Replacing EZ2CY Panels

[bobk]

Before I re invent the wheel, has anyone removed and replaced the acrylic panels in an EZ2CY enclosure? I have two that are cracked. How did you do it, and what adhesive did you use? Source?

Bobk

 

[GJH]

DIY? No. I had the original dealer do it when we cracked one. I think it was a couple hundred bucks for the large pane in the center of the aft enclosure. That was 5 years ago, I am pretty sure they do not sell the panels alone. There are alternatives now that are a little more flexible, but man, it is hard to beat the visual acuity of the original. Loved that stuff. Our aft deck back was encased in it.

 

[chris piazza]

Half to agree with George, not a DIY, my entire bridge enclosure is EZ2CY and I have in the last ten years replaced 9 panels due to several reasons (hail, bird strike!) there are only two people in Michigan that I know of that are certified installers. They require heat to be applied to attach the trim edge and sew on the zippers. Last one I had done was between 45-50 SQ. Ft. In my case that translates to $700-$800 a panel

Chris
Superior Nights 53C

 

[Beckytek]

Don't know where you are located or the availability in your area. I buy my acrylic from a dealer in New Jersey. They come in 4' x 8' x.060 sheets. If you can remove the old panels ,(which I assume are glued in), you'll be able to cut new panels using the old ones as patterns. Buy a cutting tool and make new panels and glue them back in. I use Loctite vinyl, fabric & plastic flexible adhesive, available at Lowes paint dept. There may be better glue out there but this has worked very well so far for me, 8 years.
with this glue it's possible to remove the acrylic from the fabric if you need to change a panel..
I made all the panels for my boat using acrylic and they are incredibly clear. After cleaning and polishing they become almost invisible. Good luck.

 

[bobk]

Don't know where you are located or the availability in your area. I buy my acrylic from a dealer in New Jersey. They come in 4' x 8' x.060 sheets. If you can remove the old panels ,(which I assume are glued in), you'll be able to cut new panels using the old ones as patterns. Buy a cutting tool and make new panels and glue them back in. I use Loctite vinyl, fabric & plastic flexible adhesive, available at Lowes paint dept. There may be better glue out there but this has worked very well so far for me, 8 years.
with this glue it's possible to remove the acrylic from the fabric if you need to change a panel..
I made all the panels for my boat using acrylic and they are incredibly clear. After cleaning and polishing they become almost invisible. Good luck.

Thanks Beckytek. Two further questions. How did you remove the existing panels? And did you need to use clamps when gluing?

Bobk

 

[Beckytek]

Thanks Beckytek. Two further questions. How did you remove the existing panels? And did you need to use clamps when gluing?

Bobk

I assume you mean removing the acrylic from the sunbrella material. Using the glue I mentioned it is possible to pull the fabric from the acrylic. The glue ez2cy used is probably different and I'm not sure you'll be able to separate the two. That part I don't know.
The glue I used dries pretty quick and doesn't require clamps. I laid the panels out on the floor of my garage and applied the glue , using masking tape on the acrylic. After apply glue I laid wooden strips on a section at a time and put gallon jugs of water on them until the glue dried, about 20 minutes.

 

[bobk]

Thanks all, I'm going to give it a try.

Bob

 

[trimmerfromoz]

I assume you mean removing the acrylic from the sunbrella material. Using the glue I mentioned it is possible to pull the fabric from the acrylic. The glue ez2cy used is probably different and I'm not sure you'll be able to separate the two. That part I don't know.
The glue I used dries pretty quick and doesn't require clamps. I laid the panels out on the floor of my garage and applied the glue , using masking tape on the acrylic. After apply glue I laid wooden strips on a section at a time and put gallon jugs of water on them until the glue dried, about 20 minutes.

Hi there, do you know if this Loctite product works with polycarbonate Makrolon?

 

[bobk]

No experience with Macrolon. I don't recall seeing it listed as one which the glue will not adhere to, but don't know if it will cause solvent stress cracking.

Bobk

 

[bobk]

Just to close this thread, I just finished the job. Removing the first panel I worked on was relatively easy as the original glue was failing. A heat gun helped. The second panel was a different matter. That glue was still in good shape and required working with lots of heat and a worn flexible putty knife inch by inch. The glue recommended by Beckytek worked well. The finished job cost about $56 for materials (Lowes) and took about 12 hours to re-glue one panel and replace two others. Time well spent against an estimated near $1000 for a pro.

