3m 5200

caltexflanc said:

Local redneck boatsmen use a little heat and a razor blade on the stuff to break it free.

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So does at least one well-traveled, semi-sophisticated "yachtsman."

Using a razor blade, a heat gun very carefully applied, light pressure from a small pry bar or chisel slowly wedged in and plenty of patience, you can separate almost anything bedded in 5200 without damage and without chemicals.

HopCar said:

Boat poker, I've never heard of it not setting. 5200 gets hard in the tube. I've thrown away several tubes that didn't get rotated. It has a shelf life of about a year as far as I can tell.

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I can only relate my own experience with the product. Up here in Canada it goes for almost $20 a tube. I won't buy it again.

I have had success removing things bonded with 5200 by heating a metal putty knife with a torch and jamming the hot putty knife into the 5200 space. This has worked on removing windows, cleats and through hulls. I will continue to use 5200 below the water line.

Canada! No wonder the stuff wouldn't go off, all the moisture in the air turned into white stuff and fell to the ground. There was none left to cure the 5200!

windmist said:

I'd sure like a few tips for removing an item secured with 5200. Can you use heat if the item is secured to fiberglass? Propane torch or heat gun? If not, how?

Thanks

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Yes I've heated thru hulls on fiberglass hull with a propane torch and not had a problem. You don't need to heat the metal red hot to get the 5200 to soften and release.

Moisture is the curing agent so a light spritz with water on job completion will set enough so the next day it is not a danger to touch.

Prybars, wedges, blowtorches, razor blades...

I rest my case. In the wrong application, this stuff is evil.

Maybe I lack patience, but something always gets ruined when removing, and for that matter, when applying, 5200.

Why bother? For 90% of the jobs, 4200 or 4000 is a better option.

CaptTom said:

Prybars, wedges, blowtorches, razor blades...

I rest my case. In the wrong application, this stuff is evil.

Maybe I lack patience, but something always gets ruined when removing, and for that matter, when applying, 5200.

Why bother? For 90% of the jobs, 4200 or 4000 is a better option.

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5200 = Satan's glue

Greetings,
Mr. LM. "5200 = Satan's glue". Agreed and you can add Home Despot RTV silicone to the list as well IMO.

Bunch of sissies! Afraid of a little stickiness. Like I've said before, real men use 5200.

5200 is for PERMANANT items.

It is a rotten choice for anything and everything that will need to be removed.

Hull deck joint ,,,great , most everything else there are WAY better choices.

HopCar said:

Bunch of sissies! Afraid of a little stickiness. Like I've said before, real men use 5200.

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Coming from the guy who sells replacements for broken boat stuff

Real men are lazy. Applying and removing 5200 is just too much work.

HopCar said:

Bunch of sissies! Afraid of a little stickiness. Like I've said before, real men use 5200.

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I am a real man!

manyboats said:

We use Life Caulk in small tubes. It has threaded caps and lasts quite a long time.
Does the small 5200 tubes have threaded plastic caps?

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Life Caulk is my first go to for bedding. Although the stuff in the tubes is not as robust as two part, Thiokol's retention of flexibility and curing in water ability makes it a good choices in a lot of places one would use 5200. Speaking of which, 23 years ago I glued porcelain soap dishes and shelves into new tiled shower stalls in a house we built. Still there, no deterioration, no give under constant 1 pound weight of shampoo bottles, etc. Amazing stuff.

But as someone has already noted, as a result of posting this I found some in my hair.

5200 has a number of valid uses on a boat. We (and our diesel shop) have used it for projects for which 5200 is the best adhesive. We also use silicone on our boat but not for anything that will compromise the ability to apply a finish or another adhesive.

Both products require some forethought to make sure they are the best tools for the job and won't present problems in the future.

5200 can be dissolved and cleaned up with Acetone. It will totally remove it although it takes some effort.

