Leaky lewmar hatches

[saltygirl]

Any advice on fixing the leaks on our 1998 ocean series lewmar hatches?

[Stu Jackson]

Are you asking about the opening ports or the saloon and V berth hatches?

I wrote this just the other day to someone asking me offline about the opening ports:

Older Lewmars had a horrible reputation for leaking, either through the O ring at the handle or through the gap in the outside frames halfway up each short side.

I did a search on the Forum/Main Message Board on "Lewmar leaks" and found this, among many other posts:

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,7133.msg48114.html#msg48114

Doing a search with Lewmar and Ray Irvine, I found this:

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,2979.msg19472.html#msg19472

You can also use the C34 Tech wiki, under leaks, there's a Lewmar solution discussion, here:

http://c34.org/wiki/index.php?title=Leaks

Please note that these are older posts & solutions for the older Lewmar ports.  Skippers "back then" used silicone, which i would advise against these days.  I would use butyl tape from Maine Sail for this now.

http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/boat_projects

The upper two right boxes show How To and how to buy it.  Don't know if he ships to Mexico.  His butyl tape is far superior to what you can get in a big box store.  IIRC, Home Depot has stores in Mexico.  Their stuff is not so good, but would do in a pinch.  Gray, not black.  I'd avoid silicone like the plague, you just can't get it off, and recommend that you rather use lower quality butyl tape than silicone.  Once you get back, you can get Maine Sail's stuff.  I'd be glad to have him ship it to me and bring it up for you with me during the summer, it's that good.  I've done three of my six chainplates and other stanchion rebedding with it.  It's flawless.  Did I say I like it?

Please don't limit your research to just these links, they're representative samples of what I'd consider some of the best.  Do the search I suggested and others to read more.  Since I have NO Lewmar ports on our boat, I can't consider myself an "expert" on them, but am just passing along what I'd do to learn about them if I did have them, what I remembered seeing & reading, and how I'd approach finding out more information.

[saltygirl]

The salon and v berth hatches. Are the gaskets easy to replace?

[Braxton]

Are you sure it is the gaskets?   Both mine were leaking and the gaskets were fine.   On both I needed to replace the seal around the lens in the frame.   That's an easy (if slightly messy) do it yourself project.

[saltygirl]

I will check that. Thanks Braxton!

[Ken Juul]

Sometimes it is just built up dirt and grit, try cleaning the seal and lens before you do the replacement.