Has anyone (successfully) replaced the lens and gasket on their Lewmar rollstop model trapezoidal foredeck hatch. My hatch was not leaking but the lens was terribly crazed. I opted to buy the "parts" and do it myself . Firstly, because I didn't want to wait the 6-week lead time quoted to me by Select Plastics/Hatch Masters AND I thought "what the heck, it can't be that hard for a savvy boat worker guy like me." WRONG! I am oly doing the hatch lid. I can't seen to get the gasket to conform all the way flush into the corner radius on the hatch lid. Anyone have any tips/tricks for dealing with this particular hatch model? So far I have been really fighting it having installed it once, with visual gaps in gasket corners—after seated and bedded with Dow 795. It passed the SoCa historic 4.5 inch in 3-days rain test last week, not leaking. But it was covered with a Sunbrella hatch cover. Once I removed cover a did the aggressive hose test, it leaked. So I removed it and started over. Now on round two. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
See photos below:
Gaps once installed the first time. There are two "channels/tabs" on rubber gasket and two in the aluminum hatch extrusion. I can only seat the rubber into one of the channels. Too stiff to feed into outside channel without it popping out of the other one. The hatch frame is one piece.
Maybe it will stretch a bit with some heating with a hair dryer?
Good luck,
Ed
Guys : When I found out the lead time for hatch repair from Select Plastics - here's what I did:
When I put up the boat for the winter in October I took off the opening hatch and sealed the Vberth opening and then covered the boat. Then I sent off the hatch to Select Plastics. It was a month or two? and I got the hatch back with a new lens and gasket well before splash time in April.
They did a fantastic job and I remounted the new-like hatch in early April after uncovering the boat!! :clap
A few thoughts
Good solution for those that aren't lucky enough to be able to sail year-round. I have talked to the folks a Select Plastics/Hatch Masters and they have been very helpful and empathetic. They said "they too struggle with every one of these old-style Lewmar gasket installs". They said it was a real PIA task and wished me luck. They suggested heating the gasket with a hairdryer and use friction clamps so it does pop out one section when you are working on another. Also use super glue to hold sections as you go. NOT FUN!
That was on my list of things to do. Uhhh, maybe not! I have the same "problem" here in FL. Boat is in the water all year, so no sending it in for repair
Tim : "Bite the Bullet" and Take off the hatch and send it off in the winter (shorter repair time) and just cover the frame until you get the hatch back!
A thought
You can do it.
I replaced the plastic and the gasket on my Lewmar Ocean on our Ericson. Crazy thing is, I'm about to do it again on our C34 because it very crazed.
Try using a little soapy water in a spray bottle. It will help it seat. Also, use clamps or a pair of vice grips (carefully) to hold it as you go, like putting a tire on a motorcycle.
Guys : After I change out that Vberth crazed lens I made a sunbrella cover to keep the hot sun off of the new lens. There was an additional benefit - that cover protects the Vberth occupants from becoming "Moon Burnt" !!! :D
A thought
We had covers on our Ericson hatches to protect the lexan and keep it cool below when running the AC
Fwiw, I called Hatchmasters to confirm they would refurbish my trapezoid hatch. Removed it from the boat in May 2023, I built a temporary cover, packed up and shipped my hatch across the country to Hatchmasters. I insured the shipment, it cost about $80.
Hatchmasters called me to say they would not repair it, too old, never was seaworthy, can't get any parts, no seals available, no handles available, lense was never thick enough and he couldn't make any lense work in this hatch. The dude was pretty animated about how he would not work on this hatch because he couldn't guarantee the work and it would cost me hundreds of dollars to even do the refurb. At one point he agreed to work on it as I was fine with the price and no warranty/guarantee, but then changed his story.
Such a strange response from this business, I had to pay shipping to get my hatch back without being repaired.
Im not trying to bash the business, obviously they've been doing this a long time, but this sucked. It was the owner that called me with the bizarre explanation for why they would not work on this hatch, over the phone it can be hard to know, but he seemed out of sorts.
Edit: our hatch is a Bomar, hopefully the Lewmar's are still serviceable .
