Leaking windows

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keith
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Mar 24, 2009 10:27 pm

Leaking windows

Post by keith »

An old problem but for me it's new as I have not experienced leaking windows before on my '86 Prout Quest 33CS until now when my port side saloon window is leaking.
I was thinking of fitting a rubber seal bedded in with sealant and possibly backing the screws also.
Rather than taking the window off and then having to wait for the seals to be delivered, does anyone have pictures/drawings of what to expect when the window is removed so that I can specify the shape of the seals and have them delivered before I take the window out!

many thanks
Keith
ChrisH

Post by ChrisH »

Hi Keith,
Had quite a problem with leaky windows on our boat, a Quest 31, now cured, or was last time we looked.

Are you sure you have a rubber seal? I can only go on our own experience but I believed the windows in Prouts were bedded on flexible mastic. It also has to be AT LEAST 6mm thick to accommodate the expansion of the perspex.

Look in the "Help Wanted" forum, I posted a topic on leaky windows and all the information I can give you on them are on the various posts on that topic, so read them all!

As to the construction, the windows are just flat sheets of perspex "mastic'ed" to flat GRP. On the back (inside) is (on our boat) a wooden backing strip which extends over both the GRP and the perspex, so is "L" shaped in x-section, and which also acts as a considerable stiffener to movement as the GRP is only about 5mm thick on the sides. Our windows are bolted through both the window and the backing strip every about 4 inches. Actually, once the mastic has gone off in theory you could probably remove the bolts and the window would remain fixed but I would not want to go down that route - I prefer to have belt and braces on holes in the side of the boat!

Good luck with them but beware, the thick perspex expands considerably when the sun gets on it and an expansion allowance MUST be engineered into the window fixing or leaks will very soon occur again.

ChrisH
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