As I cannot really talk about what I am doing right now - this is a secret - I come back on my hatch work I just re-completed before leaving. I quickly realized that I have issue with the only gasket I did not change yet (this is custom part for this hatch, and I don't think I can find it).
But the main issue was the base sealant, between the hatch and the top of the cabin.
I just did not use enough sealant.
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| Water testing. You can see we have some issue with the gasket between the 2 parts of that hatch. |
At first, as I used 3M, I was afraid I could not remove it at all. this thing sticks like crazy, and lots of people unadvised using it for this reason. There is no place for mistake, and if you screwed it up, you are in for a ride. However, in my case, it did not really glue on the metal, barely, and in one spot, after 24h actually separate the two layers.
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| Scrapping the old-new sealant |
Removing the remaining sealant using a metal wire and cutter blades was slow and irritating (this was a brand new job after all), but I eventually managed to get it done without apparent damages.
Back to sanding, coating -again- with acetone.
This time I was not shy at all with the sealant, and found actually, it was just fine. Sure it was almost a mess when I applied pressure on the hatch , but not at all as I expected.
I was a little too slow for the job itself, and the sealant started to dry before I was totally done, but overall it went well. If that is still not sufficient, I think the next step would be to actually do not let the sealant dry after the hatch is locked down. I would put a medium pressure on the hatch, let the sealant dry and then screw it down, that will actually let a thicker level of sealant between the hatch and the cabin top and use it as a real rubber gasket, instead of just a gap filler.
Again, I am learning as I am doing it, and the 3nd time might be the good one.
However, in a hurry before taking the plane, I re did the water test and seemed ok. No leaks anymore between those two. Still needs some love for the main gasket, but I have some ideas :)
Going Dark again.
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| This time using a silicon sealant - removable. And using more of it. |
I was a little too slow for the job itself, and the sealant started to dry before I was totally done, but overall it went well. If that is still not sufficient, I think the next step would be to actually do not let the sealant dry after the hatch is locked down. I would put a medium pressure on the hatch, let the sealant dry and then screw it down, that will actually let a thicker level of sealant between the hatch and the cabin top and use it as a real rubber gasket, instead of just a gap filler.
Again, I am learning as I am doing it, and the 3nd time might be the good one.
However, in a hurry before taking the plane, I re did the water test and seemed ok. No leaks anymore between those two. Still needs some love for the main gasket, but I have some ideas :)
Going Dark again.
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