an adventure with... BED-IT Butyl Tape
Have a project I thought was ready to assemble: A new clear polycarbonate slide
hatch with a surround of varnished mahogany on top, like a tray. Redesigned
companionway to include a s.s. channel around the entrance a la s/v Atom
...to provide security with s.s intruder bars, and various drop boards.
Assembled hatch with Bed-It butyl tape, and took it to the boat. Fit too damn
tight, altho the dry fit before without bedding was good. Hatch has to slide with
room to spare under the compass mount, framed dead center over the c.way
which is part of a 'new' permanently installed dodger and sea hood. Remedy:
Take hatch apart, shrink height of all the wood..... 'Not a problem with butyl...'
Bit the bullet: Had just gotten two boxes of CompassMarine BED-IT Butyl Tape
from HamiltonMarine (who don't tell you it's MaineSail's) for $25 each, $UPS incl.
$0.50 a foot.
Package arrives, find precious 14oz rolls of 1/16"x1/2"x50' grey tape captured in
very clever individual 8"x8"x1" corrugated cartons that center the mini roll inside,
so tape doesn't arrive smushed and distorted like usual clueless packing. If you've
gotten 1/8"x1"x50' RV tape in a roll before, you know by heft alone - 3-4 lbs -
you got your $6.95 worth. = 4 times more for 15 cents a foot vs $0.50 per ft!
You can access MaineSail's great encyclopedic photo essay on bedding metal
fittings - web address found printed on the Bed-It box:
"INSTRUCTIONS: www.marinehowto.com/bed-it-tape Above Waterline Use Only"
Experience: My trim pieces are wide enough to require two 1/2" side by side strips.
Because 3/8" polycarbonate sheet is clear, the coverage of the butyl is on display
at the interface. The 1/16" tape. as MaineSail says in his article, is quite "thick"
- thick in this case means very firm and not easy to reduce in bulk for customary
squeeze-out. Used spring clamps in attempt to squeeze it 1/32" -- didn't succeed
uniformly. But visible through the plastic, the pressure resulted in an excellent
consistent seal with no bubbles or skips. Two strips seamlessly marrying into one.
Disassembling the hatch: Wholey !@#$%$! Where fasteners go thru the
interface, when backing them out, threads lock on the butyl, screws stop turning
and bolts become welded in their holes. Taking on the trim pieces means
hammering in a stiff puttyknife and attempting to lift them with a gentleman's prybar.
Coated $Lexan can't be buffed to erase the damage I'm doing... jamming in
bamboo skewers and chopsticks to get the process started. Levering up, both
sides of the wood trim, with incredible effort, pulls up a tough snakebelly skin...
that has to be poked & sliced with a utility knife, to relieve the incredible tension.
With loud splitting and spitting noise, the trim tears off leaving gray moonscapes
behind on both wood trim and lexan. Bed-It instantly '5200's' itself to plastic
and varnish - the 1/16" tape tears itself apart between its bonded surfaces.
Removing sticky uber butyl terrain from plastic & wood then becomes the problem.
Tediously push it with plastic tools. Putty knives don't lift the tape, nor cut it either...
Blotting at it with a gob of the same butyl, proves to be the only way to yank it off
cleanly. DRY, no liquids. Actually, you get really good at push/blotting and picking
up every remnant. Raw butyl blotting ball nearly attaches permanently to fingers.
Butyl filled screws and bolts need dissolving soak in mineral spirits for a day or so.
BED-IT-TAPE ... THE 5200 OF BUTYL TAPES.
Don't remember seeing in Bed-It lit, but believe this rubbery butyl is 'crosslinked'.
Actually this stuff is double-cross linked. My philosophy is all boat fittings are
maintenance items. Metal pin fastened, not bonded. Someday I will find myself
removing that stanchion or port. Will it be a bummer with butylful Bed-It Tape.?
Bedding has to be friendly. Use it on plastic access plates or hatches, at your peril.
Anything flanged that you pry to remove is, imco, essentially there forever. Third rule
of B-IT : Never use it on any fastener thread. Under the head? Better NOT.
Remember: normal butyl tape has a rep for gaining bond strength as it ages.
For love of humanity, make sure metal fasteners are easy to back out and remove.
Squeeze-out and chamfer squeeze-ins is a brilliant idea. Think twice before Bed-It.
Trim pieces lagged with small MS need assistance with mechanical clamps during
assembly. 1/16" tape is about the same thickness as some rubber sealing washers.
Why not create a rubber washer dam around bolt & screw seam* holes??
Rather than hard O-rings, which could get shifted in a big squeeze..
Bed-It Tape requires pretty extreme pressure, to move it into sealing mode.
Can say from recent torture, when joining two pieces, fasteners will gather up
this bedding at the interface. Bolts & screws with any Bed-It Tape on them, home
in their holes, cannot be removed without an act of congress.
* yes, at the interface. On the piece arranged with the tape before joining, cut
1/16" rubber washers (McMasterCarr) into the tape with a hole punch or craft knife.
Under pressure it'll create a dam around the hole... right?
Why can't butyl tape be used underwater? ....Anybody have an idea?
ANY butyl tape is impervious to air, vapor & water. (But No resistance to aromatic
and aliphatic hydrocarbons... petroleum oils, gasoline, or mineral spirits.)
Dissolves? Assuming the crosslink, I bet Bed-It Tape works too-well underwater.
Captured between 2 surfaces, edge exposed, and 60F water temp, nothing will
move it, dissolve it, waste it away. Has this total immersion caution been tested?
__________________________________________________ ______________________
Stanchions: Some Experts say you can't... but imco, this one Bed-It Tape can be
used on a well designed life-line installation. Its cohesive elasticity when stretched
temporarily toughens the material. The more it's pulled, the more resistance is
developed. In fact, it probably is the only ideal butyl bedding for 'working' bases,
because of its aggressive adhesion between dissimilar materials. As near lurching-
body-shockproof-bond as any 'removable' rubber caulk could promise. Use could
be extended to other working deck fittings like cleats, tracks. 3M makes an
aggressive half inch wide 1/16" thick black butyl specifically for bedding track.
IF I use it for stanchions, incorporating rubber washer dams in the Bed-It layer to
isolate screw shanks & thread is the way. Use less aggressive chamfer bedding
for FHWS. TREMCO is my choice. 1/16" butyls are easier to use. Stacking the tape
for thickness is instantly fused/melded as one. Perfect for nobbled base bottoms.
Time will tell if Bed-It fries in the tropics or dies in the arctics. Gun grade rubbers
like polysulfide and elastomerics used for stanchion bases eventually oxidize, harden,
die, crack, leak (eternally bonded to gelcoat) and require dis-assembly-from-hell.
.....Wheras, non-steroid butyls generally remain alive, self-healing and mostly
friendly. On deck, remove butylized fittings by first dipping a stout putty knife
in mineral spirits and ease the blade between deck and fitting -- trying to melt
whichever butyl with the solvent. Probably the easiest way.
Bed-It's clever roll shipping box is something special. Haven't tried this yet:
coating it on all its surfaces with epoxy or LeTonkinois can make the paper water
-proof methinks.. and convert the cardboard into an excellent 8x8x1 case for the
bosun's locker. Butyl is an instant leak stopper. Bed-It for emergency leak repair
might be just as useful, and way easier to use, than the underwater epoxy repair kit
you ought to be cruising with...