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water leaks from portlights

Rolf Kruse

Inactive Member
Hallo,
for some time my Lewmar portlights -old Standard size 4- have been leaking
and the lenses are totally scratched; same for the other 2 portlights (right and left)somewhat larger and aft of size 4 which I understand are custommade by Lewmar especially for Ericson.I replaced all four lenses and used the old gaskets, and they are still leaking. I found the english supplier for Lewmar gaskets whose e-mail address is: sales@sealsplusdirect.co.uk , however they only carry the standard sizes and not any custommade.
The other source of the leaking are the portlight cutouts which are too big for the portlight frames, such that the gaps between frame and cutout
can barely be closed and covered with butal tape and silicon which I tried
but it still leaks.
What is the answer, find someone who makes customized portlights
fitting the cutouts or make an additional aluminum frame larger than the
portlight frame to cover the cutouts.
Anybody there who succesfully solved that kind of a problem ?
Your answer is very much appreciated.
Rolf
 
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Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Regarding the new combo metal/plastic ports on Stella Blue, I spoke to Wally when I found him and his boat by accident while I was visiting a friend at the same marina in Alameda. He is a great guy and actually very low key -- he does appreciate our interest, though. This was in April, and he said that the color of the plastic had changed a bit (UV?) and the maker was going to replace them...

It appears that buried in every solution is a new problem, if one is of a philosophical frame of mind... :)

As to Lewmar, I thought that they had built the large fixed ports in a special-order size just for Ericson, but that the opening ports were a stock Lewmar size. At least the five opening ports on my '88 Olson are stock Lewmars.
My four large fixed port lenses, OTOH, are external unframed lexan...
[It's an "Olson thing"].
:rolleyes:
You might want to do a search on this site for anything having to do with Lewmar port gaskets. I know that others have replaced them -- it's on our to-do list one of these years, also.
Best,
Loren in PDX
Olson 34 #8
 
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Chris Miller

Sustaining Member
Holes too big on ours too...

This is a project that we are determined to embark on this summer as well. Our holes are too big for the frames, which makes them torque a little bit when the screws are tight. As our sealant has aged, this twist has started them leaking. I'm hoping a re-bedding will fix it- otherwise it's going to involve glassing over the holes and recutting!
Chris
 

Rolf Kruse

Inactive Member
Mike,
thanks for your info, the StellaBoat link looks very interesting and I need to study
it more in detail and hope it gets me on the right track.
I'll report on my progress.
Rolf
 

Rolf Kruse

Inactive Member
Loren,
it is the larger fixed portlights for which Lewmar does not supply spare gaskets as opposed to the gaskets for opening portlights. I just need to contact the supplier
in England whos address I mentioned in my opening thread.
My bigger problem seems to be the framing, one option a.o. could be external unframed
lenses like you have it on your Olson.
Rolf
 

Rolf Kruse

Inactive Member
Chris,
we did the re-bedding of the portlights before and it is leaking again.
This time around we need to do a more thorough and lasting job.
Rolf
 

Rolf Kruse

Inactive Member
Ted,
Lewmar does not supply spare gaskets for fixed portlights.
The holes are too big for the standard size 4R and 4L
Rolf
 

Art Mullinax

Member III
Portlight gaskets

I'm not sure which gaskets you folks are talking about but several years ago I replaced the glass in my fixed portlights on my 71 E29. The old glass had started to get frosty looking around the edges. I had a local glass shop use the old glass as a pattern to cut new ones out of 1/4" safety glass. In looking for the new gaskets, I went to a local plumbing supply house and bought gasket material used in shower doors. I wrapped the new material around the glass, cut the seam on a 45 degree angle, put a little silicone on it just to stick it in place, then reassembled the frame using aluminum pop rivits. The holes in the cabin side were also cut too big. I made several marks (pencil) around the opening 1/2" from the edge. When I reinstalled the ports I used the marks to try to center it in the opening. I learned a valuble lesson. 1, Do not use duck tape to cover the openings while working on the ports. The glue on the tape sticks like crazy and is almost impossible to remove. 2, Don't use the port frame to squeeze the inner liner and cabin sides together. The glass doesn't bend to fit the radius of the cabin. It breaks and has to be replaced all over again.
Art M.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Keeping the water... out

