Leak From Hatch Hinge

[KenKrawford]

Yesterday during a light rain I noticed some water dripping from the hinge on the hatch over the dinette table. Because of the rain I was unable to open the hatch and re-torque the 2 hinge screws visible behind the pivot. Since it's a boat I'm pessimistically anticipating that something as simple as retightening 2 screws will fix a leak. Before tackling this issue are there any other gremlins that I need to be aware of?

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[SeaBreeze]

Ken, I share your pessimism. I had a similar issue. Small leak at the hinge. When I opened the hatch I found the hinge was no longer attached to the frame, only to the lexan. Hatch hinges were always a bit stiff which is a good thing to keep them open. But I found the hatch attachment to the aluminum (I think) frame was done with pop rivets and had failed. The rivets are just like the ones sold at Home Depot. So much for “marine grade”. If this turns out to be what you find, have fun. I drilled out the old rivets and holes. Then installed stainless screws through the frame into the fiberglass. Much stronger now.
Rick
Sea Breeze

[sv.divine.grace]

Hi Ken,

We have a Lewmar 40 low profile hatch on our 350.
Other leak points could be any of the following:
- the rubber seal around the lense
- the butyl seal between the hatch frame and the deck
- the screws thru the lense that attach the friction arm to the hatch cover.

By selectively pouring water over the various leak pts, working from low to high, we found the lense seal to have failed. The port hatch failed first and the starboard hatch failed a couple years later.
Lense seal kits should be available from Catalina direct.

Regards

Alan Bray
SV Divine Grace #307

[KenKrawford]

Thanks Rick & Alan for your pointers. That gives me plenty to check out when I tackle this project. I'm hoping it's not the buty seal since I re-bedded this hatch last year.
Switching gears slightly, the port light gasket in the head has completely detached from the aluminum frame. I've tried several times to re-attach it but it always comes loose again. There appears to be a tiny bit of silicone in the aluminum channel but I'm hesitant to apply more. Even though the gasket is intact does it need to be replaced once it gets to this stage or should I just add more silicone and cross my fingers?

[sv.divine.grace]

Hi Ken,

Alan here. Over a number of years we have replaced all the portlight gaskets because of leakage. I highly recommend removing the entire portlight for this. The hardest part is getting the silicone out of the channel that the seal locks into and removing all the old butyl seal material. I removed the lense, hinges, and latches also because the used acetone to help soften the caulk and butyl which you do not want to get on the lense because it will etch it.

Good luck.

Alan

[KenKrawford]

Thanks for the info Alan. When you put the new gaskets in, did you apply a thin bead of silicone around the entire perimeter or just enough dabs to hold the gasket in place?

[sv.divine.grace]

Ken,

The frame has a channel that the gasket locks into. A bead of Silicone should be squeezed into the channel all the way around the frame before installing the gasket. You will need to use a blunt tool such as a flat screwdriver to press the gasket into the channel until it locks. I believe you can find instructions on the Lewmar website.

Alan