Mr_Asa
UberDork
4/28/21 12:54 p.m.
Just a vibration insulator, not an actual electrical insulator.
Working on one of my boats (haven't posted it here yet) and it is a fiberglass hull with aluminum trim. I'm taking the trim off to clean it of the crappy paint job the previous owner put on it. Previously it looks like it had little rubber washers between the hull and the trim. Should I just go with whatever rubber washers I can find? Nylon? HDPE? Something else?
3m 4200 bedding compound if there is a chance you may need to remove it in the future.
If you never want to remove it until the end of time, 5200.
A lot of rubber products are conductive and can play hell with galvanic corrosion. Particularly blacks as they use carbon for a coloring agent. If you go that route be sure it is a non-conductive rubber.
Most of the insulators I have seen are a higher-durometer thing so they can slide. The expansion/contraction rates for aluminum are way higher than the glass. If you don't let them float/slide, the aluminum will bow out the first time it gets in the sun.
For that reason I recommend against an adhesive unless it has a lot of give. Not sure Silicone would be the best as I think it will start to tear over the years with the expanding and contracting of the aluminum, but something along those lines.