Beckson ports

[mregan]

I was at the boat today doing some work.  The 4 ports in the main cabin had leaked from rain the night before.  They haven't been leaking so I'm assuming when I removed the screens and gasket to re-install the chainplates, I didn't get the gasket on correctly.

I did notice that since the port is on an angle, there is always a bit of water collecting in the bottom exterior of the port.  I noticed there seems to be groove/weephole in the bottom of the exterior frame but with the angle of the window it doesn't allow the port to drain fully.  Is there a way to modify the groove/weephole so the water drains out rather than collecting?
Also, can the screens be removed permanently or are they needed for the gasket to seal properly?

[Stu Jackson]

They call them the "Rain Drain" version of the regular Becksons.  That means they have those two little lips in the bottom of the ports.  Because of the angle of the cabin, they do not completely drain, and there's always a little water in the lip of the bottom of the opening part of the port.  It's simply the geometry of the installation, and not that anything is wrong.  One learns to live with it.

Screens:  IIRC, the screens are simply the screen material housed in a flat plastic edge.  The gasket goes into the groove in the white housing of the port itself.  Also, IIRC, Beckson's instruction manual has good installation ideas for how to get that gasket into the frame properly.  In addition, many have posted over the years that tightening the dogs too much is simply not a good idea.  You may also need new gaskets, which Beckson can provide.  Take a look at the Beckson website for the instructions.  Here's a look at a port with the gasket removed:  

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,3241.0.html

Here's Beckson's website, scroll down to port, torublleshooting & gasket installation instructions:

http://www.beckson.com/ports.html

All eight ports are 5 X 12.

[Ron Hill]

Guys : Long before this FORM or the internet was established and I still do it today :

I went/go to Boat US/West Marine and look at the particular item in the box and see how it's put together!!

A thought

[Jim Hardesty]

Ron,
Good idea.  For me thats about 100 miles, one way.
Jim

[Ralph Masters]

Jim,
That's gotta save you a boat load of money (pun intended).  I have three West Marine stores within 13 miles of the house.  It gets expensive keeping all those stores in business.

Ralph