Recently a window was broken on my Marine Trader DC. It looks like a big project. Any information as to how to fix the problem would be appreciated. It looks like it has to have the outside frame taken off. How is this done without damage to the frame? What kind of caulk should be used when replacing the glass and frame?

I've had to replace several windows on two trawlers over the past 10 years due to broken glass or chipped corners. The frames will eventually come off, unbroken, with care. Remove the bungs (there's a trick to that so as not to damage the surrounding frame) and then the screws (in my experience, about 80% will come out without using an "easy out"). Then I use good, sturdy, 1" putty knives to slide under the frame all the way around the frame to loosen it up, follow up with some very small pry bars, and eventually the frame will pull out. At that point it's just a matter of removing the channels and glass, having the glass recut at a plate glass place, finding new channel to fit the glass (not a big deal - try Jamestown or Defender), cutting the channel pieces (they're usually cut at angles on the ends to match the adjoining piece), and then putting the whole thing back together! The trick to removing bungs in teak is to make a tool from solid metal rod slightly smaller than the diameter of the bung and long enough to hold in your hand and strike with a hammer! I bought a large spike and squared off the pointy end. For a 3/8" bung, use 5/16" or even 1/4" rod. Drill a small hole down the center of the bung until it bottoms out on the screw (don't push so hard as to drill into the screw beneath the bung). Then position the "bung tool" centered on the bung and strike it a good blow with the hammer - the purpose of this is to crush the bung inward a bit and away from the sides of the bung hole. Next, take a wood screw slightly larger than the hole you drilled into the center of the bung, and with a power drill drive it through the bung and let it bottom out on the underlying screw and keep it turning - this should lift the bung out of the bung hole. If this technique fails to remove all of the bung material, use an awl to pick out what's left until you can see the top of the screw. Then use whatever type of screw bit that fits the underlying screw (usually a Phillips head - sometimes square drive if you're lucky) and remove the screw. If the screw slots are messed up, you'll have to resort to an easy out. I'll be happy to answer any other questions you may have. It's not hard work, just time consuming! <><><><><><><><><><><><>Mozilla Thunderbird<><><><><><><><><><> Bob McLeran and Judy Young Cruising the Atlantic Coast MV Sanderling Defever 41 Trawler Blog: http://sanderlingcruise2009.blogspot.com/ Pictures: http://public.fotki.com/rmcleran/ Currently: Henderson's Wharf Marina, Baltimore, Maryland On 9/16/2009 10:21 AM, Mylofive@aol.com wrote: > Recently a window was broken on my Marine Trader DC. It looks like a big > project. Any information as to how to fix the problem would be > appreciated. It looks like it has to have the outside frame taken off. How is this > done without damage to the frame? What kind of caulk should be used when > replacing the glass and frame?

Here is a Pascoe article that has some good information. All I can say is don't caulk it with silicone if you ever want to paint around that area. http://www.yachtsurvey.com/WindowRepair.htm