Hi Art,
The gaskets in question are the compressable rubber-like material that is adherred to a groove in the edge of the lens on a Lewmar opening port. When dogged down, it compresses and, for XX number of years, stops the water from seeping in around the edge.
After the passage of time (XX years) and maybe exposure to UV, and probably the hardening of the spongy material itself, it no longer seals properly.... And you have to pry out the old and glue in some new.

I used to have an Atkins and Hoyle hatch on our previous boat, and the thick hatch lens sealed the same way. It had to be regasketed by gluing in another long round section of gasket around the whole flange of the lens every 10 or 15 years. [Historical footnote: the early Ericson 38 has Atkins Hoyle hatches, including an alloy-framed sliding hatch!]

Loren in PDX
 

ted_reshetiloff

Contributing Partner
Steve Christensen can provide some detail here as I believe he replaced his fixed ports with the lewmar 4R and 4Ls on his E 38. IIRC he spent 300 a piece on them. Replaced the whole port. From an old post in this forum:



"Are you asking about the large slanted fixed portlights? If so, you can still buy replacements from Lewmar. You can see them at www.lewmar.com, and the size is 4L and 4R. I just replaced one on my boat last year when the plastic became dangerously crazed. The new Lewmar portlight has a slightly different frame extrusion, but you really can't tell the difference from more than a few feet away. They are pricy though, as I think the total from West Marine for the special order was close to $300 for just ONE portlight. (ouch!)"
__________________
Steve Christensen
Midland, MI
Former Owner of Rag Doll
Ericson 38
 

diamondjim

Member II
Leakey Portlights

FYI Guys & Gals,
I just spent the last two days fixing 5 of the 6 portlights on my 81 E-28. Not an easy task but very doable. The origional gaskets were totally worthless and not obtainable so I made them as part of the fix. In my opinion, these OEM portlights are about as functional as the shower door in my house and the workmanship with which they were origionally installed was poor at best. This boat cost over $81,000 when new in 1981 but you would not have known it looking at these origiional installs.
I have less than $20 in materials in the job and about 11 hrs of time - minus the learning curve.
I will gladly share the proceedure with the site as a posted project. I photographed along the way as a picture is worth 10,000 words. The explanation is wordy but I would also be glad to answer any questions for those who want to fix the leaks.
I have received very good and helpful info from this web site and would like to return the favor.
<> Jim
 

William Ford

New Member
E28 Portlights

FYI Guys & Gals,
I just spent the last two days fixing 5 of the 6 portlights on my 81 E-28. Not an easy task but very doable. The origional gaskets were totally worthless and not obtainable so I made them as part of the fix. In my opinion, these OEM portlights are about as functional as the shower door in my house and the workmanship with which they were origionally installed was poor at best. This boat cost over $81,000 when new in 1981 but you would not have known it looking at these origiional installs.
I have less than $20 in materials in the job and about 11 hrs of time - minus the learning curve.
I will gladly share the proceedure with the site as a posted project. I photographed along the way as a picture is worth 10,000 words. The explanation is wordy but I would also be glad to answer any questions for those who want to fix the leaks.
I have received very good and helpful info from this web site and would like to return the favor.
<> Jim

Jim- I am an owner of a 1990 E28 with similar portlight leakage problems. Would love to see a copy of your article and photos. Please direct me to it.

