- Joined
- Sep 7, 2010
- Messages
- 11
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 1
Adventure hatch problem
- Thread starter adventure 208
- Start date
What hatch are you referring to?
It's not really a "1995 Grady" issue... it can happen to any boat.
Fishtales
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2005
- Messages
- 8,031
- Reaction score
- 1,286
- Points
- 113
The construction is the issue if you ask me. The narrow bottom edge is filled with fairing compound during the resin transfer mold process (RTM). It can chip easy and if water gets into the fairing (check bottom lip edge) when it freezes, it literally cracks pieces out of it. This provides a path for future water. The core is wood pieces that look like parquet flooring squares and when these get wet, it is just time. The best place to check new would be GW but I doubt they have the molds but worth a shot to see if any in stock. Likely you will need either to repair yourself or have a glass guy do it for you.
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2010
- Messages
- 11
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 1
All 4 hatches have the same problem. Moisture must wick up into the filler material, then freeze in New Jersey winters and split open the gel coat.
So... the hatches over the gas tank? Storage/fix box lids? I assume you're not talking about a cabin deck hatch, then?
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2010
- Messages
- 11
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 1
Yes, fish box and anchor covers. I’ll try to repair myself or find someone here in s jersey. I can understand sealing the bottom edge is most important. Thanks for the quick response.
OK. Depending on how bad it is, you may be able to just dig out the bad stuff and fill the cavity with thickened polyester or epoxy mixed with shredded glass. You can even get the stuff ready to go and just mix in the activator... "structural repair compound or filler".
enfish
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2006
- Messages
- 444
- Reaction score
- 72
- Points
- 28
- Location
- San Marcos, CA
- Model
- Adventure
Sounds familiar. This is my winter project... A little bit of epoxy and gelcoat work, and after looking at it, I'm planning on thinning out the epoxy to seal around the edge.
blindmullet
Well-Known Member
Add some stiffeners to the underside. I always felt a little more support was a good idea as it tends to take a lot of weight as people load onto the vessel. Looks like that is just solid glass.
I suggest just the opposite. Sand/grind out the spots until you get a clean stable base. Them mix epoxy with a filler like cabosil to make a thick paste like stiff peanut butter. Apply to prepped areas. Don't try to make the surface smooth, leave a little mound. When set up, sand starting at 80 grit and then progressively finer depending on how much you care about the finished look. The patch will not be a color match and may be a bit rough but it won't absorb water.
Option 2 is to buy some gelcoat repair past from Spectrum color and use that to patch. There are plenty of videos online. I think Spectrum has their own videos. (up side to Spectrum is that you can get pretty close on color.
The paste is expensive, last time I looked it ran about 40 bucks for two ounces.
The actual edge can be sealed as you mention but exactly what would you thin epoxy with? Out of the can and mixed with hardener may work OK.
enfish
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2006
- Messages
- 444
- Reaction score
- 72
- Points
- 28
- Location
- San Marcos, CA
- Model
- Adventure
I've got the Spectrum color on order... $40 is right, but $53 with tax and shipping
. This will be my 2nd project using it. The first was fixing some blistering in the bow pulpit many years ago. The exposed fibers you see aren't solid, it's broken up and flexible. That's what happens when you close the hatch on a dock line and then step on the hatch before you realize it. If I sand until I get a stable base, there will be nothing left. So I thought I should wick some West System epoxy up into it to give it some strength before applying the gelcoat. I've used acetone before to thin epoxy, so that's what I was planning to do, but maybe I don't need to do that. Maybe the gelcoat paste will have enough rigidity to it? Around the edges might be epoxy straight out of the cans, but I'll make that decision when I mix it to see how well it flows... But I'll definitely take suggestions from people with more experience than me at this.
enfish
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2006
- Messages
- 444
- Reaction score
- 72
- Points
- 28
- Location
- San Marcos, CA
- Model
- Adventure
The edges are just glass, but the hatch where the non-skid is looks like it's cored. It about about 1 inch thick and very solid.
I just don't feel comfortable thinning epoxy with acetone but I could be wrong. The lid is cored as you suspect.
Let us know how the Spectrum works out on those edges. I have used the Spectrum for gouges and it is pretty thick.
Let us know how the Spectrum works out on those edges. I have used the Spectrum for gouges and it is pretty thick.
enfish
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2006
- Messages
- 444
- Reaction score
- 72
- Points
- 28
- Location
- San Marcos, CA
- Model
- Adventure
I don't think you're wrong. It's not ideal, but I think it's the best way to get it to wick up into the exposed fibers. The good news is I have space on the back side to build up the thickness of the edge a little bit, so I may end up doing that, and the edge of the hatch is not load bearing, so I'm mostly concerned about sealing it from moisture. But I want this repair to be as clean as possible, so I'm going to do my best to feather in some new gelcoat on top. Hopefully I'll have good results to report!
Fishtales
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2005
- Messages
- 8,031
- Reaction score
- 1,286
- Points
- 113
There was a boat that was in Alaska either here or on THT that was fished hard and the pics of the lids were downright sad. The boat was neglected, but you could see how the lids literally were falling apart.
Be careful with gelcoat - the thicker it is applied, the more brittle it becomes. However, you could tint the epoxy or poly resin.
Heat the hatch up in the oven or with a heat gun. When the resin is applied, it will thin out and be absorbed further into the core. But if you're digging out the bad core and filling with structural epoxy/poly resin, that will be more than sufficient as is.
Heat the hatch up in the oven or with a heat gun. When the resin is applied, it will thin out and be absorbed further into the core. But if you're digging out the bad core and filling with structural epoxy/poly resin, that will be more than sufficient as is.
That's an interesting idea about heating but I wonder if that might affect the curing of the epoxy. At a minimum the curing time might shorten I guess
Yeah, that's about all that would happen - it'll just start to kick sooner. Truth is, epoxy or poly will wick into wood just fine the way it is without doing anything special.
enfish
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2006
- Messages
- 444
- Reaction score
- 72
- Points
- 28
- Location
- San Marcos, CA
- Model
- Adventure
THanks, Dennis. The hatch itself is fine. There’s no bad core. The only damage is what’s shown in the photos above, and it doesn't extend past where the gelcoat is chipped. I may just apply the epoxy to the back side for strength and Spectrum color get coat to the front side, and with a little heat that may be all I need. From what I recall, West System mixes up pretty thin by itself without adding any thickeners, so I may not need to do anything.
The existing gel coat on the outside edge is probably 10 or 11 mils thick, so I think my biggest concern is getting a good bond with the resin underneath so it doesn't flake off.