordered from McMaster Carr todayto be. When I reinstall the port I'll be using bedding tape and not silicone caulk. I find the butyl tape to work better on hardware above the waterline. I bought a couple of rolls a few years back and now use it for everything and with much better success than caulk.

https://pbase.com/mainecruising/butyl_tape

[Norseman]

. When using silicone caulk you need to be sure that all wax and silicone has been removed from the fiberglass surface or water will find its way between the caulk and the glass. A quick compound or de-waxer and then an acetone wash will leave things clean.

Nah, I did not remove the outer rings to do a proper bedding: Just pushed caulk in the seam around rings, top and both sides to temporarily stop the leaks and buy time, wiped it down with alcohol firsts, maybe I use acetone on the other side: More marine silicone on the way from Amazon tomorrow.

[Nancy]

The wood screws bite into the coring. Mine felt good on the top and sides when removing, but a lotta nothing on the bottom, which was borne out by disintegrated coring. I poured epoxy into the void, and when reinstalling, those bottom screws felt good. My husband agreed as he checked the snugness.

Yes, the inner rim needs caulk, too, but you can't really see the entire opening with the trim ring in place. As Rob mentioned up-thread, there should be 1/8" clearance between the port (Beckson calls this portion the spout) and the fiberglass. Beckson's instructions are here - https://beckson.com/installport.html - and they are great to talk to on the phone especially since the instructions are a little obtuse, at least to me. Turns out that is because the Albin installation is a little different than the instructions in that our screws do not go through to the outside of the boat. Proper sealing is the key to the whole thing.

Kevin, I briefly considered butyl having read the pbase site a number of times. But Beckson kept repeating silicone, silicone. So that's what I did.

Dag, I specifically asked about marine silicone or standard. They said Dow 795 is a great product, and that GE is fine. $5.99 per tube at Ace Hardware.

[Norseman]

. Dag, I specifically asked about marine silicone or standard. They said Dow 795 is a great product, and that GE is fine. $5.99 per tube at Ace Hardware.

Ok, good to know, but some folks says marine silicone has less acid and more UV protection. Perhaps marketing hype..

[Nancy]

Ok, good to know, but some folks says marine silicone has less acid and more UV protection. Perhaps marketing hype..

Yes, I suffered the same conflict.

[Norseman]

Now getting ready for a seam-caulk on the Port side, inner perimeter of the outer ring. (Did the outer perimeter yesterday)

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On the Starboard side we are getting ready to push caulk in the outer seam:
(Waiting for the Amazon Man to drop two tunes of Starbrite marine caulk on my doorstep, used West Marine UV Marine caulk before, but not too impressed, it stays just a tiny bit sticky, which attract dirt and the nice white caulk-line turns gray after a while. )

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[RobS]

Why not pop the trim rings and do it right....This is the joint you need to focus on.

[Norseman]

Why not pop the trim rings and do it right....This is the joint you need to focus on.

Yeah, good idea but this is temporary measures: We got rain and thunderstorms every day, as I mentioned once or twice above: Buying time,, need to stop the leaks temporarily.

To just pop the trim ring and re-bed it correctly would be a waste of time as the whole porthole assembly needs to be pulled and bedded with core repairs done over 5-6 days with drying and epoxy Injections X 6 portholes: That there would take 2 weeks with dry weather If lucky.

[Norseman]

Still working on the porthole project:
Purchased a moisture meter and checked the surrounding area around all 6 portholes from the inside: Below the portholes, we have 100% moisture on all 6.
Got the work cut out for me: Need to dismantle and pull all of them out:
Scrape out the rotten core, clean out old caulk, dry surrounding area out with acetone and a heat-gun over several (sunny) days then replace with fresh wood, wood pieces, Epoxy, whatever.
Hopefully the temporary caulking is working in the meantime: Pulled a few screws and have a fan going to start the drying process.

Question to those who have done the above: What are the odds that the
core is dry, and only the upholstery is wet and compromised?
(Wishful thinking )

[Nancy]

>>Question to those who have done the above: What are the odds that the
core is dry, and only the upholstery is wet and compromised?<<

We found dry upholstery and disintegrated core, but not wet. Depth of void was 3/8" - 1/2" tops. I filled with epoxy only. Certainly could have added wood pieces, but didn't see the need for such a small void.

We found it to be a tricky job due to the uncomfortable access. If I had to do all six, I'd probably tackle them one or two at a time. Cleaning off the old silicone takes forever.

[Norseman]

. We found it to be a tricky job due to the uncomfortable access. If I had to do all six, I'd probably tackle them one or two at a time. Cleaning off the old silicone takes forever.

Thanks Nancy.
Got my work cut out for me

[Pitou]

Yes, lots of work ahead and it's not fun like the almost instant gratification of a new deck material being laid, but in the end .. very satisfying.

In doing portlight work on my 31 to replace a latch I was lucky with a dry core and no leak, but I painted the wood core using epoxy to protect the core .. 2 coats. Fortunately, I never had any issues with my 28.

On the 31, I've worked on water leaking in and around the blower air vents on the pilot house same idea as a portlight issue and they both had "soft wet core" on the bottom and partially up the vertical cut. Using a dremel tool, I ground out the wet core down about an 1/8" into solid core, wet out the core with straight epoxy and then filled the ground out voids with peanut butter consistency thickened epoxy. I like using 406 Colloidal Silica to thicken.

As stated earlier it's a real PITA removing all of the silicone on all mating surfaces, but it must be done to ensure a leak proof installation whether you choose to use a caulking product or butyl-tape .. I much prefer and use butyl-taple for all above the waterline bedding projects.

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[Norseman]

. Yes, lots of work ahead and it's not fun like the almost instant gratification of a new deck material being laid, but in the end .. very satisfying.

I do prefer instant gratification, but those are usually more expensive.

use a caulking product or butyl-tape

Never tried that, no idea how it works, cliff notes...?

Thx, all good info around here.