Leaky Hatches - Rebedding the Lexan Window Pane in the Overhead Hatch
- sailawayblog
- Jul 23, 2017
- 3 min read
Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop.
I'm lying in bed in our v-berth at 2 in the morning, and it's started to rain. It's just a little shower, and I probably wouldn't have woken up for it, except that the hatch above my head is leaking... again. Water is seeping through the seal around the lexan window pane, and dripping directly onto my face, in about 1 second intervals. We've tried re-caulking with silicone from the outside, from the inside, from ALL the sides, but nothing has stopped the incessant drippy hatch.... my nemesis.
It's at 2 AM that night that I've had enough. I decide that's the day I'm going to rip out and re-bed the lexan windows in the hatch. Drip drop be GONE! I'm comin' for ya.
Materials:
Toluene
Isopropyl Alcohol
Clean Rags
Razor Blade
Screwdriver
Wire Brush
Soft Bristle Brush/Sponge
Dish Soap
Masking Tape
Disassemble
With a razor blade, we began by cutting out the old leaky sealant from the top side of the hatch, and pulling it out in big chunks. On the bottom, we ran the razor blade carefully between the aluminum frame and the lexan, careful not to gouge it. Gently, to avoid breaking our 38 year-old lexan, a screwdriver was wedged in to slowly pull the lexan from the frame, and with a few slow, careful pries from all sides... pop! Off she came in one piece!
Remove Old Sealant
Next we used a razor blade to remove all the old sealant from the lexan and the hatch frame. I cleaned the frame with a wire brush, and the lexan with a soft sponge and Dawn dish soap to remove residue. Any leftover gunk could cause a bad seal, and more leaks down the road, so we wanted to get both pieces bright and shiny!
Tape
With the hatch and lexan clean, we were ready to prepare to reset the window into the hatch. We used painter's tape to mask around the aluminum frame, around the outside of the lexan, and on the inside of the lexan, to keep the new sealant from setting in unwanted areas. Then, dropped the lexan pane back into the frame, and marked lines on the painter's tape to indicate where we wanted the window to sit in it's frame - about a 1/4 inch gap on all sides.
Clean
Before applying the sealant, the aluminum hatch frame got a wipedown with toluene (per the sealant brand specifications), and the lexan with isopropyl alcohol (other products might damage the lexan!) to remove oils from our hands and other contaminants.
Apply New Sealant
Then, we broke out the secret weapon, GE's >>UltraGlaze SSG4000<<, which has an excellent reputation for all-weather conditions, and requires NO primer! Excellent! Ben piped the sealant all along the hatch frame, and in retrospect, we could have used more of the product than we did... It's better to have too much sealant than not enough, and we probably should have used at least half of the tube on a hatch our size.
Position and Compress
After piping the sealant, we dropped the lexan into the frame (careful not to get fingerprints/oils all over it again), and used the lines we marked to position it. We gave it a few good, heavy wiggles with our palms to spread the sealant (it should be squishing out around the edges), and took turns standing on it in different positions all round the frame. The SSG4000 starts to cure pretty fast, so get the lexan in the right position, and the sealant compressed as quickly as possible.
Pull Tape
After making sure the window looked straight and plum and the sealant covered all visible parts of the frame, we used two full jerry jugs to continue compressing while we pulled the painter's tape. Don't try to clean up the sealant at this point to make the grout line look nice and neat, it's much easier when it's dry.
Cut Away Excess Sealant
The next day, after the sealant cured, we went back with a razor blade to cut away excess sealant on the lexan interior, and cut the excess off of the sealant line on the outside to make a tidy, smooth edge.
Live a Leak-Free Life
That night it rained, and - thank GAWD - for the first time in months, I didn't get one, single drop. SUCCESS! Rum drinks all around!
Thanks for reading,
Ben, Quinn and Ruca
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