Thanks- Bill Ford( Fordwriteslaw@aol.com)
 

Erich

Member II
A good source for replacement Lewmar portlight gasket material is:
http://www.selectplastics.com/
You can buy it by the foot.
They also have the small o-rings that seal the latches.
I replaced mine over 1 year ago and no more leaks.
I can't recall the exact price but it seemed quite reasonable, and they even threw in the o-rings for free.
Regards,
 

dustintodd

Member II
Rebed and replace Lexan

I think my project is a bit less complex. My 89 E35-mk3 has 2 fixed portlights afte - port and starboard. They leak and the Lexan is crazed. I am assuming I need to take them out and rebed with some 3M sealant and find a shop that can cut new Lexan to match the old. I assume I am missing about 50 steps. Besides finding a shop that will sell and cut the Lexan and buying the right sealant do I need anything else?

- Dustin
 

treilley

Sustaining Partner
A lot of patience! I finally gave up on removing mine nicely after spending days on one of them. I also considered the fact that they do not look real nice after 22 years anyhow. So I ripped mine out bending the frames and breaking the tempered glass and I am buying new ones from Bomon.

Why don't you use tempered glass as a replacement? A good local glass place should be able to cut and temper it for you.
 

dustintodd

Member II
Scary

Ok I am hoping my removal is not as dramatic. Tempered glass vs. Lexan? What type of material is used in most portlights? Were you able to purchase new portlights that were a perfect match for the existing openings?

- Dustin
 

treilley

Sustaining Partner
Lexan is common but I think many of the better portlights have tempered glass. It will not craze although it may be a little more brittle. Bomon custom makes portlights so I sent them a tracing that they engineer nearly exact replacements. they could not do better than a 2 inch radius corner and the OEMs are a little tighter. Not very noticable though. They cost about $300 each.
 

stuartm80127

Member II
E27 Portlight replacement

As my boat sits indoors, I have removed all portlights form my 1976 E27. Fortunately, all were held in only by closed cell weather tape on the outside and mostly stripped screws on the inside. I am replacing the two forward portlights with small clear #1Lewmar opening portlights. The forward of the two larger portlights would work just fine with Lewmar 4L and 4R but the aft cutout was just too darn big and I didn't feel like adding days to the project by properly reducing the hole size in my deck. Besides, I am not convinced that the Lewmar 4R and 4L are as strong as the existing stock portlights. As for the four larger portlights, my dilema starts:

Plan A: Reuse existing aluminum frames. The factory 3/16 glass is scratched and the gasket material shot. The aluminum frames are in need of stripping all gunk from them and sanding with #600 and a polish. I drilled out the rivets and let the frames sit in Acetone for an hour since two were sealed too tightly due to an abundance of white latex-based caulking. Seems like the aft glass size is 1/4 shorter in width then it needs to be, hence the excessive caulking. I was thinking of replacing the glass with 1/4" LamiGlass (car window) material and perfectly good fitting shower gasket material from Ace Hardware. The problem with the later is that it most likely doesn't like UV light and so may harden in a few months to a few years. Second, the interior "pretty" gasket material is shot and I can't find a replacement for it.
Any one know of a good UV resistant gasket source?

Plan B: I ended up creating some templates out of thin Lexan material for grins. The thought there was to create a dark bronze .375" Lexan portlight which exceeded the existing cutout by 1.25" on all sides (see an article in Owners and Projects as reference) and then bolt them onto the hull using #10 panhead bolts each 4" set in holes drilled a size larger allowing for lexan expansion , a good taco marine gasket material combined with a cooperative silicon or Sikaflex with primer. My hopes were diminished somewhat because my templates all too quickly began to look like the surface of a Hockey Rink not to mention that lexan doesn't like uric acid (think big birds). I can't seem to find an affordable mar-resistant lexan similar to MR10 that is also dark enough. Also, there is a big difference in size between the two windows that looks even larger when using this approach. Seems like the boat starts to look like a Catalina (previous boat) when one adds these kind of windows. From a seaworthyness perspective I would expect these to be superior in strength and waterproofing to the standard glass set in aluminum frame.

For either plan I intend to fill the void between the liner and the deck with collidal-filled epoxy and then fair it all down to a smooth opening. Should add some strength to the window frame and keep water from finding its way between the liner and hull.

Thoughts based on personal experience are greatly welcome.

Thanks,

Stuart
 
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