Companionway Slider

[gpd955]

Anyone else's companionway slider stick about halfway in? It's annoying the daylights out of me and I have tried to locate the cause without success. It doesn't do it all the time and there is no rhyme or reason when it does. There are no marks on the slider and the minute I isolate the side that sticks, the other side hangs up.

 

[paulj]

Anyone else's companionway slider stick about halfway in? It's annoying the daylights out of me and I have tried to locate the cause without success. It doesn't do it all the time and there is no rhyme or reason when it does. There are no marks on the slider and the minute I isolate the side that sticks, the other side hangs up.

ix:


paulj :troll:

 

[gpd955]

Tried to attach a video but can't do it from the mobile site. It hangs up right about there and I usually have to pull it out and push it back in to make it work. Sometimes it doesn't do it at all. It also does it when you push from the center or if most of the pushing is on the sides.

I tried to lubricate it a few times but it still happens, although the slider moved easier. Trying to avoid removing the whole plate on the cabintop but may be stuck doing that.

 

[New Horizons]

Anyone else's companionway slider stick about halfway in? It's annoying the daylights out of me and I have tried to locate the cause without success. It doesn't do it all the time and there is no rhyme or reason when it does. There are no marks on the slider and the minute I isolate the side that sticks, the other side hangs up.

YES! And it is very annoying.
I will check this weekend, but I think I also have the problem in the same place as you.
It is much easier opening from the cockpit, rather than opening from down below.
I have also found that if I try to move the entire slider to Port and then keep it to Port it as I open it, it slides better, which implies that the problem might be on the Starboard side.

 

[Witzend]

Excessive lateral play may cause the slider to corner catch, basically go diagonal on ya.

I have not had the problem, but if I did, I would try some Teflon spray inside on the sides.

 

[gpd955]

Excessive lateral play may cause the slider to corner catch, basically go diagonal on ya.

Now that you mention it, it does seem to have a bit of lateral movement, which would explain why it doesn't favor one side or the other.

I will try Teflon. I used the white lithium and even tried McLube one day after I did the sail slide.

 

[gpd955]

Sorry. Repeated my post.

 

[truckman]

Anyone else's companionway slider stick about halfway in? It's annoying the daylights out of me and I have tried to locate the cause without success. It doesn't do it all the time and there is no rhyme or reason when it does. There are no marks on the slider and the minute I isolate the side that sticks, the other side hangs up.

I believe this is another design fart from Catalina. If you look on the underside of your slider you will see, if it is like my boat, that there is a Teflon type material screwed in from the bottom to the underside of the sliding hatch. The problem on my boat and maybe others is the material wears out and you have the screw heads protruding through and rubbing on the surface where the slider contacts the hatchway. I find that lifting a little when you close or open the hatch eliminates or greatly reduces hangup while both opening or closing. The only way to fix it would be to remove everything and epoxy some more material so as it wears out you won't have screw heads that pop through. So far for me just lifting up evenly across the front of the slider works fine.