leaking windows

Here you have another pic of the opposite window which is not leaking at the moment but you can clearly see how the color starts breaking open and how the gap of the sealing between the glass and the frame is open as well. I will update you when everything is repaired (new frames, plastic this time, and new sealing) 

Edited by tobo - 11 February 2009 at 21:27

Hi Tim,

If I understand correctly, the acrylic "glass" to the epoxy hull joint is leaking. The rain water runs along the glass to the decorative frame (inside the boat) and is destroying it.
Your opinion is that Hanse prepares :
                    the surface of the acrylic window with Sika Primer 209
                    the surface of the epoxy (or fiberglass) hull with Sika Primer 206
                    and glues them together with Sikaflex 295 UV
Did Hanse give you this info?

You suspect that either Hanse didn't do a good job or the above materials fail and the joint is letting rain water in.This means that changing the material of the frame doesn't actually solve the problem, it just hides it.
I will check the windows in "MMBW Nicole" this weekend.

Thanks


Edited by panos - 11 February 2009 at 23:26

Hi Panos,

 - yes - Hanse supplied me with the details regarding which Sika proudtcs to use.

 - I have no idea if Hanse used these products on my boat.

 - the failure point is the outer layer of primer - UV has broken it down.

 - Sika 206 Primer is  "Not recommended as a primary UV barrier for marine or other non- automotive applications " according to their website.

So I'm a little sceptical  as to whether it's going to work as a primary UV barrier in the marine environment. At this point I'm leaving it all in the hands of my shipwright - he feels confident that it will all be OK.

on my last visit of the boat i realized a great amount of water on the board above the electric panel. all the seacharts were soaked with water because of the leaking window. I called my dealer and he came the same day to seal it with some tape. He also ordered two new windows at hanse because the existing ones are most likely to be damaged during repair (as he said). This will be done mid march when the boat comes out of the water for antifouling and some other jobs.

Hi Panos,

you are of course correct - I've re-read the information sent to me. Guess I'm a bit dyslexic - the 209 primer is the outer one and the 206 primer is the inner one. However, it was still the outer layer of primer (supposedly the 209 primer) that failed (the one applied to the acrylic window).

Is it Sika's fault? I doubt it. Their website shows two versions of 209 (209D and 209N) - the 209D is not suitable as primary UV resistance. Did Hanse use the incorrect version of 209? Did they use 206 as the outer primer - who knows? At any rate, thanks for pointing out my mixup between the 206/209 (guess it's a good thing *I* don't work for Hanse!) - I've got a bit more confidence now that if the correct Sika is used in the correct places then it should all work out OK.