DS43 window material?

[mikebnz]

What are the salon windows on a DS43 made of and how thick are they? It’s a 2005 SO DS 43.

If anyone has any information it would be a great help.

Cheers
Mike

[alenka]

My understanding is that they are made of polycarbonate.

They are easy to crack if the mast is unstepped without due care and, as you might expect, expensive to replace.



ps. Don't allow anyone to clean they with a harsh, abrasive, cleaner. Even cream cleaners such as CIF (Maybe a UK brand name) will scratch them inside or out.

[freeflow]

I would also like to know what the trim sticker is on them.  my 2003 43DS has a sticker that covers the sealant beneath the window.   These stickers have faded.  I don;t even know what was the original color.   white?   If someone had the specs on this sticker, I would get new ones made.

1 to 2 inch wide edging strip is definitely some sort of sticker.  It is NOT paint.  see fading edging in photo

[alenka]

I have no idea what the edging is. I suspect if you order a window replacement it will come as a kit. There are others on this forum that have had to replace cracked windows maybe they will jump in here.

I did once meet an owner who had masked off and painted these stickers with a dark bronze paint. It looked very stylish.  

[sleighride]

Definitely polycarbonate (aka Lexan) as to widows themselves. The original exterior trim was black. I think it was paint and not a sticker. Mine faded and turned white after about ten years. I have since cut two inch strips of black vinyl to replace the trim, but Vinyl is hard to work with to remove air bubbles and to follow window curves with each one a little different. If I were starting over from scratch, I would mask each window and use a black paint compatible with the polycarbona

[panoramix]

I replaced my polycarbonate windows. The edges were sprayed black with paint for acrylic.

Find a day with zero wind and mask the area widely. The black spray ends up everywhere and you have to clean up quickly before it hardens.

[rxc]

I used to think that they were lexan, but in another thread, someone said that they were just acrylic. The black strip is important, because it protects the window bedding compound from UV deterioration. I re-bedded one of my windows last year when a leak got too bad, and it was a major project. I need to complete the thread I started on it, some time soon. I have an almost full set of windows, sitting in my garage. We bought them when we bought the boat, because the original owners had used a scrubby pad on the windows - very bad. We tried to have someone in Annapolis install them, but they stopped the attempt"before we break something important", back in 2007. But then we installed sun-covers on the outside, and never got around to doing anything more till last year. I took the old one out, cleaned everything up, and re-installed it with a Dow adhesive/bedding compound that is widely used in commercial boats. Jeanneau used Sikaflex with a primer, but I thought I could do it with the Dow adhesive, and it is working well, so far.

You can measure the thickness of the windows directly - they are just glued in place on top of the opening. Nothing is hidden or bedded in any sort of recess.

I used Krylon plastic paint to re-do the UV strip.

[Tafika II]

I don't know about the 43DS material, but the SO42DS is Perspek PMMA acrylic made from cast sheet which makes it stronger.

[svmasarap]

Jan 11, 2020 10:53:58 GMT mikebnz said:

What are the salon windows on a DS43 made of and how thick are they? It’s a 2005 SO DS 43.

If anyone has any information it would be a great help.

Cheers
Mike

The windows are definitely acrylic (PMMA) and they’re 8mm thick. On my 2003 43ds they routered a 19mm wide and 3mm deep groove around the edge of the windows in which the glue is applied.
I’m in the process of redoing all the windows in the saloon, because they are leaking/loose. I found that probably due to UV the glue has separated from the acrylic, only the part under the edge of the roof is stil stuck.
I was able to take out the windows and clean them and have a good look at them. From what I can see there is a transparent coating around the edges of the windows. It’s no sticker an d my guess is, it’s some kind of UV protection. The black you see from the outside is the beat of glue. And I fear that if that has ‘faded’ just like mine had, the glue detached from the acrylic. Give it a push and you’ll see.
The former owner has tried to fix the problem with some black stuff, which in the end made the mess even bigger.
I fear there is no easy solution for this problem. Take out the windows, clean the mess up very well. Get all the right stuf to re glue them and hope things are done for the next 15 years... I use Sikaflex 295uv, together with Sika 205 activator and Sika MultiPrimer Marine on the gelcoat/Polyester side and SikaPrimer-209 D on the acrylic. The 209-d is black and a UV shield what makes things look nice on the outside too. Sika also has special nozzles to get the right “beat” form which makes things easier. 
Another thing that occurred to me is, that Sika prescribes that there should be 6mm of glue thickness to cope with the setting of the acrylic. I made several measurements on the glue I took out and there was never more than 3,5 mm. So I placed 3mm spacers (of some dried beat of the same glue) on the edge of the windows making sure that with the 3mm groove I have 6mm glue between the acrylic and the Polyester. I guess all in all the hole process takes me one day per windows (and we have 8!) Although the first ones toke longer than the last ones......