Portlight Leak Repair

 

Ken,

 

I had a persistent leak on my fwd port-side port light.  The water would migrate down the teak trim board inside the cabin and drip onto my settee cushions.  I cleaned up the port light gasket and treated it with Plexus, which is a penetrating wax/ploymer type liquid.  The gaskets looked much better and seemed to swell a bit a seal much better, but still I had water coming in whenever it rained.  I then removed the white plastic cover on the inside of the portlight and tightened the four screws which hold the port light in place.  It still leaked.  Finally I took some silicone sealant and caulked the joint between the exterior portlight frame and the cabin top.  I smoothed the silicone bead with my finger and wiped off the excess so the sealant is hardly noticeable.  This did the trick.  We have had heavy rains nearly everyday for the past month and no more leak!  The source of the leak in my case was a hairline gap between the aluminum frame and the cabin top.

 

Joe Kujawski

C-320 #129 SummerCamp

Narragansett Bay, RI

 

 

Lubing the Seals

 

What a timely email.  Just this weekend I solved my leaking portlights.  Took several conversations with Lewmar, but finally solved the problem.
My leaks were mysteriously coming through the hatch acrylic.  Turns out there is an O-ring under the outside side of the dog down ears.  Take are sharp, pointed knife and pop out the inside "button" in the middle of the rotating  dog down ears.  Mine didn't look like they would come out, but they did after a little work.  The dog down ears are then clearly screwed through the acrylic.  Unscrew the assembly and there is the culprit....dried out O-ring.

 Rubbed it good with Magic Lube that I get from the pool supply store for lubing my pool O-rings.  Reassembled and no leaks under full water hose.

 

 

Portlight Leaks 2

Ronald:

My four port windows have given leakage problems ever since purchasing my boat five years ago.  Talked to Catalina and Lewmar.  Tried a
variety of sealants. Replaced the gaskets. Removed the ports and re-caulked them. Taped the windows from the outside.  Nothing worked.  In talking to
the Lewmar people, I could sense that they knew they had a design problem.

 In one of the catalogs (West I think) there are redesigned Lewmar ports of exactly the same size - thank heavens.  Instead of  twist latches, they work
in and out.  The ports are about $200 each, but after all, what is sailing about anyway?  Allen Greenspan tells us the only hope for the world economy
is the American consumer and I sure do not want to be a slacker.  So, I gave the economy a shot in the arm and ordered four of them.  I installed them
and have no more cabin leaks.

Hope you are able to stop your leaks in a more economical way.

George McCanless   Easy Street  #480   Mobile Bay

 

The ports are Lewmar #3931220500; cutout 6 3/4" by 13 5/8" smoked grey with white trim. I had a friend get them at a dealers cost including screen at a savings of 65 to 85 dollars per port. With west you probably have to go through special ordering to get the white trim. I believe they stock the Ivory. Most places are getting about $ 200 per port but if you really have a repair shop or dealer friend you can save about 40%. 

 

 

PORTLIGHT LEAKS 3

 

Of the four main cabin windows that open, three leak in heavy  rain.  I have tightened the bolts that attach them to the cabin (at the  top), tightened the locking swivel devices at the bottom, and the seals all  appear to be in good shape...still, I consistently get water in the cabin.   The water seems to settle in the cup like area where the locking pin secures the window closed...then over flows.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Bert

At Ease

#442

 

 

If you're talking about the portlights, their leaking is somewhat legendary, and not limited to Catalinas.  This is what I did (and it solved all the leaking):

 

1. Tightened all of the fasteners that hold the portlights in place - do not over-tighten - just hand tight plus a little (I know - not very specific)

2. Apply Dr. Tolly's sealer around the top 2/3 of the portlights, on the outside, between the portlight seal and the cabin.  If you smear some on the fiberglass, it will clean off when dry (assuming your boat has wax on it).

3. Fastidiously clean the lexan window (water, or very mild detergent only - no alcohol or ammonia)

4. Clean (water) the rubber seal, then apply a rubber / plastic conditioner - I use armor-all (in fact, I use the armor-all products for cleaning too)

 

Then, every time you use these portlights, clean them with water & clean cloth / paper towel before closing - and make CERTAIN they are fully seated when closed.

 

No more leaks!

 

Good luck......

Ken

 

 

I had the same problem and took the same actions before I finally removed the port and rebedded it last May. In my case, the cut-out for the port is too large and there is only 1/16" where the frame overlaps the fiberglass on the outside of the cabin. Once the original caulk dried and shrank a little, the hatch began to leak. The hatch was bedded with a caulk that looks similar to plumbers putty or window glazing compound. I used a similar product called "Rope Caulk Weatherstrip" from Ace Hardware and have not had any leaks this season. The foredeck hatch also leaked until I rebedded it with Boatlife Life-Calk. Neither job was very difficult. Just thoroughly clean off all of the old caulk and wipe all of the surfaces with denatured alcohol. Also, I mask off the area whenever I use Life-Calk. That way you

can clean off the excess caulk before removing the tape and save yourself a lot of clean-up time.

JeffC

 

 

I had the same problem.  There are small seals inside the black turnbuckles that may be leaking.  To replace the seals, simply pry out the plastic cap on the center of the turnbuckle on the interior side. This exposes a small screw. Remove the screw and disassemble.  The seal is on the exterior side.  It takes about 5 minutes to do.  Good luck.

 

Ron Hallam

"Liahona" 319