Seal inner port hole ring with toilet bowl wax ring?

I don't need any adhesive quality. And it is not going to have much movement being screwed down.
What I need is something soft that will repel water, keep water out from where it meets inner hull varnished wood. Lots of caulks actually dry and then stick, and I dont want that. Foam rubber is too stiff to compress.

Butyl tape. Google compass marine- theirs is great

Gmarr said:

Butyl tape. Google compass marine- theirs is great

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I know it is good but it is too expensive I think for this small usage. Also I think it is somewhat sticky or adhesive.

I have some left over remnant of black butyl caulk on a roll, I suppose could use, but it is sticky stuff. That stuff, you could screw it down with that caulk, remove the screws and it would be stuck on tight. I used it to to bed a window on the boat. I would never use it again for a window.

Buryl tape works geat on my windows. I have removed a couple a couple of times without damaging paint or gel coat.

It might peel spart teak veneer though.

How about a thin foam like used for shipping or sill seal in building supply co. Its only about 1/8 - 3/16 thk and us closed cell. Shpuld be able to cut a one pc gasket from it.

sdowney717 said:

I don't need any adhesive quality. And it is not going to have much movement being screwed down.
What I need is something soft that will repel water, keep water out from where it meets inner hull varnished wood. Lots of caulks actually dry and then stick, and I dont want that. Foam rubber is too stiff to compress.

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Trying to seal water out using the inner ring makes it sound as if you have water leaking in from the outside? If that is the case you are asking for rot issues by not sealing the leak at the source. If I misunderstood your dilemma my apologies.

Easting said:

Trying to seal water out using the inner ring makes it sound as if you have water leaking in from the outside? If that is the case you are asking for rot issues by not sealing the leak at the source. If I misunderstood your dilemma my apologies.

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It is a new install, I plan to seal inner and outer ring, but inner does not need an adhesive caulk like the outer part. Being up against wood, don't want an adhesive, just keep water from getting between hull wood and port parts. I have some nylon fibers I got from washing an old rope in the washing machine I can mix into the wax to make it stiffer. That turned an old rope into mushy fine soft fibers. Old heavily used nylon ropes, the small fibers are actually breaking inside the rope and you don't really see them. The washing machine floats thr rope apart and flushes them out. It was a mistake to wash an old rope as it ruined several feet on the end.

Toilet ring wax is very effective. Very ugly. I consider it a temporary fix but it will work for years. It is also a pain to remove. Did I mention how ugly it looks!

It’s a great fix for a leaky port when there is no time to pull it and reseal it.

Not going to see any wax, the wax is going behind the port, and you wipe off any excess.
You basically take some wax off the ring and use it for whatever. I will mix in some fibers to stiffen it.

My only interest in using this, its cheap, it does not adhesive to anything, it repels water, it won't dissolve when wet, can be easily taken apart, has no negatives that I can think of offhand. The wood is finished and epoxy coated, so the wax wont be soaking into any wood, AFAIK.

I have never used any such wax yet on the boat, but I have replaced wax toilet bowl rings.

I have used many different caulks and most are adhesive, I suppose another option is silicone, but I hate it.

I even thought maybe rubber cement.

So why are you informing us of your plan, why not just go ahead and do it?

Xsbank said:

So why are you informing us of your plan, why not just go ahead and do it?

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I am curious as to what people think, or if they have used that for anything like sealing something.

I want something cheap, soft, and not adhesive like glue. I also thought to use some black RV permatex gasket maker. Would be less adhesive than a caulk, but it still can stick pretty hard things together.

I don't see the need to go super seal, as in glue on this thing. Port hole is on the cabinside away from the water. Mostly all it will get wet from is rain. It is going in the head, there is not an opening port window in the head.

My mirror in the head desilvered, and I had this brass porthole of about 12 inch width. So I took it to a glass shop and they put in a mirror, So it will serve as a mirror and also can be opened, there is a screen to keep out bugs.

I think that you are on the right path. Wax of some sort sounds like a good material to use. You don’t want it sticking to the wood / brightwork. Toilet bowl wax sounds like it will fit the need.