Beckytek, Are you satisfied with the Sunbrella? I'm about to have my fly bridge enclosure redone and the fabricator wants to use black Stamoid coated fabric. I think that may be what is on my current enclosure in an off white, and the coating has not done as well as Sunbrella on past boats but I have not used the Sunbrella with acrylic.

For others contemplating replacing the acrylic panels, it most definitely is a DIY job. You will need a flat work bench to hold the panel to work on it. I wonder if a fabric steamer might work better than a heat gun, but didn't have one available to try.

Bobk

 

[Beckytek]

Bobk, I am very satisfied with sunbrella. I made my bimini top 8 years ago and it still looks good and doesn't leak a drop. I use the recommended waterproofing on it every spring (16 ounces) to make sure. I checked with Sailrite before doing the work and they recommended Sunbrella. I have no regrets.
I have no experience with stamoid. I believe it is waterproof. Ron

 

[GJH]

Bob, congrats on doing it yourself. What did you replace the EZ2CY with? Just to clarify, in my case I did not DIY because the dealer did it for so cheap using the real stuff. Plus they did really beautiful work, admired by every subsequent canvas/upholstery guy who saw it.

We had a lot of Stamoid on our boat, the double biminis, cover for the front sun pads and bench. And a lot of Sunbrella, in fact just about every soft goods item on the boat was upholstered in a Sunbrella fabric of some sort (they make some very fine interior fabrics). I really liked the Stamoid for the biminis, very water proof and no maintenance; definitely would go that route again if fabricating a new bimini. If I may ask, why black?

 

[bobk]

Bob, congrats on doing it yourself. What did you replace the EZ2CY with? Just to clarify, in my case I did not DIY because the dealer did it for so cheap using the real stuff. Plus they did really beautiful work, admired by every subsequent canvas/upholstery guy who saw it.

We had a lot of Stamoid on our boat, the double biminis, cover for the front sun pads and bench. And a lot of Sunbrella, in fact just about every soft goods item on the boat was upholstered in a Sunbrella fabric of some sort (they make some very fine interior fabrics). I really liked the Stamoid for the biminis, very water proof and no maintenance; definitely would go that route again if fabricating a new bimini. If I may ask, why black?

I used acrylic .080 sheet from Lowes. Years back the owner of the EZ2CY brand said their acrylic was simply Plexiglas. If I recall, Lowes' is Plaskolite. The bid to change the smaller panel was $360. Past experience (4 years ago) was $500 for a larger panel. I figured it would be more today, so just DIY'ed it.

The black I'm referring to is just the frames for the acrylic panels. The top is a hard top. The aft enclosure has black frames and they have worked out just fine. The current top frames are white, and the zippers are a problem to keep clean. I like the look of the white frames.... see my avatar, but the hassle is not worth it.

Bobk

 

[SEVEN]

Can you post a photo of the completed job?

 

[bobk]

Can you post a photo of the completed job?

OK, but I will not be back down until tomorrow. Remember I just removed cracked/broken acrylic panels and replaced them with new so there is no change in appearance.

Bobk

 

[bobk]

]

Can you post a photo of the completed job?

Here are the pics requested. Black frame panel is sundeck, white frame is bridge.

 

[bobk]

I had my enclosures removed for Irma and the contractor managed to break a couple of the acrylic panels. For various reasons, I'll do the repair myself, but wanted to update this thread. The Locktite adhesive mentioned early in this thread has not worked out well here in Florida. The heat softens it too much and the acrylic/fabric joint fails.

I have used a vinyl adhesive called H66 recently for another repair and so far so good. I'll be using it on this job too, but it too is not ideal as it is too agressive on the plastic and causes some solvent stress cracking. Has anyone found something better?

Bobk

 

[SEVEN]

Thanks for the updated photo. Nice job for a DIY boater. Congratulations

 

[Tinman]

I had my enclosures removed for Irma and the contractor managed to break a couple of the acrylic panels. For various reasons, I'll do the repair myself, but wanted to update this thread. The Locktite adhesive mentioned early in this thread has not worked out well here in Florida. The heat softens it too much and the acrylic/fabric joint fails.

I have used a vinyl adhesive called H66 recently for another repair and so far so good. I'll be using it on this job too, but it too is not ideal as it is too agressive on the plastic and causes some solvent stress cracking. Has anyone found something better?

Bobk

I used h66 to attach some accessories to an inflatable, lasted about 6 months. Popped right off after one Fl winter.

 

[bobk]

I used h66 to attach some accessories to an inflatable, lasted about 6 months. Popped right off after one Fl winter.

Thanks. I had high hopes.

Bobk