Soft Spot In Hatch

[boeing1]

what is the best way to repair a soft spot in a sliding hatch, thinking of injecting epoxy, suggestions

[UNCIVILIZED]

What's it made of, how thick, & what's the finish on it?

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by boeing1

...thinking of injecting epoxy...

That isn't a repair.

[boeing1]

believe core is wood, between thin fiberglass, this is a sliding hatch about 1 inch thick

[Island Time O25]

Not sure if such a hatch is like ports and was mass manufactured but even if not there were enough O'days made to find a replacement at a boat junk yard. And with most of them being online you could do a country wide search. That IMO would be the easiest way to approach it.

On my first boat an anchor locker cover was all spongy but the top section was very solid. So I cut away the bottom layer (the one facing inside of the locker), scraped all the balsa (or what ever that goo was made of), cut out a piece of marine plywood to fit and epoxied it to the top portion. Then epoxied the cut out bottom portion to the plywood. Then just to be sure epoxied the joint with some f/b tape. Altogether it took me a full day to do that job. But knowing what I know today I should have just looked for a replacement since that model was not very rare (although not as common as O'days).

Many boat junk yards if they have a piece like that in stock or on a boat being junked will sell it for $50-100. But even at $150-200 it's worth the price considering that it would take you at least a whole day (plus the cost of materials) to do it the hard way.

[UNCIVILIZED]

If it's a cored laminate, then you'd repair it much as is done when decks get soft spots. It's not the most pleasant of jobs, but better than many.

[Boatyarddog]

Slice it open along an edge, on 3 sides, pull back the glass, scrape the old wood out, replace with balsa wood square cut coring saturate the coring with epoxy thickened with collida silica West Systems 406 opening the squares to allow the mixture to get into the cracks.
Be sure to grind the inside of the hatch a bit, clean out the dust with water dry well, and wipe with acetone, till no dirt or dust is visible on your rags, as well, the thin glass "tab" still attached to the uncut side.
Be sure to use enough epoxy to fill voids and such, clamp together, and viola!
It will be awesome again.
Very similar to a deck repair, easier though.


Sent from SV Cloud Duster

[Island Time O25]

Originally Posted by Boatyarddog

Slice it open along an edge, on 3 sides, pull back the glass, scrape the old wood out, replace with balsa wood square cut coring saturate the coring with epoxy thickened with collida silica West Systems 406 opening the squares to allow the mixture to get into the cracks.
Be sure to grind the inside of the hatch a bit, clean out the dust with water dry well, and wipe with acetone, till no dirt or dust is visible on your rags, as well, the thin glass "tab" still attached to the uncut side.
Be sure to use enough epoxy to fill voids and such, clamp together, and viola!
It will be awesome again.
Very similar to a deck repair, easier though.


Sent from SV Cloud Duster

Can balsa be replaced by airex or other honeycomb type of filler? Any pluses/minuses of using such materials in this particular repair?

[Boatyarddog]

Originally Posted by Island Time O25

Can balsa be replaced by airex or other honeycomb type of filler? Any pluses/minuses of using such materials in this particular repair?

If your speaking of coring, there are many types of synthetics available, check Defender.com for some of these choices.
I've used coring that is "sectioned" because of its ability to conform to curved surfaces.
I like balsa for its ability to absorb epoxy.
These other synthetics may have abilities to absorb epoxies, or not.
This is my preferred method and materials, research the product you choose first for compatibility.


Sent from SV Cloud Duster