FWIW - On my 1987 MK1, I replaced the gasket on the Bomar trapezoid fwd hatch and the Bomar square saloon overhead hatch. Bought the gasket material at Catalina Direct. On the fwd hatch I replaced the handles, plus replaced the mushroom caps, and o-rings on both fwd and saloon hatches. A thicker lens is available at Catalina Direct or I can get at a local plastics shop. What parts couldn't he get?
Jon W. Thanks for the info as I will try to diy the hatch. Our original thin lens is cracked and a thicker one will be great.
No idea why the response from Tony, it was a truly strange experience.
The standard Lewmar trapezoidal hatch lens is 1/2 inch thick.
To keep myself out of trouble, I said "handles" but correct terminology is "Hatch Dogs". The hatch dogs come with the mushroom caps, but if you just want the mushroom caps I bought those a few years ago from Go2Marine. The Bomar part number I have for them is P2000-27, or BOMP200027 so you can search for the best price. I recommend that you talk to a Tech Support at Catalina Direct before ordering the gasket from them to make sure you get the right gasket profile. They have two versions for Bomar and only one of them fits our hatches. Good luck.
Like most of my DIY boat projects, I achieved SUCCESS on my second try. My hatch lid is now rebuilt and withstood "historic" SoCa rain with no leaks. I did not need to rebuild or re-bed the hatch to deck, as it was fine. Just the lid: new lens, new gasket, new rollstop hinge kit and new handles. It was not a fun job. Here are some Tricks & Tips to get there easier than I did.
1. remove gasket then remove all old sealant with scraper, wire brush, scotch pad, acetone, from lid frame—whatever works for you.
2. Heat-up gasket with hair dryer or heat gun, and feed it around in frame channels slowly, a bit at a time. The channel that wraps around is easy the other one is not, This takes a lot of strength and fiddling. It helps to use small spring, ratchet or C-clamps to hold sections of gasket completed so they don't pop out while doing another sections. The corners are the most problematic. Once all is finally in place, peel back the inside inch or so at the corners dab some super glue under.
BTW- the gaskets from Hatch Masters comes by the foot while the one from Catalina Direct comes as one piece which is too long. In either case you will need to be cut to length and super glued back together once installed.
3.Make sure you identify which side of the lens is up/down. The downward face of the lens has two key/positioning holes on the to fit the handles. Check that the two key holes —which are drilled ONLY PARTIALLY through the lens—are the correct size for the handle's small locating pin to fit into. I had to VERY CAREFULLY bore mine out a bit with a drill bit. TIP: When drilling acrylic take a file and smooth off the pointy flutes of the drill bit so it doesn't grab the plastic and bite which could crack the acrylic.
4. Peel off the protective backing on the new lens, and re-tape a 2-inch edge border with painters tape. It gives better protection and a cleaner line than the factory paper backing. And easier to peel after applying sealant.
5. Once gasket is done: use Dow 795 to set/seal the lens into the channel on top of the gasket. Then add another bead of sealant into the channel around the lens. Once lens is down seated on the sealant it fits almost to size, so there is not much room to put additional sealant around the edge. But do so.
6. Pull tape after 30 mins.
7. Carefully clean up any errant Dow 795 with mineral spirits
Looks fantastic Noah. Thanks for the insider tips.
Wonderful!
I was just on Hatch Masters website. No can find the lens listed in the parts section.
How did you order one? I would like to see if I can re-do mine this year. I love punishment.
:D
I purchased the lens from Catalina Direct:
https://www.catalinadirect.com/shop-by-boat/catalina-350/hatches-ports/replacement-lenses/hatch-lens-lewmar-trapezoidal/?SearchResults=1
Wow, I've got the early fiberglass hatch cover(which BTW has never leaked)and I was always envious of the newer boats with the plexiglass hatch cover, not so much now!
Noah : If you want to protect that new lens from the UV and crazing - make a sunbrella cover for it! Easy to do. :thumb:
A thought
:D I agree Ron. I had one made years ago for both plexi hatches but didn't use it much as I didn't like having the boat so dark inside and I spent several days a week, year round on the boat. With a my new lens, I do use the cover now—once I discovered what a PIA project it was to replace the lens.