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Leaking Lewmar hatch on E28+

Gary G

Member II
After sailing in some classic Lake Michigan chop and 20 knots of wind this past weekend I discovered that the forward hatch on my 1983 E28+ is leaking when there's green water on deck. Looking closely I can see that the rubber seal no longer contacts the hatch frame even when it's dogged down. I'd like to replace the seal. From the Lewmar web site I determined the model is the Superhatch. Can anyone give me some tips as to the best way to remove the old seal, where to buy a new seal, and what kind of adhesive to use installing it? Thanks in advance for any help.

Gary
 

mherrcat

Contributing Partner
I was going to suggest Select Plastics to rebuild the hatch, if they even still have parts for the Super Hatch. (There have been two generations of the hatch since then.)

But I haven't been able to access their website. Does anyone know if they are still in business?

The last time I checked their prices for a rebuild it was almost as much as buying a new hatch when you can find them on sale.
 

jreddington

Member III
I had the Superhatch plastic replaced on my 1984 E-28 by Select Plastic a couple years ago. Yes, it does cost almost as much as a complete replacement hatch. But you don't have to try and cut and fit to get a different hatch in. And you just need the seal. I would suspect they still have them in stock.

One thing to keep in mind, according to Select, Lewmar no longer supports this hatch. No replacement parts are being made. I installed new hinges with the rebuilt hatch and purchased one of the last two sets of hinges Select still had. They did mention that if demand is high enough they may try to find an outside non-Lewmar manufacturer to duplicate the hinges so they may have some now.
 

Tom Metzger

Sustaining Partner
A couple of years ago I replaced a #60 Super Hatch with a new Lewmar Ocean Hatch with no cutting or fitting required. This was only slightly more money than replacing the hinges and lens with Select Plastics. Select also gave all sorts of warnings about what could be wrong which they would discover when they got the hatch. With the new hatch, I had it in hand when I removed the old hatch and could complete the job the same day, no waiting three weeks while they decided what to charge me.

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=4767

FWIW, Florida Rigging & Hydraulics had Super Hatch parts a few years ago.

http://www.rigginghydraulics.com/index.shtml
 

mherrcat

Contributing Partner
Tom's experience in talking to Select was similar to mine; kind of like they're trying to put the fear of God in you. :)

The current replacement for my Super Hatch would be the Ocean 70. I took a lot of measurements of my Super Hatch and compared them to the new Ocean 70 and, although very slightly different, it looks like it would fit without any cutting.

When you installed the new hatch did the holes for the mounting screws in the Ocean Hatch match up with the holes in the deck for the original Super Hatch?
 

Tom Metzger

Sustaining Partner
There is a smaller number of mounting screws on the newer hatches so the holes don't line up. As I remember, there were no overlap problems. Filling the old holes is easy enough.
 
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