Installing port lights and portholes with Luis Martins

Luis wrote me "Last time we talked you showed some interest in how I installed the new port lights and portholes in my boat without any screws or bolts. What do you say if we record a podcast on that subject?"

Great idea and here it is!

This is how it turned out and here are the products he used in the process:

 

https://amzn.to/2OHfbMU

https://amzn.to/2QGUG4d

Sika® Aktivator-205

https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=3508

Sika® Primer-209N

https://amzn.to/2ODT2Px

Sikaflex 295 UV Black 10.3 oz. Cartridge Adhesive / Sealant Sika

The 4 products above were mentioned in the podcast with Luis Martins on installing Portlights and Portholes

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Luis wrote...

"Considering the quality of today's adhesives compared to 20 years ago. I would not thru-bolt acrylic port lights as the holes will weaken the port light and create stress points that may lead to stress cracks. You need to drill oversized holes to accommodate for expansion of the acrylic with temperature changes and then deal with sealing those oversized holes.

In my opinion, bolting the port lights brings more problems that need to be addressed. If bolting, you should put spacers between the cabin sides and the acrylic so when you mount the port lights you don’t squash all the sealant and end with a very thin film of sealant that will fail as soon as the acrylic expands or contracts.

On my windows I put a small chamfer around the outer edge to reduce the bulk effect and it worked quite well. I also applied Sika primer 209 in the area where the tape and Sikaflex is. This primer serves three purposes: 1. You don’t see the tape and sealant, it’s all masked by the black primer; 2. The primer protects the tape and sealant from UV; 3. The primer promotes the bonding to the acrylic. Using the VHB tape made for a very simple process, you lay the tape on the cabin sides, stick the acrylic to it and then deal with masking and Sikaflex without the acrylic moving around or having dozens of bolts sticking out and having to align them. The VHB tape is very strong although it doesn’t look like at first. It’s pressure sensitive!"

Here is a link to the instagram account https://www.instagram.com/p/BexuW9TFwXr/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BeNppHlFYc6/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet