38 ZR hatch leaks
 

Leaky cabin hatchs on a 38 ZR. Anybody have any success with weather stripping types??

Thank you

dumb question but are you sure it's leaking? There should be a fairly decent sized gutter that runs around it that the water should flow into so even with a crappy seal it shouldn't really leak.

Water on the top of it though, if you open it, will wash in.

there are gutters but the design depends on a weather stripping, and the latch is not the greatest. A better seal with maybe a differnt latch system (tighter) could work. Thought someone may have a fix.

Oh, I could go on about this forever: mine leak with no warning. Just one day you open the door and the cabin is full of water and everything is soaked from a hatch leak. VettLT193 is right - it should drain away, but that is if the bow is up slightly. If your bow is flat, like the boat is on a flat lift, or if the boat is on a trailer parked slightly down-hill - - the water lays in the trough and the level rises and rises until it sneaks around the seal and into the cabin. I'll give you all my tricks so far, but - - none of them have really worked. See the posts below.

Trick #1 - After washing the boat, I slide a 3/8" dia plastic tube up the drain trough and siphon the water out. It works until the next rain.
Trick #2 - For winter storage, tape the hatch shut with blue painters tape. The tape is just good enough to deflect water from indoor events, but not good enough for outdoor elements. Stick the tape to your shirt first to reduce the adhesion.
Trick #3 - Keep your boat pitched up in the bow if you can. The more the better. Like bow 15" higher than stern.
Trick #4 - Fix the seal on the hatch. I've tried a number of tricks with sealers, and caulks, etc, but nothing works well so far.
Trick #5 - Close the hatch, then step on it from above to press it down. The hatch is too big for the hull and does not come down well, or evenly, or completely.
Sorry, my girlfriend just caught me doing this instead of helping her clean my fridge, so I gotta go now. Back later.

Thanks for the ideas

I agree the stiffness of the hatch is not enough for the latch system. My problems are not storage but if i get caught driving in the rain, or....

Also, the weather seal can stick after time and strips out of the dove tail grove and is a b@tch to deal with.

I am thinking of stiffening the hatch, or making an aluminum or stiffer fiberglass hatch and 4 swing bolts or something to pull it down firmer.

thanks for the reply, if is come up with a good fix i will post it.

You're right on the dove-tail groove - what a mess. I really want this problem fixed, and fixed for good, so I think I'm going to remove the hatches, take them to a woodworking guy, and have him route the edges so the whole thing is 1/4" smaller in width and length. Then, have him route in a quality groove around it in place of the dove-tail groove for me to stick and silicone a large diameter (like 3/8") o-ring into. I did this trick to my intake manifold on my hotrod engine - and it worked!! Stay tuned - I'll letcha know how I make out.

35 ZR we looked at today...cabin was wet too from the hatches and it had rained....bow was lower then stern as well :-/

I'm thinking that some shrink wrap tape might do the trick during storage or travel

What kind of seal? I think number 8 on the link would work good if you can figure how to mount it. i was thinking of a new hatch with a downward edge and an edge seal, but re-grooving is a good idea.



http://www.mcmaster.com/#bulb-seals/=l1g6pe "number 8 under bulb seals"

Hmmmmm, the McMaster-Carr stuff has tickled my brain. Yet, with all those styles, trying to get a nice seal as you go around the four corners - - is a challenge. I can turn a full 90 degree turn with an o-ring, but getting one fat enough to fill the gap might be hard to find, and do. Thinking - - - - -

Hossman - I was really excited with that 35 zr you were looking at until I saw the scratches. Sweet deal at 67 hrs and a trailer and fresh water. I have 800 hrs on my 2008.

My 35 also had a leaky hatch and I set out this weekend to fix it. This is what i did. First, make sure that the 90* latch is not angled up at all. If it is, take a pair of pliars and CAREFULLY bend it down so that it's not pointed up. Then what I did is build up the lever that makes contact with the latch so it was adding more pressure on the latch to pull the hatch down more. I did this by taking heat shrink tube of different sizes and kept adding them to the lever that makes contact with the latch. Start with the small one, heat it up and trim. Go to the next size up and do the same. Keep doing this until you can see the weather stripping compressed down for a good seal. If you use clear heat shrink it is hardly noticeable.