Caulk - don't do it wrong!

[Battson]

For anyone considering using caulk to seal up their windows - be informed - the strip caulk (this stuff shown below) is a menace and a complete waste of time. Upon reading the manual, and in my ignorance, I confused this strip caulk with silicon sealant "caulking material" which I should have used.

Bad, bad stuff...

This stuff leaves you with an awful mess in the long term, and doesn't do the job it's supposed to do (seal stuff). It just gets warm in the sun, turns into a pseudo-plastic fluid, moves around with the pressure / vibration of flight, and ultimately makes a hell of a mess....
Of course, I didn't figure this out until too late. It is IMPOSSIBLE to clean up without nasty chemicals.

I have the caulk-strip crap all through sealed parts of my plane, and it is causing me a seemingly Sisyphean headache. I am slowly getting around to removing the stuff, and using proper sealing tapes or silicons to do the job right, the second time around. I am having to cover up some of the mess it left behind.

Consider yourself warned... carry on.

 

[Chris In Wisconsin]

Ick. That's a heck of a mess. What is this tape you have there?

 

[swpilot3]

Wow!! Thanks for sharing! I'd like to know what tape you have there also.

 

[jaredyates]

I used Lexel, which is a silicon alternative that is clear and remains somewhat pliable after it dries. It has worked well in the places I used it. Best of all, they have it at the local hardware store.

 

[Mark Moyle]

I use the stuff the EAA recommends. Same stuff used to seal steel roofing panels at the overlap. To seal the edges of the window frames and windshield I used primerless black urethane....ordered from Yukon Equipment for glueing in Case tractor windows.


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[Battson]

Just some PVC pipe-wrap tape which I had laying around. It's watertight, pliable, and easily removable if I need to open the windshield fairings again (which I do from time to time).