Sorry, I'm back looking for shortcuts -hatch removal

[Dave_S]

I've got 12 of these hatches and I want to remove and refit them all. It's slow going, I'm cutting out the adhesive from underneath and cutting under the top flange as best as I can, there isn't always enough room for a Stanley blade.

[chrisr]

just done about 10 hatches - just a few still to go

i find that once its unscrewed, a couple of screwdrivers (tapped with a hammer) is all that's needed to lift the hatch 7-8mm or so. this is sufficient to squirt in 5200 to re-seat

of course the reason its fairly easy to get the screwdriver tip may be the reason they leak !

cheers,

[SailingHarmonie]

Originally Posted by chrisr

just done about 10 hatches - just a few still to go

i find that once its unscrewed, a couple of screwdrivers (tapped with a hammer) is all that's needed to lift the hatch 7-8mm or so. this is sufficient to squirt in 5200 to re-seat

of course the reason its fairly easy to get the screwdriver tip may be the reason they leak !

cheers,

Oh... noooo... do not do it this way. Seriously, the only way to do it the way that is described here is because you are either not knowledgable enough to do it right, or you are just too lazy.

Take the hatch off and clean the bedded area properly. I KNOW it's a lot more work and a PITA, but this is just a total shortcut. We can argue endlessly about if 5200 is the right material for this or not, but aside from that, you still have to do it RIGHT to get a good result that is reliable and lasts.

A popular quote here has always been, "If you do not have the time and money to do it right, when will you have the time and money to do it OVER????"

[chris mac]

I just did 10 of those this summer. They look the same, mine are goiot, for comparison.
What worked for me was using a box knife to cut the seal on top, between the edge of the lens and the rise section of the frame. I then held the corner of the hatch and pressed firmly on the lens from the bottom. Looking for a weak spot in the adhesion. Once it separates in one spot, place a shim inbetween and continue praying it up as you work around, cutting sealant as possible/necessary. After a couple, I was able to do this in 5-10 minutes. If they are leaking, or close to it, there should be at least one weak point to start from
Cleaning adhesive off both surfaces was the more time consuming part. A flathead screwdriver worked best on the metal frame. Goo gone worked well on the acrylic lens. A final clean with soap and water to remove the oils.
I remounted using dow 795.
By about the 3rd or 4th hatch, it took roughly 1-1.5 hours per hatch.

[Bowdrie]

Hard to tell from the pic, are the hatches on raised sections of fiberglass?
The fastener holes are so close to the edges that like much hardware that's fastened down there is little any real barrier against water.
Also, the frames sure don't want to be tightened down on a surface that isn't real close to being flat.
It's a battle, flat head fasteners like to squeeze all the sealant out of the interfacing surfaces and narrow flanges leave little room for sealant also.

[SailingHarmonie]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

I've got 12 of these hatches and I want to remove and refit them all. It's slow going, I'm cutting out the adhesive from underneath and cutting under the top flange as best as I can, there isn't always enough room for a Stanley blade.

Yes, it is slow. Tedious, and a PITA. If there is so little sealant under the hatch flange that you can not get a razor knife under it, they were not installed correctly in the first place. So you just have to suck it up and keep trying.

A thin knife blade in a Fein or other oscillating tool can sometimes help with cutting out things like this. Sometime you can use a product like DeBond or other solvent to help. Although they can be quite slow to work, in tough cases they do help. In many cases my go to tool has been a wide blade putty knife that I have sharpened myself, and then waxed the blade so it slides easily through the sealant it has cut apart.

Once you get the hatches off, it is important to clean all traces of old sealant, no matter what kind, from both the flange and the deck.

No matter what kind of sealant I use, I want to be sure that there is enough there to work like a flexible gasket, I do not want to squeeze it ALL out. My usual procedure when using a curing sealant is to prop the hatch up with toothpicks to give a bit of a gap. Tool all the sealant and clean it up. Let is cure for 3 to 4 days, then come back and torque the fasteners.

[wholybee]

Sometimes a long thin piece of music wire works as a saw blade.

[boatpoker]

oscillating saw ... https://www.harborfreight.com/power-...ool-57808.html

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by SailingHarmonie

Oh... noooo... do not do it this way. Seriously, the only way to do it the way that is described here is because you are either not knowledgable enough to do it right, or you are just too lazy.

Take the hatch off and clean the bedded area properly. I KNOW it's a lot more work and a PITA, but this is just a total shortcut. We can argue endlessly about if 5200 is the right material for this or not, but aside from that, you still have to do it RIGHT to get a good result that is reliable and lasts.

A popular quote here has always been, "If you do not have the time and money to do it right, when will you have the time and money to do it OVER????"

oh well, everyone is entitled to their opinion

but the OP has asked for shortcuts...not overkill

cheers,

[Tupaia]

Originally Posted by wholybee

Sometimes a long thin piece of music wire works as a saw blade.

Yes - also SS fishing leaders, even strong nylon fishing line. Work it through in one spot then around using small shims or wedges, the plastic ones used for UPVC windows work well. Still takes and age, just replace 10.

[Bowdrie]

Originally Posted by wholybee

Sometimes a long thin piece of music wire works as a saw blade.

Yes, but taking it a step further you use a "wound" guitar string.
A wide range of diameters and the "winding" on the core acts like a bunch of little saw blades.
With heavy thicknesses of sealant, a bass guitar string can often give good results.

[Dave_S]

Thanks all.

I'll try the wire trick, we have spring steel wire of all sizes.

It took 2 of us 7 hours each to remove a total of 4 hatches (2 each).We removed all the bonding material from below, then hammered in a sharpened scrapper all around the top, cutting the adhesive on top, mixing between scrapper and Stanley knife.

What is the sealant choice of champions for refitting them.

[Orion Jim]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

Thanks all.

I'll try the wire trick, we have spring steel wire of all sizes.

It took 2 of us 7 hours each to remove a total of 4 hatches (2 each).We removed all the bonding material from below, then hammered in a sharpened scrapper all around the top, cutting the adhesive on top, mixing between scrapper and Stanley knife.

What is the sealant choice of champions for refitting them.

I’ve had great luck with 3M 4000 UV.

[Bowdrie]

Let's see, lots of fasteners and not a lot of surface area, might just be a good use for Butyl tape.
The 3M mentioned above will work too.
You don't need strength, (already got a million fasteners,) just an effective seal that can be taken apart without drama.

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by Bowdrie

Let's see, lots of fasteners and not a lot of surface area, might just be a good use for Butyl tape.
The 3M mentioned above will work too.
You don't need strength, (already got a million fasteners,) just an effective seal that can be taken apart without drama.

I am a huge fan of butyl tape for most bedding applications, including this one.