Butyl tape won't stick like wax will. Also, when wax gets up around the 90+ degree mark, it can sag and run. It also gets very brittle in cold weather. It will crack and allow water/air in. Butyl tape will roll off with just a nitrile glove on and using the fingers. Any residue can be removed with simple 3M grease and wax remover and usually denatured alcohol. Both can be bought locally for not much money.

I was transporting a boat from LA to Seattle. The forward port had a massive leak. I took toilet ring wax and applied it around the outer edge of the port. It completely stopped the leak and this was a stormy trip. What I can't answer is how long it will last.

Melting point is 150 to 160 *F

https://www.oatey.com/ASSETS/DOCUMENTS/ITEMS/EN/MaxWax_Wax_Ring.pdf

I also plan to mix in some of those nylon fibers from that rope. They are quite fine and fluffy. that will give it some more body. Cotton ball fibers could also be a good fiber to use.

Give plumbers putty a thought?

Not sure about it's chemical composition and if it would stain wood, IF it somehow got to it....

What are your expectation about removing the caulking? I mean even with wax I guess that if you remove it you will need to do some good cleanup of the woodwork around to be able to remove the wax, likewise you would do with something like sikaflex 291. If used right it should not give you much trouble but better finish and durability.
Personally I would go with what is the best more than what is the easiest but that is just me.

L

psneeld said:

Give plumbers putty a thought?

Not sure about it's chemical composition and if it would stain wood, IF it somehow got to it....

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Might work ok.
I have seen decades old plumbers putty hard as a rock.
It certainly does seal out water, people use it in sinks.
The wax is cheaper and definitely does not dry out significantly.

https://www.amazon.com/Oatey-31166-..._rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=EQNS1ZJ4C662X477NY8A
https://www.amazon.com/Aqua-Plumb-0...d=1537215308&sr=8-3&keywords=waterproof+putty

DOLFINITE

Anything bedded will need re bedding ,,,,eventually.The task is fast and easy eoth the right bedding compound.

Sure its expensive , but unlike tube bedding it will go a decade in the can and still be useable.

Dolfinite Bedding Compound | For Waterproof Seals‎

Adwww.jamestowndistributors.com/Bedding/Compound‎

Pettit | Dolfinite Bedding Compound

www.pettitpaint.com/products/varnish-wood.../seams.../dolfinite-bedding-compound/

Today I cut the hole using a jig saw. Sanded it with a curved block till smooth and got the exact same size as the port. That mahogany board they built the hull side of back in 1970 is one solid piece, a very wide log!

I then epoxied the mahogany edge and where the port inner ring sits.
Then I coated with some Zinsser bulls eye primer. About the best primer I have found so far.

I test fit the porthole mirror and it looks good. The backside of the mirror is protected with a plate of aluminum bolted on. And it is sealed with some rubber cement to keep out water.

It can be held open with a bit of chrome chain I had, the link slips into the lock down arm of the port window. Other end has an eye hook and just happens to fit in the hole vacated by the DC light I had to relocate farther over so the port window could open up all the way.

The outer ring I fit but need to get some rubber cement to glue the screen onto the ring before I screw it onto the wood.

I may just use rubber cement, and of course test it with a water hose.
The inner ring has a wide inner ridge as a tight fit to the wood. Farther back is concave area which could fit some foam rubber gasket, but I don't think it is needed.

Those bulbs I just put in are LED, three colors of white. You select which color by rabidly turning it on and off. They are very bright, supposed to be equivalent to 40 watts. I burned my arm on the incandescent globes when working on this project, so they are history.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FP6JFD8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That's really neat. Do you have an outside picture?

ben2go said:

That's really neat. Do you have an outside picture?

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Not yet finished. One picture shows the outside view with the port hole shut.
Here is the outer ring, the screen will glue onto the back with rubber cement. Then screw onto the hull with 9 small SS screws. I cut this from sheet aluminum made for road signs. It's about 1/8"thick. I plan to repaint the outside upper hull in white. I had painted it an off white. I may also repaint the aluminum backing plate for the mirror, it looks off white, but was supposed to be white spray paint. I will know more when the screen is covering it which may make it ok. But it contrasts with whiteness of the hull now. The primer is a very white white.

