siezed windows

S

serenitymay1995

New member
our new used 22 cruiser has sat for over a year before we got her. the windows are seized up tight and i have applied some silicone to the track and the rubber seal and still no movement. should i pry the rubber seal open or ?
 
It's likely that they were closed while they still had some salt on 'em. Before you pry anything, try this: put ample amounts of warm fresh water all around the window, especially along the track. Then try opening the window with TWO people: one on the inside (holding the latch open and pulling) and one on the outside, pushing back on the window. When our windows have stuck shut, this has always worked for us. Then, clean the tracks, move the window and clean in front and behind it. When the fuzzy stuff in the track dries, get some Liquid Rollers and spray it liberally in the tracks and "work it" back and forth.

I have read on here that some have widened the widow tracks slightly, but the chance of leakage concerns me with that.

Hope that helps - keep us posted.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Used to happen to me all the time on Capt's Choice. I kept a small, nubby flat screwdriver at the helm and when they stuck, held the latch open with one hand and put the blade between the latch and the window casing and pried (gently). Worked every time. When you do get it open, use liquid rollers or silicone or the like on the tracks.

Charlie
 
thanks guys i will try both options suggested. once they are freed up i will use silicone frequently. heading up to quatsino sound for early halibut march 29 - april 1.
 
Another suggestion: take a 4-6" flexible blade drywall knife(trowel) and carefully work it down with a gentle side to side rocking pressure between the exterior glass and the grey fuzzy liner material, along the entire bottom length of the opening window. Likely the inside is OK and that crap has formed in the outside crevice and bonded the window shut. Once it's moving you can clean the crevice out with running water and a toothbrush or other small crevice brush. Make sure the weep holes in the aluminum extrusion are clean and confirm that water flows through them. don't apply lubricant until the gasket material is completely clean and dry. Don't use a heat gun to dry the gasket material; let it air dry. Good luck! Mike.
 
This may be too simple, but on my 22-cruiser, I have to push the window slightly forward before it will unlatch and open. If yours work similarly, it may not be obvious if you've never tried to open the windows.
 
i've found on my old 87 that pushing up and back on the sliding portion with flat hands seems to raise the window and loosen the resistance in the lower track. once it's open a bit lift on the open side, flat on the other to open. once open, you can work on cleaning out the track.

i had to replace a driver side cracked window and found that plastic bottom runner pretty much uv'd to death, very brittle. replaced with "L" aluminum mirror frame from the glass co. needed two layers, but
works great.
 
we got the windows sliding again, washed out the track and scrubbed it with hot water and dish soap then slid a small scraper between the inner rubber and the window. had to push handle forwards to realease the latch, will lube her up good after it all dries. sometime in august :lol: it only rains twice a year here. once for 5 months and once for 6 months thanks for the help.
 
we got the windows sliding again, washed out the track and scrubbed it with hot water and dish soap then slid a small scraper between the inner rubber and the window. had to push handle forwards to realease the latch, will lube her up good after it all dries. sometime in august :lol: it only rains twice a year here. once for 5 months and once for 6 months thanks for the help.
 
My starboard side Captains window has been seized since I owned it. I finally got around to fixing it today. I sprayed WD-40 around the seams (top and bottom), used a screw driver to carefully pry the rubber away from the window (basically to jostle it a bit), and it opened right up. It now moves easier than the rest of my windows. Next time out I will shoot a little WD-40 around all of them and open/close them several times to work it in.

So...the advice given by others above works!
 
Matt,

Many of us are now using Liquid Rollers available at WM for our window slides, haven't tried it yet but the reports are glowing.
 
Id be a little leary of using the WD40 as it has an affinity to"creep". In time it will find it's way out the drains and down the side of you cabin! Along the way it will be a dirt magnet that may make the problem worse in time.
Stick with the afore mentioned lubes which will dry and you will be better off.
Mike
 
I've used Liquid Rollers on all the sliding windows. It works great. I applied two months ago and all the windows are still sliding like they should.
 
I had to loosen up another stuck window the other day and in the process I ended up pulling the window handle off. What's the best stuff to use to stick the handle back on the window?

Thanks!
 
I've just used plane old household clear silicone seal (caulking). Key is that you may want to get it off at some time in the future. A marine variety is probably a better choice if you have some laying around but I doubt its worth the cost and trip if you have standard silicone seal around. a little dab'll do ya.

chris
 
Matt, there is a clear gel repair stuff "Goop" for shoes, for this, for that, that works well for repairs.

The key to unsticking the sliding windows is to LIFT the glass a bit by using the aforementioned putty handle knife or wood/plastic piece about 5/8" x 1" x 6" by putting the base up against the inside window frame and the side UNDER the window handle and carefully PRYING WITH EMPHASIS UPON LIFTING THE GLASS UPWARD. This more upward pressure lessens the chance of handle breakage and all you want is 1/16 - 1/8" upward movement to loosen things up.

We had a lot more problems with this in salt water and none of the sprays, silicone, whatever helped since they all seem to trap dust and debris. Keeping the channels clean is important.

Also, the outside drain flaps build up with spiders, bugs, dust, etc., but allow a good access point to force water backwards, up and out to keep things clean and to allow some space for any debris that accumulates to slide into. I spray a hard stream of water up these outside vents weekly and often seen lots of junk come flying out from the bottom of the window channel.

The best spray I found was "BOESHIELD", an expensive spray developed by Boeing for aircraft sliding components, BUT it also seemed to trap and hold dust and salt crystals. Lots of clear water flushing backwards thru vents and inside channels when open is the key. If stuck, LIFT UP on the front of the glass pane instead of pulling back. And,yes, somethimes you have to close the window more in order to release the latch.

John
 
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