hatch crazing

[wade]

Some of my hatches and fixed windows have severe crazing going--you can hardly see out. What caused this? The boat is only 5 years old. My bigger concern is this....I have some crazing just beginning in some of the larger (and I'm sure very expensive to replace) pieces. Is there a way to stop/prevent this? I'm sure the sun is partly to blame, but it's not practical for me to cover all 18 or so hatches on the boat (96 Hunter 40.5). Does anyone know of a good buy on replacements other than Hunter?Thanks,wade

 

[Dave]

crazed hatches too

from what I am told the (lexan?) is replaceable but I have never done it. My 1986 O'Day has a forward hatch that is severely crazed and I intend to just ask the yard to replace it. It should be a lot cheaper than a whole new hatch. I'm sure the sun is the culprit. Let me know if you find any good information on where to get materials and / or how to remove and replace the window.dave

 

[Jim WIllis]

What you have is stressed acrylic

Everythng I know about clear plastics I learned from TAP plastics (they carry our products). Lexan is literally "bullet proof" and when I made by storm windows back in '94 I used lexan. It ages by the surface going yellow with oxidation. It does not craze.Acrylic (plexiglass) is actually even more clear than glass but ages by crazing. It is not so much UV but heat/cold expansion contraction cycling. You will see it first around metal fastenings. All acrylic goes like this eventually. It is far worse in heat bend or flame polished acrylic that is not "annealed".You must never use anyrhing stronger than dilute detergent on crazed acrylic. Even our Pink must beused with plenty of water dilution. The reason- solvent "triggers" a zip reaction and makes the crazing worse.Can crazing be fixed? I don' think so, but you could try e-mailing BathTub express MTorreyjr@aol.com who repair acrylic hot tubs.If you get crazing in such a short time then the material used was inferior or heated/stressed in some way when installed.ThanksJim Willis