Hobie Cat Forums

Hi, I am new here and hope some of you have figured this problem out. I am at the end of my rope with the sticking o-rings on the 8" hatches. They were wonderful when new, worked slightly better after I silcone-lubed them, but now are virtually impossible to get to close. It seems like the rubber o_ring is just sticking to the plastic hatch rim and I can't keep up with lubing them. Is there any way to make them work for longer periods of time without having to carry some type of grease in the boat?

Thanks! Andy

I have used "plumbers silicone grease" purchased from Ace Hardware and Home Depot....it comes in a small plastic case....maybe 1 1/2" in diameter.
This grease is clear and has some "body" to it and will not dry out and stays in place.
If you remover the o-ring, lube the o-ring with this grease by hand and then install it back into the cover, your problems should disappear.
Keep a paper towel handy to clean your hands after the "operation".

_________________
Dr.SteelheadCatcher
Hood River, OR

Ditto on the plumbers grease, makes hatches work like new!

_________________
Bob
Proud member Kayak Fishing Association of New York
Supporting member NEKF, Supporting member Team Jinx
KW's KFA Team 3

I am experiencing the same hatch issue as Andy.

Immediately after plumbers silicone grease is applied, the hatches open and close with no problems.

But then after a couple of hours, the hatches become stuck, and they are unable to open and close. My guess is (1) that the plumbers silicone grease is either causing the o-ring to expand or swell, or (2) the grease is creating such an excellent water tight seal, that the hatches are unable to open/close without breaking the handle.

What am I doing wrong?

_________________
Marc K
2010 Hobie Tandem Island
Boynton Beach, FL

I'm not familiar with that particular product, but I know that "diver's silicon" grease won't affect the material those o-rings are made from. I've used it on mine and have had no such issues.

Please let the community know if this divers grease stuff solves your problem!

Plumbers silicone grease will not "swell o-rings".......that is why it's used to lubricate o-rings in washer-less faucets. It is waterproof and does not wash away in hot water.
My guess is there might be a "fit issue" with the locking mechanism that only turns 180 degrees from open to closed/locked......and/or the black plastic is expanding in the sun causing a mechanical clearance issue/warping??
Suggest looking closely at the clearance between the fixed locking arm(tab) on the outside ring and the twist lock mechanism when unlocked.
The hatch on my Outback has about 1/8" clearance between the lock parts when in the unlock/open position.....the solution can't be that hard to find as there are only two moving parts.

_________________
Dr.SteelheadCatcher
Hood River, OR

I picked up some plumber's silicone grease from Lowe's this weekend and used it on my 09 Adventure's hatches as they were not closing all the way.

The grease seems to have done the trick. Given that silicone based products tend to be a bear to wash off, I wore a pair of disposable rubber gloves and I walked away grease free.

_________________
Mike

The grease others are referring to is called "Danco" plumber's grease, from Home Depot. It works great, but not forever, in my experience. After a couple of years of use, I found the same problem you are encountering and the grease wouldn't fix it. I wound up buying new o-rings from Austin Kayak and that fixed things very nicely.

Keep'em greased and keep the salt/sand off them.

O-rings stretch if you don't keep them greased (with the good stuff that doesn't destroy the rubber), which may be why they still stick a bit after greasing if they were already stretched a bit. The problem is created by friction between the hatch and ungreased o-rings that subtly stretches the ring.

O-rings also expand/contract in the sun at a different rate than the hatch plastic.