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DJR

Active Member
I want to put a nice fillet of some sort of seam sealer between the windscreen and front roll bar to make a nice finished look. As always, I am paranoid of using something that will craze or chemically attack the plexi. The ideal product would be something that would not harden and remain flexible.
Anyone have any ideas as to what works well for this application without harming the plexi.

Thanks
 
TX7A said:
Lexel might be a good choice...
Click to expand...

I used Lexel on my canopy with good results, although I did it to keep water out of lap joints rather than to fill or fair any seams. I have seen Pro-Seal and Sika used for the latter purpose - it just depends on what your goal is. I have one area on my canopy where I might eventually go back and fair the transition between the plexiglass and the front lip of my fiberglass canopy skirt, and Pro-Seal is probably what I'll use here. Based on my experience working with it I don't think Lexel would be so good for that kind of application, but it is great for waterproofing and cleans up easily with naphtha.

good luck,
mcb
 
DJR said:
Anyone have any ideas as to what works well for this application without harming the plexi.
Click to expand...

Like the others I used SIKA (black) for the windscreen frame and SIKA (white) for the canopy skirt fillet. If you are skilled at tub and tile calk application you can do a decent job with SIKA. As reported may times before get lots of gloves and cleaner.
Don
 
DJR said:
I want to put a nice fillet of some sort of seam sealer between the windscreen and front roll bar to make a nice finished look. As always, I am paranoid of using something that will craze or chemically attack the plexi. The ideal product would be something that would not harden and remain flexible.
Anyone have any ideas as to what works well for this application without harming the plexi.

Thanks
Click to expand...


I used the grey PC-12 epoxy you can find at a good hardware store. I masked a neat "edge" line, forced the epoxy into the gap, tooled it with a popsicle stick, then peeled off the masking tape. It isn't flexible,but provides (IM0) some protection against passengers who like to grab the windscreen on entry and exit - there is no unsupported windscreen radius.
It has held up very well for almost 11 years.

It comes in dark grey and white.
 
seal

I used 3M fire barrier 2000+ . Color matches gray perfect, smoothed with mineral spirits on glove. Turned out very nice and is flexible.
 
My rollbar is black, so I just used a length of 1/4" o.d. black vacuum tube here. Glued it on the gap b/w the plexi and rollbar with a few appropriately spaced blobs of RTV. I think it looks pretty nice.
 
Say Whaaat?

I know this is going to sound crazy to a lot of people. You tend to run that risk when thinking out of the box. I used the most unlikely of material and unless I tell people what it actually is, they never, ever guess. I have to believe this is a true first in the RV community. The material is available at your neighborhood Big Box store, is jet black and years later continues to remain somewhat flexible similar in texture to cured proseal. It it attacks Plexiglas, I certainly haven't noticed it. Unfortunately, it's been so long ago now, I really can't remember if I bought it in a can or dispensed it through a tube fitted to a caulking gun. After masking off the area and applying the unconventional material, it's distinctive odor dissipated after a few days. Care to guess what it is before looking any further? For the first time openly revealed to all, my solution is revealed just below the photograph.

1z20kn8.jpg


Don't laugh. I used...roofing tar. :D
 
I feel better now!

Rick6a said:
I know this is going to sound crazy to a lot of people. You tend to run that risk when thinking out of the box. I used the most unlikely of material and unless I tell people what it actually is, they never, ever guess. I have to believe this is a true first in the RV community. The material is available at your neighborhood Big Box store, is jet black and years later continues to remain somewhat flexible similar in texture to cured proseal. It it attacks Plexiglas, I certainly haven't noticed it. Unfortunately, it's been so long ago now, I really can't remember if I bought it in a can or dispensed it through a tube fitted to a caulking gun. After masking off the area and applying the unconventional material, it's distinctive odor dissipated after a few days. Care to guess what it is before looking any further? For the first time openly revealed to all, my solution is revealed just below the photograph.

1z20kn8.jpg


Don't laugh. I used...roofing tar. :D
Click to expand...

I was ready to close up the rudder on my 9 and didn't have any silicone to apply to the rear of the stiffeners, so I applied a small dab of black roof cement.
 
Thanks for everyone's input. As for Lexel...........

mburch said:
I used Lexel on my canopy with good results, although I did it to keep water out of lap joints rather than to fill or fair any seams. I have seen Pro-Seal and Sika used for the latter purpose - it just depends on what your goal is. I have one area on my canopy where I might eventually go back and fair the transition between the plexiglass and the front lip of my fiberglass canopy skirt, and Pro-Seal is probably what I'll use here. Based on my experience working with it I don't think Lexel would be so good for that kind of application, but it is great for waterproofing and cleans up easily with naphtha.

good luck,
mcb
Click to expand...

Lexel products contain Toluene and is listed as a solvent that attacks plexiglas. I would never use lexel on plexiglas. Perhaps, I am wrong here, but just something to look at.
Thank you for your input.

regards
 
DJR said:
Lexel products contain Toluene and is listed as a solvent that attacks plexiglas. I would never use lexel on plexiglas. Perhaps, I am wrong here, but just something to look at.
Click to expand...

Sure enough, you're right... says so right there on the MSDS. I admit to being lazy and just copying off what others reported using successfully. I did at least have the presence of mind to do a materials test before using it on my canopy. I should definitely have checked the ingredients list more carefully, but perhaps I got lucky - several years later, the canopy shows no signs of distress. Still, good info to know! Perhaps on the next one I'll use some other type of sealant material just to be extra careful.

cheers,
mcb
 
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