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20+ years of sunshine turned iNept’s cabin windows white.? Today I started on the replacement project.? It turns out that the hull thickness varies around the window perimeter, so the assembler used screws that are longer than needed and then cut them off even with the acorn nuts.? By bending the screws and distorting the threads during that cut, the worker achieved additional assurance that those fasteners wouldn’t come loose on their own.? My error was to try turning the screws from the outside before going inside to grab the nuts.? Consequentially, the screws became unstuck and I had to hold each screw from the outside while turning the nut with a ratchet on the inside – an awkward stretch.? It went faster on the port side; I didn’t mess with the screws at first; I went right to the acorn nuts and was able to get all but one of them off, working only from the inside.

Cutting replacement acrylic will be fairly easy.? But I could use some help dealing with the trim.? It became brittle and broke in several places over the years.? Is there any other material I could use for the trim to help keep the window and its sealant in place?? Any other solution ideas?

Thanks!

Halden

Hi Tod,

Thanks for the link and for posting all that detail!? I looked up the Spirit 23 on the internet and found that its windows originally had trim, as mine did.? Did you retain the inside trim, or did you do something else to spiff it up inside?

It’s not so sunny in Cascadia, so I’m going to use clear acrylic.? Being clear might make it look odd to have paint on the inside to cover the tape.? And like you, I’m suspicious of the paint’s strength.? So I’m thinking of painting the outside perimeter and edge of the window white, and using white silicone sealant.? I’ve used VHB tape in other applications – very impressive strength!? I also have some really sticky silicone meant for holding junction boxes to PV modules.? I’m pretty sure that the combination will be strong enough to hold the window on.? But in a blowdown, “pretty sure” isn’t good enough, so I’ll want to install some bolts, too.? Do you think 4 bolts – one above, one below, one fore, and one aft would be enough?

Any thoughts about painting the acrylic on the outside? Or any other aspect of this plan?
Thanks for the offer to look for leftover fasteners.? Once I settle on my plan and scrounge through my fasteners collection to gather the parts, I'll contact you if I can't find something.

Cheers

Halden

Windows Update:

Here’s an update on my cabin window replacement.? Thanks for all the comments that helped me think this through!

I cut 1/8 inch clear acrylic pieces a little larger than the original window cutouts.? The original holes for mounting the trim were not in the right places for the new windows, so I drilled new holes.? I applied clear silicone adhesive meant for marine applications to the overlap region and used nylon screws to hold it in place during cure.? Not satisfied with the strength of the nylon and unsure of the adhesive’s strength, I later replaced these with M3 stainless steel screws purchased from Tayda Electronics.? The fiberglass thickness varies around the perimeter, so I used a few different screw lengths.? I later applied additional adhesive sealant around the perimeter.? My latest plan is to simply apply white acrylic paint over the overlap region in lieu of new trim material.?

It feels much better inside the cabin now that I can see what’s on the other side of the windows.

Cheers

Halden