Revisiting moisture between dual pane glass

[bklaes]

I'm doing the door window removal, cleaning, reassembly and reinstall project to eliminate the moisture between the panes.
(Tom Cherry, I HAVE SEARCHED this forum and HAVE READ the prior posts and HAVE WATCHED YouTube videos).
I still have a question.  It is suggested using butly tape to seal the 2 back together.

In 2015 JACWJAMES wrote, Monaco did not use the butyl type caulk on the window but instead used a rubber type weather seal that you could reuse if you didn't cut up too bad with the putty knife."

My original rubber seal survived disassembly and is in good shape.  I have in my shop a roll of 1" Butyl tape.
Any recommendations... re-use the original rubber weather seal or use the butyl tape?   Use both?   I just don't want to go thru this again.

[Martinvz]

Bill, what do you mean by 1” tape? Is that width or thickness?
The tape the ‘pros’ use is about 1/4” diameter that flattens out when the glass is pressed together before reinstallation into the frame. They use a black bead tape that could have a sirt of desiccant in it but I have not seen the specs to confirm this. 

[Ivylog]

Just did my door window and reused the seal. Ran a small bead of silicone around the circumference and smoothed with my finger to help seal before putting the rubber U back on. Only been 2 weeks but looks good and we’ve had a fair amount of rain. Yea I know people don’t like silicone, but it’s my window and I’ve used it for decades with good results out of the sun.

Edited March 23, 2024 by Ivylog

[bklaes]

Martin, I will use a 3/16" spacer from CRL, then fill with spacer sealant.   After that, I'm asking if I apply a strip of butyl that is 1" wide (probably 1/8" thick") or reuse the original rubber weather seal.   

Dick, so I'm clear... you ran a bead of silicone around the 2 panes after the spacer sealant was applied, and before you re-installed the "U-shape" weather stripping?

Something else I forgot to mention in my original post... a bead of white silicon/pro-flex was applied to the outside of the door around the window hole, before the window frame was inserted.   A small bead of caulk, in the area that is unpainted.   I didn't read anything about making that bead of caulk during reassembly.

 

Edited March 23, 2024 by bklaes
clarity

[jacwjames]

My windows were in a frame, don't remember a rubber seal like that.  After cleaning the window  I used the spacer, https://www.dkhardware.com/black-3-16-wide-x-3-16-thick-edgetech-super-spacer-66-roll-ss31666bl-product-77197.html,   

I then used this sealant https://www.dkhardware.com/black-silicone-foam-and-metal-super-spacer-insulating-glass-sealant-877-product-18840.html

with a guide block to put a good seal around the edge https://www.dkhardware.com/3-16-polyethylene-sealant-guide-sgt316-product-15491.html

The used the metal frame to put window back in.  And then a bead of caulk around the perimeter of the frame. 

 

But your's may be different. 

[Martinvz]

Thanks Jim, that was what I was referring to. 
For the window frame you can use the same type bead as the first product you had but upsize it to 1/4 or 5/8 to get a good seal. There might be some squeeze out along the edges but that is easily solved with a plastic scraper from Harbor Freight. 
The service that cleaned my windows reinstalled using the existing rubber seal at the edge of the frame and 2 windows leaked badly. They came out and caulked the frame but it does not look great. I am thinking that I might pull the frames and use the butyl bead on those windows. 

[bklaes]

Something seems different.   I'll keep re-read and re-watch the info.

[96 EVO]

If the original seal is in good shape, you could re-install.

Myself, I use butyl tape, and toss the factory rubber.