[alpinelakespilot2000]

I'm ready to put the canopy together for good and am planning to use Lexel to seal the skirts. For anyone who has used it, and had it on their canopy for a few years, is there any tendency for it to yellow over time? That's the only possible drawback I can think of. If it would yellow, however, I'd be inclined to just use a tiny fillet of proseal at the plexi/skirt intersections. Any real life experience would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[carguy614]

sealer

I too was wondering what to use at the skirt plexi intersection. I was thinking about urethane windshield sealant, but haven't yet researched it.
Thinking out loud...Chris

 

[alpinelakespilot2000]

Chris-
There are some pretty good threads on sealing the canopy in the archives. Some choose to do nothing, since Van's doesn't provide any instructions in this regard. That said, the main choices seem to be Lexel or proseal. Each has their own advantages. Obviously, it just needs to be something that will not hurt the plexi and something that is paintable. Both proseal and Lexel apparently meet these requirements. Again, I think so long as Lexel doesn't yellow over time, it's probably the best bet since it would be relatively invisible from inside the canopy.

 

[N130WN]

I've used Lexel on the RV-8 canopy 3-5 years ago...it shows no sign of yellowing or breaking down yet.

 

[RV8N]

I tried to use Lexel as a fillet/seal between the canopy and skirt but had nothing but trouble with it. I taped off the canopy to leave about 1/8" exposed and layed the Lexel in the opening and then tried to smooth and remove excess to create the fillet. The problem was that the Lexel "skinned over" very quickly. It became very stringy and sticky and I couldn't get a smooth fillet.

I ended up removing all the lexel and used Pro-seal instead. I had a much longer working time and got a nice smooth fillet like I wanted.

I don't know if it will yellow but be careful when you use it. (YMMV)

Karl

 

[alpinelakespilot2000]

I tried to use Lexel as a fillet/seal between the canopy and skirt but had nothing but trouble with it. I taped off the canopy to leave about 1/8" exposed and layed the Lexel in the opening and then tried to smooth and remove excess to create the fillet. The problem was that the Lexel "skinned over" very quickly. It became very stringy and sticky and I couldn't get a smooth fillet.

I ended up removing all the lexel and used Pro-seal instead. I had a much longer working time and got a nice smooth fillet like I wanted.

I don't know if it will yellow but be careful when you use it. (YMMV)

Karl

Thanks Karl for noting your experience. Out of curiosity, did you rivet/screw the skirts on permanently before you applied the sealant or did rivet everything together wet and then go back and do a fillet as well? Just trying to map out the best, cleanest strategy. Thanks.

 

[RV8N]

Thanks Karl for noting your experience. Out of curiosity, did you rivet/screw the skirts on permanently before you applied the sealant or did rivet everything together wet and then go back and do a fillet as well? Just trying to map out the best, cleanest strategy. Thanks.

The canopy and skirt were fully installed as described in the instructions(RV-8). I then decided I wanted to seal the gap and have a nice fillet for appearance sake. As I described, I layed tape on the canopy and used a caulk gun to spread the lexel about 3 feet. I then stopped and tried to smooth the lexel and create a nice fillet. It had already skimmed over and was very sticky and stringy. I messed with it for a while and finally gave up.

Karl