Plexiglass Sliding Hatch

[Ron Fraboni]

Has any H26 owner found a way to make the sliding plexiglass hatch cover avoid the constant friction it encounters with the molded white top to which it is attached?  Also, the wooden stop at the rear of this piece makes it difficult to clean the entire hatch since it has to be removed to slide the plexiglass out.Any tips would be appreciated!

 

[Steve]

Wax

Try the regular wax you use on the hull applied to the contact rails. It will work for a short time (couple of week-ends), it is rather cleaner then any type of petro lubricant idea. I use a cleaner/wax which I use for spot jobs after the normal spring wax down.Hunter should have used some sort of teflon guide rails etc... to solve this problem...! This is one of the biggest sliding hatchs I have ever seen on a boat of this size.

 

[Dave Condon]

slider hatch

Before sliding the lexan hatch back, look at where it slides underneath the fiberglass hatch top. If it appears that the scratching is coming from this, then remove the entire hatch by unscrewing the hinges on top from the deck. It will take two people to saflely remove the top. Unscrew the srews on the side and the lexan will drop out. Grind the leading edge where the lexan scratches on and that will permanently slove your problem. To take the scratches out of the lexan, use a compounbd lie Fines-it by 3-M and buff at a low speed. Clean the old caulk from the screws and reapply at the hindge attachement to the deck. For your information, the screws are drilled and tapped therefore you do not need to worry about nuts underneath

 

[Guest]

Paraffin wax

I use Paraffin wax on my H26. Lasts a few weeks.

 

[Ron Fraboni]

Thanks Dave Condon

Dave, thanks for your detailed ideas on how to solve this problem. Sounds like a good idea to me.

 

[Harvey Small]

Vaselinate it!

I tried all the neat & clean ways to lubricate the lexan hatch. I finally gave up & smeared some Vaseline in the obvious places. That was last summer & it still slides easily. I have enough mindless repetitive tasks in my life that I'll just scratch waxing the hatch sliders off the list!