tips and tricks for sealant removal.

[yardpro]

I am getting ready to pull the fiberglass tank ( motors will be out saturday).

any easier way to remove the sealant on the deck hatch that covers the tank?

[Tony Meola]

Hopefully they just used silicone. If they did, you should be able to pretty much get one end up and then pull it out. If they used 5200 then you have another story.

If it is 5200 try cutting it with a knife. Then once the deck is out you can go to West Marine or any marine store and purchase debond spray and that will soften it up so hopefully you can clean it up.

Maybe Capt. Pat knows another trick.

[Ed Curry]

Mine was sealed with silicone. I used a razor knife and made one deep cut around the deck. It came out pretty easy.

[Navatech]

My cockpit deck (B46) was also sealed with some sort silicone sealant... But it was most certainly not the original... The 20KW Kohler that I pulled out most certainly wasn't OEM... And the only way to get it into (and out) of the lazarette was by lifting the deck... Any ideas on what I should use to reseal the deck?!...

[IRGuy]

I used a Fein "Multitool" with a toothed blade to cut down into the sealant. It took a while, but it was easier than trying to use a sharp knife. The Fein tool is expensive, but I bought it originally when I built our house, so I already had it in my shop. Today several companies sell cheaper versions of the same tool.. If you have access to a Harbor Freight store you can pick up a cheap one for less than $25 I believe. Buy several style blades until you find one that works best for you.

I tried to run the blade along the fiberglass edge of the deck piece and then made a second pass along the edge of surrounding deck, making two cuts, then I pried the sealant out using a cheap wood chisel on which I had ground down the sides so there was a sort of finger the width of the gap extending from the chisel. It was easy to push the "finger" into the sealant until it was all the way in, then pry the sealant out from the gap. If my description of this isn't clear, let me know and I will try to explain it better.

A tedious PITA job for sure.

[yardpro]

i have and tried a fein multitool and it did not work at all... the stroke of the oscillation of the blade is too short and the material flexes back and forth and will not cut.

I did have luck with a dremel small saw type tool...

the best,however was a large hook razorknife.. i had it all cut out in 10 minutes once i began using it.