Repairing a window seal

Faced with opening windows with faulty flanges, Richard Hare opted for the repair route rather than whole window replacement

According to Vitesse Marine’s Paul Cleverly, the only adhesive that effectively bonds the rubber flanges of aluminium-framed Vetus opening windows is the highly specialised Ergo Zwart 5880. Made in Germany, it costs £35 plus postage, and that’s for just a tiny 20g bottle. Before you cry ‘how much?’, rest assured that Mr Cleverly appears to be correct. Sikaflex and similar PU adhesive/mastics might bond reasonably well to aluminium – and I use the word ‘reasonably’ advisedly – but they ignore flange rubber completely. Two of my Golden Hind 31 Keppel’s window flanges were no longer effectively attached – hardly surprising since they’ve endured 15 years of continual exposure. Therefore, I had to bite the bullet and use the proper stuff. It was that or two new windows, plus the fag…

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Practical Boat Owner (Digital) - 1 Issue, June 2015

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