3m 5200?

[JLIMA]

I've come across a lot of this stuff...to the tune of 60 3oz tubes or so.... Which got me to thinking..... is there anything against using it as a bedding compound on a small 14' sailboat in and around the cockpit as well as to seal up the bolt holes for the rudder mounts..... I've used it before for sealing up things like transducer mounts and bilge pump outlets, so I guess the real question is, can it be used on the rudder mounts without failing...and yes there are mechanical fasteners used as well? pictures are available if needed .....

[islandteak]

5200 is great stuff, if you never want to remove it without great difficulty.
regards...Ken

[michael pierzga]

Its a flexible adhesive bedding compound. Widely used in the marine industry. Many applications.

Stuff has a shelf life...make sure its not gone off in the tube.

[gonzo]

Works great, but is very hard to remove.

[Frosty]

I used it on my hatches --I can not get them out without cheese wiring them out.

Don't use 5200 on anything that you think you might want to remove at some time.

[CatBuilder]

Originally Posted by Frosty

I used it on my hatches --I can not get them out without cheese wiring them out.

Don't use 5200 on anything that you think you might want to remove at some time.

Ouch!

Frosty knows this already, but never use 5200 on hatches or anything you ever want to remove in the future - such as rudder pintles and gudgeons.

[JLIMA]

Sorry about the delay in getting back to you guys.... what would be a good thing to use on pintles and gudgeons since they are through bolted to the hull so as to seal them up since the lowest set is just at the waterline.... if it matters at all its a glass over ply hull inside and out.....

[CatBuilder]

You can use 3M 101 if all you need is a seal, or 3M 4200 if you need a bit of an adhesive with a seal. 4200 is somewhat easier to get off than 5200.

I prefer LifeCaulk and LifeSeal products though... LifeSeal is probably what you're looking for because it stays flexible (in case your hardware moves at all during use).

[PAR]

JLIMA, just because you have a bunch of 3M-5200, doesn't mean you should look for ways to make a half assed repair. For example, if you want to seal up the gudgeon through bolt holes, then drill the holes for the next size dowel, wet out the hole with straight epoxy, then coat the wooden dowel and inset it. Cut it off flush and fair as necessary.

Sure you could fill the hole with polyunsaturate in a tube, but there's no structural integrity to this and it could leak eventually. The holes properly repaired could be relied on again in the future as they've been structurally repaired, rather then used to store a few ounces of sealant.

3M-5200 has it's uses, but most are finding they need it less and less with the advent of better, more application specific goo's, particularly in areas where they need repairability or element removal from time to time.

5200 is not all that difficult to remove. A product called De Bond can be sprayed on, left on a few minutes, and the 52 will soften. An even quicker method is heat, a commercial heat gun or torch will pop it loose in seconds.
The formulation has changed recently, be careful using it on vertical surfaces, very runny.

[YachtManuals]

Since it fails when exposed to UV light, I would never use it where visible and outdoors (e.g. as deck caulking). It's fine below the waterline, indoors, as hidden bedding (but hard to remove like an adhesive) or where painted over.