Lewmar Hatch

[pearl]

Replaced my hatches with Lewmar Ocean 60 as the Bomar's aluminum is past the point of no return. I have had nothing but issues with leaks with the forward hatch which was installed about two years after the center hatch. I rebeded it several times to make sure it was not torked. The leak is not where it meets the deck. Lewmar customer service was helpful but could not solve the problem. They gave me replacement parts which did not work then they sent a whole new hatch. Both leaked at about the same spot around the hinge. I am not so sure about the Lewmar self supporting hinges design. I'm at wits end trying to solve this. Nothing worse than sleeping under a dripping hatch. I am ready to tear it out. The low profile has a better hinge design with an arm. Those of you that installed the Lewmar's which model did you install and any issues? Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.

 

[terry_thatcher]

I have Lewmar Ocean 60s. They have never leaked. Sorry for your issues. Very discouraging. I bedded mine using butyl tape. You can get the best here. https://bed-it.com/ I use this grey tape for most things, but for the hatches I used the white stuff from West Marine. It is not quite as good, but it was a better size for the hatch.

 

[mpearson]

I’m sorry to hear about the problems, John, must be very aggravating. We too, installed Lewmar Ocean 60s using butyl. Not a drop of leakage, and as Jim Cleary has said it was one of the easiest boat projects we have done. Sorry, I’m not trying to rub it in!

Did you use butyl tape?

We also spent most of our time cleaning off old silicone and crud to get a super clean surface before installing. We used a spray bottle with water to be sure all the silicon was gone because you can’t always tell it is still there. It took a few passes.

 

[mpearson]

Photo of old Bomar next to new Lewmar. Didn’t take any photos of the real work of cleaning up the surface prior to mounting.

 

[pearl]

thanks Terry. I did bed with butyl twice. I really like working with butyl. Leak is not where the flange meets the deck that is fine. I used grey. It seems to leak around the hinge where the gasket meets the frame. Hard to tell. I replaced all the hinge gaskets thinking that was the issue. No such luck. Two Ocean 60's leaking around the same area. Ugh.
Glad to know your Ocean 60's don't leak.

Photo of old Bomar next to new Lewmar. Didn’t take any photos of the real work of cleaning up the surface prior to mounting.

I replaced both hatches. Center hatch never leaked. Only the bow hatch. Lewmar send me a replacement hatch and that leaked. I wonder if they had a bad batch. The center hatch is about two years older.

 

[pearl]

I’m sorry to hear about the problems, John, must be very aggravating. We too, installed Lewmar Ocean 60s using butyl. Not a drop of leakage, and as Jim Cleary has said it was one of the easiest boat projects we have done. Sorry, I’m not trying to rub it in!

Did you use butyl tape?

We also spent most of our time cleaning off old silicone and crud to get a super clean surface before installing. We used a spray bottle with water to be sure all the silicon was gone because you can’t always tell it is still there. It took a few passes

 

[pearl]

I use butyl all the time. Ports etc. Center hatch never leaked and is two years older than the bow.. Yes a very easy installation. It is the bow hatch that leaks and not at the frame to deck. Lewmar gave me a 2nd hatch which also leaked. I even rebedded the 2nd installation just to make sure nothing was torking the frame. Very puzzling. If I put a hatch cover on no leaks. I am glad to hear others have no issue with the Lewmar 60's. Gives me some hope

 

[terry_thatcher]

i assume you have spent some time with a hose to check the leak. How frustrating. I have had several battles recently with faceless corporation's bureaucrats. I hope Lewmar keeps replacing the hatch with new until they give you one that works. But, I just recollected something. Is it leaking around the area where the hinge is attached to the glass or to the bottom of the frame ? I now recall that I had a problem because at first on one of mine I did not put a through bolt through the hinge and through the deck. If I recall, there is a center hole in the hinge that I thought was welded to hold the hatch lid down. But, instead, there are holes in the hinges that have to be thru-bolted or the hinges get out of alignment and start to leak. I can't get to he boat for a few days, but I will check mine when next I can.

 

[pearl]

i assume you have spent some time with a hose to check the leak. How frustrating. I have had several battles recently with faceless corporation's bureaucrats. I hope Lewmar keeps replacing the hatch with new until they give you one that works. But, I just recollected something. Is it leaking around the area where the hinge is attached to the glass or to the bottom of the frame ? I now recall that I had a problem because at first on one of mine I did not put a through bolt through the hinge and through the deck. If I recall, there is a center hole in the hinge that I thought was welded to hold the hatch lid down. But, instead, there are holes in the hinges that have to be thru-bolted or the hinges get out of alignment and start to leak. I can't get to he boat for a few days, but I will check mine when next I can.

Thanks,
I am wondering about Lewmar having a bad production run. Lewmar had no problems sending me new hinges gaskets and finally an new hatch. Still did not help.
I tried a hose a lot and I can't make it leak. Only when it rains. We get monsoons here in SW Florida in the summer and rarely rains in the winter which make it harder to detect until May. I decided to remove the gasket and replaced it with a new one yesterday. I could see a little corrosion in the area around the hinge where water could be entering. Not an easy job and hoping I did not make things any worse. Rain is due for a good test. Hearing that other people in the group had no problems with the ocean 60 makes it more frustrating. Again thanks for your input. Terry I recognize your name in the group from way back. I have owned Pearl since 1985.