[Rhodes22-list] Gasket For Opening Port Screen

[Roger Pihlaja]

Lloyd,

Boy, rejuvinate a 20 year old gasket, that's a tough one!  The elastomers in
that gasket have lost a large fraction of their plasticizers to the oxygen
in the air & have been embrittled by exposure to UV for a long time.

There are no guarantees.  But, I would try soaking the gasket overnight in a
product called Meguiar's No. 57 Vinyl and Rubber Cleaner & Conditioner.
This product should be available in most any good auto supply store.  I
think I've also seen Meguiar's No. 57 for sale at West Marine stores.  After
the soak, I would buff off the excess No. 57 with a soft cotton cloth & then
warm up the gasket with a blow dryer set on low.  If the gasket doesn't get
sufficiently flexible & elastic after this soaking & warming; then, it was
too far gone.

Good luck!

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ralph Zeto" <ralphzeto at msn.com>
To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Sunday, September 05, 2004 8:47 PM
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Gasket For Opening Port Screen


> Chris,
>
> A little Scotch & Viagra shure does it for me.
> Ralf
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Chris Geankoplis<mailto:napoli68 at charter.net>
>   To: The Rhodes 22 mail list<mailto:rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>   Sent: Sunday, September 05, 2004 12:41 AM
>   Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Gasket For Opening Port Screen
>
>
>   Lloyd ,you asked if you can soak the screen in something to "convince it
is
>   young again"  I'd use beer or rum.  Every time I soak myself it it not
only
>   do I feel young but witty to boot.  Also I get pretty tight too.
>
>   Chris G
>   -----Original Message-----
>   From: Lloyd Crowther <lcrowther at cox.net<mailto:lcrowther at cox.net>>
>   To: List, New Rhodes22
<rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org<mailto:rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>>
>   Date: Saturday, September 04, 2004 9:33 PM
>   Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Gasket For Opening Port Screen
>
>
>   Today I discovered the corner of the screen on one of the forward
opening
>   ports on Uhuru II had somehow popped out of the front of the port.  I
took
>   the gasket the holds the screen off and removed the screen itself from
the
>   port hole.  The screen and gasket remove from inside the boat after the
port
>   glass itself is opened , i.e., the screen is outside the glass but
inside
>   the port frame as you all know.  The screen and the material that forms
the
>   screen's shape look to be in good condition, not bent in any way.  My
>   problem, if you care to address it, is that the screen has been in place
for
>   twenty years ('84 Rhodes22) and the retaining gasket is not as limber as
it
>   was when originally installed.  It has some flexibility, but not enough
to
>   stretch over the curved corners of the molded lip on the port's frame
which
>   holds the screen in place when the port is open.  As a matter of fact,
it is
>   like trying to stretch a piece of wood although it is flexible enough to
>   flop around when I tried to put it back.  Does anybody know of anything
I
>   can paint or spray on the gasket material or soak the gasket in that
will
>   convince it that it is again young without destroying the gasket
material,
>   the material that forms the screen's shape, the screen mesh, or the port
>   frame?
>
>   Lloyd Crowther
>   s/v Uhuru II
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