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Hi David. We talked on the phone about this, but I thought I'd send it here
to all the guys.
I've used a product over the years with great success. It's called Vulcem
and is a liquid polyurethane that comes in a can.
I used a paint brush to apply it, and have seen it hold up well in many
applications over extended periods of time.
As far as I can tell, it's impervious to most everything ( except
solvents) remains flexible for years even in direct sunlight, and is really
strong. It tends to thicken up in cold temperatures so application should be
done when it's warm.
I plan on applying a coat on top of the compression fittings and cable
connectors where they meet the through-hulls as a back-up sealer. This stuff is
really tough, and even when I used it on some seams inside chemical/acid double
containment tanks at a local Intel plant, It was still in good shape after 5
years. I used it on metal seams on the roof and the metal regularly went
from 150 degrees in summer sun to below freezing in winter. A leak developed up
there so we went up and surveyed the whole job and basically went over the whole
system with a fine tooth comb trying to trace the leak. Turned out it was a lead
flashing near the roof penetration, and not the Vulcem protected seams and
joints. This was after over 5 years.
It stays flexible, is grey in color, and although it's a pain to remove,
not any more difficult than silicone from a tube or Sika-Flex. It is liquid
enough to float out nice and smooth when applied on a warm day, and with a
little masking tape, a nice clean looking job can be achieved.
Possibly a way to mitigate replacement hassles would be to put those
heat-shrink tubes over the connectors, and then the Vulcem over that. In that
way we might be able to just score the shrink-wrap tube with a knife and pull
the whole thing off without having to clean the stuff off the threads or
whatever. ( I haven't tried this yet, but it makes sense.)
Anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there. Frank D.
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