Just wondering if anybody has experience with these
aluminum manhole covers. This is our aft
engine access point. The original seal is shot which is it's own issue, and the handle on the lid has broken off prior to our
ownership. I could clean this
hatch up, maybe a bead blast or something, find the seal material, have a new handle welded on, but I'm curious if anybody else out there, probably on similar boats, smaller heavy
displacement cruisers built in
Taiwan has a
hatch like this.
It has three turning
dogs, with a shallow rectangular slot on top, the bottom of which is semi circular, in which fits a heavy
steel T-Handle to lock them down. Problem is, these rectangular slots which were shallow to begin with have become somewhat rounded with age and use, and the opening device usually slips out when you are trying to dog down the hatch, usually causing more wear.
The t-bar that fits into the
dogs has a rounded bottom piece about a half inch wide, that fits in the dog slot. Seems like a poor design from the start to use a shallow rounded bottom slot for heavy duty torqueing. But I digress.
My pictures show the relative size of the hatch ring, and I'm wondering if there are any more modern, heavy duty watertight alternatives that would
work in this size, with a more positive locking mechanism. If this hatch
leaks offshore, this is a potentially dangerous large source of
water ingress for one thing, that could cause the
bilge to fill up rapidly after taking a big greenie over the stern, furthermore, it
leaks right ontop of our
transmission and shaft coupling, which prior to our
ownership it has turned from brand new to rusty in short order.
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