| Author | Message | ||
     Russ Fender (Commodore) Rating: N/A |
Having spent 24 years in the conveyor belting business and working with a wide range of compounds and polymers both rubberized and synthetics let me weigh in on what the original red/orange material is. 100% for sure, it is a cast Silicone material. And that’s my final answer. The characteristics of Silicone that lends its self as a great material for selection by the engineers of S2 are: 1) It has a low durometer (that means it is soft and compressible). This would accommodate the irregularities in the opening area that is cut out by hand to allow the mast to pass through the deck, which may differ from boat to boat. In addition to being compressible it is also resilient. This means after it is compressed under load it will recover to nearly its original shape. 2) It has excellent UV (Ultra Violet Light) resistance. UV comes from the sun and deteriorates, changing the properties of many materials over time. Other material less UV resistant can become brittle, hard, crack and even crumble. This takes many-many years to occur with silicone. 3) Excellent temperature resistance. Silicone will take in excess of +500 deg. F and go well below –50 deg. F without any significant change in properties. This makes it a superior product for boats that maybe stored outside in extreme winter conditions. 4) High coefficient of friction. (This means it is grippe) Silicone when dragged across other materials it has what could be described as a grippe feel. Some might call this tacky or sticky feel, although tacky or sticky does not also have the following characteristic. (This is why in other areas of our board members have suggested using a product like Vaseline to allow the mast to easily pass through the gasket.) Although once it is in place and set, it won't want to slip out of position. 5) Excellent release properties. (Things won’t stick to it.) While products like silicone caulk can be applied around the gasket and the mast to seal up any leaks that may occur, due to stepping and re-stepping the mast, or improper seating of the gasket, the caulk is easily removed. 6) Good overall chemical resistance. This means silicone will not deteriorate and see a change in its composition when exposed to various things like cleaners, soaps, waxes etc. Having listed why it was a good choice by S2, how can a new gasket be had? I would suggest looking in your Yellow Pages under “Rubber” and find an “Industrial Rubber Distributor” that carries silicone sheet stock and see if they will sell you a chunk. If your lucky maybe they could machine it for you to the dimensions you need. If you have a section of the old gasket that will help them. Its not a very easy product to machine so unless you have the proper tools and understand feed rates I wouldn’t try this at home kids. Otherwise you might just purchase a solid block piece with the overall width x thickness x length you need. I haven’t had to replace mine so I don’t know the size of it. One thing about silicone is that it also cuts very easily. If your experience with a good sharp utility knife and have a good straight edge, you could more than likely cut the block to resemble the factory gasket. (Be very careful, silicon cuts very easy and its possible you can over cut it.) If the distributor is unable to machine the silicone, possibly you could talk them into cutting if for you. I know this may sound stupid, but has anyone tried contacting the factory to see if they have any extra gaskets around. Good Luck Russ Fender Class Commodore Sails Call Hull #18 |