I used Rustoleum Hammer finish on the outer trim ring.

Nice. Thanks for the pics.

ben2go said:

Nice. Thanks for the pics.

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I glued on the screen with the rubber cement, Does a real nice job and does not build up any thickness. advantage is it can be replaced easily if the screen gets damaged.Target has the 4 oz bottle cheapest I could find at $1.99. I will simply screw it on to hull, no real need to seal the outside ring.

Today I spray painted with gloss white the ring area of the hull wood. It is nice and shiny.
Tomorrow I will clear coat then I can attach everything and it will be done.

That's pretty neat. I'll have to keep those porthole ideas in mind.

Got it finished today. I used the Oatey toilet bowl wax seal, (Lowes $1.99).
I sprayed on some Rustoleum clear coat on the white paint, says it wont yellow and it dried fast.
The wax easily formed a bead on the inner frame of porthole. Just pull off some with fingers, and smear it onto the frame then draw it into a bead. I only sealed the inside ring.
Attached outer ring and inner ring, squeezed out the wax and wiped up excess. I took some wax and sealed the white bolted on plate to the brass frame and sealed over the screws and buffed the surface.

It is leakproof, I used the dock hose and sprayed full blast through the screen and no leaking into the boat.

I like the way it turned out and it looks good.

Do I ubderstand correctly that you sealed inner but used nothing on outer ring?
If that's correct can you elaborate on why?
I understand the reluctance to use any adhesive on inner but wondering why not seal outer and preclude any leakage to inner?

Bacchus said:

Do I ubderstand correctly that you sealed inner but used nothing on outer ring?
If that's correct can you elaborate on why?
I understand the reluctance to use any adhesive on inner but wondering why not seal outer and preclude any leakage to inner?

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The outer ring is flat to the hull and a pretty tight fit. Water is going to pass the screen regardless of if the outer ring is sealed or not to the hull. It just seems a waste of time. I also want to easily unscrew it when I paint the hull. The only advantage I suppose would be sealing the screw holes to help prevent wood rot. I could use a little wax on it later after I paint it. those screws are SS 3/4" #4 . 9 screws in a circle is plenty of holding power even with small screws..

The weakest part of what I have is the outer ring is aluminum, will see how it fairs, aluminum can corrode and shed paint. I did not use the acid etch primer.

If the paint fails, I can coat some epoxy on the aluminum or use a better primer. Where the screws attach, they also bear on the paint. I could smear a little wax onto the screws and buff it.

I got plenty of wax on my fingers, and it was an easy wash off with dish soap.

How tight is the porthole when closed? I have the exact same one in the boat as a decoration and it is not quite waterproof when closed. Did you add a gasket to it?

L

Lou_tribal said:

How tight is the porthole when closed? I have the exact same one in the boat as a decoration and it is not quite waterproof when closed. Did you add a gasket to it?

L

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Totally watertight. I blasted the dock hose at it up close through the screen, and no inside leaking.
Yes, I replaced the old rubber seal. I used a piece of closed cell foam. I cut it to fit in the wide groove and may have glued it down with something like rubber cement or Seal-All. The seal is soft and conforms easily. the old rubber seal was hard rubber and no good for sealing. I also used Seal-All to coat the inside of the outside aluminum ring before I painted it white. Seal-All is a waterproof clear adhesive, real good stuff. I did not want salt water sitting in there corroding the metal.

I dont think rain will do much penetrating, certainly the dock hose is a lot more force.

Interesting you have the exact same one as me. It is a good idea to cut a piece of metal to back up the mirror if your going to do something like I did. Originally it had these small brass clips to hold the glass mirror. I used aluminum plate with new screws to hold the glass in and it protects the mirror from water and being broken if hit. The screws were an odd size, a #5-40 thread. York bolt had a box of them, they are nice to be allen socket head screws.

Something like this might work
1/4 inch long
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FN5TD0/ref=biss_dp_t_asn

5/16 inch long
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FN1VUK/ref=biss_dp_t_asn

Or a good hardware store would sell this size. You also have to be good with cutting and fitting metal, drilling holes in the right spot for the screws. Or you could drill and tap new holes.