Here's an article I wrote about 5200, 3 years ago. I use 5200 about 10% of the time now (used to be 95%). Butyl tape has proven to be an incredible new tool as long as you're mainly looking for sealing. Since most bedding is held in place with other mechanical devices (screws, bolts), the holding power of 5200 is often wasted and only ends up causing pain when you eventually need to remove the bond.

Enjoy...

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[FONT=monospace, courier]My name is Jeff and I am a 5200-aholic. Ever since I applied it to that first screw on that first fitting, I've been drawn to 3M's magic potion. Friends have told me to stop using it. I didn't listen. Oh, I tried LifeCaulk but I hated it. It didn't act the same and it didn't last as long. The low point came when re-attaching the anchor light. I was applying the sealant and fastening the screws while Karen held the light in place. A slow motion moment developed as I watched a glob of 5200 drip off the edge of the bracket and onto my wife's hair. I paid deeply for that:
http://www.takingpaws.com/2009/05/goo-in-my-hair.html

But that was over 3 years ago and it didn't break me of this powerful addiction. I have a couple of large caulk gun tubes of 5200 and at least three 3 ounce tubes. I love the small tubes. You get to form a multi- month relationship with them. At first they're all clean and smooth and give up their contents so easily. Use after use makes it harder and more difficult to apply and by the time the metal tube is starting to split, you've run out and a new tube takes its place. Truth be told I keep a 3 ouncer under the refrigerator in the galley for quick access at any time. It's a sickness.

But there's hope. Even though I'm stuck on 5200, I have been researching more adult sealants. My searching brought me face to face with Butyl tape and the technique of using a countersink bit. ACE Hardware provided the bit and I purchased 4 rolls of marine-appropriate tape from a dealer (pusher?) from Maine.

This week an unused intake started leaking water into the lazarette during a heavy rain. I jumped for my 5200 but held back for the first time and organized a repair using the new Butyl tape. It felt different. There was no ooze. Acetone wasn't needed. Had I made a mistake?

Tonight, more heavy rain. I slipped into the engine room and out to the lazarette to see if the new sealing held. It did - not a drop of water. As I crawled back through the engine room I paused at my moderate-sized bin of 5200 reserves and wondered, will I ever crack it open again?

For an absolutely incredible introduction to Butyl tape and how to properly seal and bed items on your boat, check out this thread in the SailNet.com forums:
http://tinyurl.com/ButylTape

To purchase Butyl tape, I can recommend the author of that thread. I purchased directly from him at:
http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/butyl_tape

We're not at all affiliated with MaineCruising - we're just customers.[/FONT]

Buyyl tape is fantastiv for straight runs , under a hatch.

But good old Dolphinite is the answer for the resealing of thru hulls , cleats , deck fittings .

'EZ to use , EZ to remove and replace , at the same intervals as glue.

In my experience 5200 is easier to remove once the tension of the joint is removed.

Easiest way to do this is the ole Multimaster with a scraper blade. Once the fillet is split and the tension removed, both sides of the split will peel off.

6 hours to remove 2 feet of the stuff, then tried this method and 8 feet took about 20 minutes. The Multimaster now has so many clones that in my opinion every boat should have one aboard.

5200 takes days to fully cure, so it's not great for a quick, on-the-water fix. I have found the much cheaper PL Premium is great for bonding panels but not for things below the water line. PL has more talc than 5200 and it's less gooey, but there's no solution for everything. Most of my bonding is either Epoxy or PL Premium, but I do keep some 5200 on hand. I use a thinned out epoxy before replacing screws into fiberglass-laminated-wood (like almost my whole boat). After the epoxy cures I use sikaflex. This helps seal the grain in the wood to reduce moisture intrusion. Although I've changed my strategy for keeping fiberglass/plywood panels from rotting - I drill out 1" holes on the side that's not exposed to the elements and pop in little vents. I've come to accept that it's impossible to keep the core dry indefinately, even with very well bedded fasteners.

What is PL?

Greetings,
Mr. mb. I think this stuff. I've used it, works great for intended purpose.
Loctite PL Premium 10 fl. oz. Polyurethane Construction Adhesive-1390595 - The Home Depot