Window/ hatch gasket

C

cmetzenberg

New member
Both portholes and the deck hatch in the forward berth on my tomcat are leaking around the gaskets. Has anyone replaced these or have any advice on the subject?
 
Bomar hatch gaskets at Defender.

I am not positive what brand the ports are, but I suspect either Bomar or Lewmar. Either one will us a standard gasket material. The material is usually sold by the foot, and you will have to clean the channel, and then use a contact or gasket cement to put the new gasket in place.

Check the maker, and either Go To Marine or Defender should have the proper gasket material. If not take the gasket material out--and go to a gasket company--most likely they can fabricate what you need--a little cheaper to get the already formed material. We have a gasket company which can make or stock almost any gasket you need.

Often the leakage is caused by the gasket being too tightly clamped down--also heat and UV light are enemies of rubber gaskets.
 
I thought my gaskets were leaking .... so I put duct tape on the edges where the lid attaches to the frame of the hatch... and found it was not the gasket but it was the seal between the hatch and the deck...
I bought a tube of 5200 but then thought... if I use 5200 I will NEVER ever get that hatch off again...so I ordered some 3M Marine Silicone Adhesive...

Joel
SEA3PO
 
Good thought by Joel. I have had to remove and rebed 3 of the forward hatches, including on the Tom Cat when it was brand new. The opening was cut too large and I had to put a couple of extra layers of glass, along with sealing off the core around the hatch...
 
It would probably be wise to have my wife blast the windows with a hose while i sit inside before i start ordering parts. Originally I though it was the railing bolts that i had just redone. How ever I did the holes up the way bob recommended; bone dry. :thup
 
I thought it was the O ring seals on the latches...so I took the latches apart and replaced the O rings...easy job.. I found that there is a metric O ring that fits much better than the originals... make sure you use a dab of silicone grease when you install the O rings so they are not damaged when installing them...makes em last much longer too.

Joel
SEA3PO
 
I've found out that silicone is not the best sealer. Some surfaces it doesn't stick, some it sticks too well and you can't get it off. If you don't get it right the first time, the additional silicone doesn't stick to the old silicone.

I prefer to use 3M 4000 as a general purpose sealer. You can remove it, either by cutting or DeBond. In addition it doesn't turn color, to a light brown.

Boris
 
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