butyl tape on cleats?

C

capt. meares

New member
I recently removed and inspected a cleat and am toying with the idea od experimenting with bedding it with butyl instead of bedding compound. The core is protected with rhe overdrilling and filling process. What do you think? Bad idea? How bout butyl for rebedding the bow rails? Thanks.
 
I use butyl tape for quite a bit of my bedding. It does what I want: Easy to apply, stays pliable for decades, easy to remove when you want to (that last is something I really appreciate). Essentially, I use butyl unless there is a reason not to.

Reasons not to that I have encountered:

1) Fuel fills (it's not fuel resistant).
2) I want something gunnable (such as when I did the rub rails in place).
3) I really want something that looks white (3M4000)
4) I need an adhesive not just a bedding compound.

One caveat is that I have found that butyl tape quality varies widely. I had some "good old" ancient stuff from way back on the parts shelf that was brilliant. Never could duplicate its properties until I started buying "Bed-It" from Maine Sail. It's just like the old stuff. Nothing else I bought was nearly as good (much less elastic, didn't hold up, etc.).

Some of the "good old" stuff on my camper which was built in 1975 was STILL super flexible and doing its job when I went to remove hardware in 2009.

PS: I did use butyl tape on all my cleats and most other deck hardware. I didn't use it on the rubrail repair because I didn't totally remove the rubrail and hence wanted something gunnable. I used 3M4000 and a caulk gun. I used polysulfide on my fuel fills.
 
Agree with Sunbeam and have used it successfully on the boat and even on aluminum railing bases at home. I have used three types and they sure do vary even though they all work at least fairly well. I think the type used will relate more to longevity than anything else.

I would put this similar product in the same family (at the bottom) of sealants and while it does not sound like anything special or marine specific, I have used it on two applications and it has help up very well. It is only cord shaped and does not actually contain any cordage. The tape type is better and easier to apply evenly.

https://www.doitbest.com/products/morti ... 1b9eb93a00

Greg
 
I've used the Mortite back in the day for double hung windows, and I like the "good" butyl much better. The "bad" butyl and the Mortite (what I used anyway) stretch about 2" and then break. The good stuff stretches out three feet or more. To me that translates into better bedding. I used some of the less stretchy "bad" butyl once on my camper (before I could get the Bed It product) and the windows started leaking within a year. When I took them out the "butyl" basically crumbled. This vs. when I removed the original windows (after more than 30 years) and the good stuff still stretched out like pizza cheese (they were not leaking; I removed them because I was doing some other work).

Maybe Mortite has changed since I used it back in the 70's.

Somewhat to my amazement, I found that the good butyl even sticks to Starboard. I wouldn't ever use Starboard where bedding was important, due to creep; but I had some in a place where it really didn't matter, and decided to try putting some butyl behind it as an experiment. When I went to move the Starboard the butyl stuck to it tenaciously.
 
I find the "Bed It" tape to be vastly superior to any other butyl tape I've bought in the last ten years. When I finally ran out of the "good old" rolls I had from the parts department shelves ages ago, I tried quite a few others (before Bed It was available) and had nothing but sorrow. Even the supposed premium ones just didn't cut it. I think RC had the same experience, which is why he developed the Bed It product to his specs (hallelujah).

I have not found any shelf life so far. The good stuff seems the same years later as it does when new. Not saying it may not deteriorate over decades, but sure I have not seen it.

You can buy Bed It at the first link below. As a side bonus you are supporting (with whatever profit there may be) a fellow boater who has published dozens of good photo tutorials (which clearly were time-consuming to produce), and which are free to view (whether or not you buy anything). This is Maine Sail whose posts folks may have read on various sailing forums. He works on boats for a living (but only in Maine), and is very helpful to people on forums.

Tape buying link:
http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/butyl_tape

Companion photo essay:
http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/rebe ... are&page=1

Index of other photo essays:
http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/boat_projects
 
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