Silicone recommendation.

[Unreal Yammi]

I have ordered new reverse gate cables and have read the post by Jullian about the install process and feel comfortable doing this after seeing the pics and reading the "how to". Many thanks to Jullian and the other contributors for that write up!

What brand and type silicone do I use at all he hull exit around the cable area? I would tag Jullian in this post but unsure how to do that.

 

[RiverRat]

@Julian see above!

 

[Julian]

I used a silicon sealant from West Marine, but I'll bet that pretty much any good silicon sealant from a big box store would suffice. @Glassman or @Cobra Jet Steering LLC might have interesting opinions on this.

 

[Bruce]

I like Life-Calk.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

You probably want to use silicon GLUE also called silicon ADHESIVE it sticks a lot better that plain silicon sealant

 

[Gym]

@Unreal Yammi I used the Life Caulk on my steering cables. It's also available @ West Marine in a small tube. It had a decent work time and can be removed without dynamite. This is third season with it with no issues.

 

[Unreal Yammi]

So the silicone glue/ adhesive from a big box store is appropriate and not necessary to be a "marine grade" product? Thanks for the Life Calk suggestion also.

@Cobra Jet Steering LLC

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Life-caulk or a RTV silicone.

 

[Glassman]

I would use a polyurethane sealant. I've seen too many cases where silicone lifts off the substrate due to various reasons.

3M™ Marine Adhesive Sealant Fast Cure 4200 is the best stuff for this in my opinion. Cures in 24 hours and tacks up in less than an hour. .....

From 3M:
When installing hardware, consider whether it will be removed in the future. If so it is important that the adhesive selected is strong but will also enable future disassembly.
Sealing hatches, hinges, portholes, navigation lights or deck hardware requires a cosmetic sealant that is suitable for topside applications. Flexibility is also important to allow for the dissipation of stress caused by shock, vibration, swelling or shrinking.
To seal access plates and stern joints it is important to select a product that will form a watertight, weather resistant seal.




.....you asked

 

[waterboy]

all of these suggestions are good. You would be better off staying away from straight silicone though. Silicone does not really have any adhesive properties at all and will pull away from the base surface it is on eventually. The Life Seal is a blend of silicone/ polyurethane I believe, to give it some adhesive properties and is a very good product. Life Caulk is good as well with even better adhesion properties. The 3M 4200 is probably best as @Glassman suggests (all personal preferences here though). 3M 5200 is incredible but ONLY use where you will never... ever want to remove something. I have read some guys sealing their pump shoe with 5200 and I just cringe. The whole boat will have to be removed from the pump as the pump will never come off the boat.

 

[Glassman]

all of these suggestions are good. You would be better off staying away from straight silicone though. Silicone does not really have any adhesive properties at all and will pull away from the base surface it is on eventually. The Life Seal is a blend of silicone/ polyurethane I believe, to give it some adhesive properties and is a very good product. Life Caulk is good as well with even better adhesion properties. The 3M 4200 is probably best as @Glassman suggests (all personal preferences here though). 3M 5200 is incredible but ONLY use where you will never... ever want to remove something. I have read some guys sealing their pump shoe with 5200 and I just cringe. The whole boat will have to be removed from the pump as the pump will never come off the boat.

You're not kidding about the 5200....I once spent an entire weekend trying to remove an old winch from an aluminum mast without destroying the mast. The knucklehead who installed it used 5200 as a bedding compound instead of the 4200. For topside applications the 4200UV is better, but I'm lazy and like the Fast Cure version. Good stuff to have around.

 

[CrankyGypsy]

I just completely overhauled my plates/pumps/cables and I can say (when applied properly) marine silicone sticks ...still stubborn after 10 years. to me, it is more difficult/annoying to get off than 4200 because it IS so flexible. with 4200, once I get it started, I can peel it or scratch it off with my fingernail because it doesn't give as much - like it's "brittle." whereas, the silicone required peeling, razor scraping, goo gone, more razor scraping, and finally a soft scrub (Barkeeper's Friend) ...and there are still remnants!

check my post on pump plate removal to see how well silicone sticks.

I did use 4200 to seal my scupper and drains though ...it is 10x easier to work with. and I can't imagine ever needing/wanting 5200 on the boat for anything.