underwater sealant

[kota03]

I am looking for a low pressure water "sealant". I am needing to seal a relatively small failure of a butyl rubber base flexible sealant applied between galvanized culvert pipe and cast iron canal gate frame. The site experiences approximately 4' head of water. The application cannot be properly dried during application.

 

[MikeHalloran]

You might stand a chance with 3M #5200.

Available in small tubes at Wal-Mart, in the Marine section.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[unclesyd]

MikeHalloran is on the right track as there are several caulks available to set underwater or on wet surfaces if the gap isn't too wide. Checkout the nearest marine supply store and see what they have to offer.

There is also another set of materials that are used for piling restoration that will work.
Checkout the Densona Products, one of numerous suppliers that can supply wet surface caulks.

http://www.densona.com/DensoMarineSystems.htm

You also may want to checkout the Epoxy Products site.

http://www.epoxyproducts.com/under4u.html

 

[btrueblood]

2-part urethane adhesives have worked well for me in wet sealing applications. The one problem I can see with any caulk or adhesive is if the 4' of head is in place during cure - no way to cofferdam that, even for the 5 minutes for some of the faster setting 2-part epoxies or urethanes?

 

[unclesyd]

btrueblood,

With some of the marine caulks I have sealed leaks at 7' underwater on several wooden boats, granted the leaks were not wide. It was where some caulking was lost.
To keep the differential low he could get some fibrous marine caulking to assist the sealant.

 

[btrueblood]

Yeah, good idea unclesyd. I was going to suggest a fiberglass backing for whatever caulk was laid down, or perhaps a sheet of harder material (polyethylene?) that could be peeled away afterwards if there was no room for the backer to stay put. But without more info. on what the leak area looks like, it's hard to make suggestions.