Beckson opening ports leak

[masknfins]

Hi, I have a 26' trailer sailer with 6 Beckson Newport opening ports with the rain drain option (port can be on tilted surface). They were leaking when it rains, so I replaced the gaskets with new from Beckson. They still leak in the rain! I checked, and they are seated correctly. Any ideas on what to do? I'm considering putting drip catchers on the inside, but that seems a poor solution vs. them sealing tight.

[bensolomon]

You may very well have to rebed the ports. Often times, the water leaks between the frame and the Coach House. Even a slight trickle will cause the water to get inside the boat.

If you want to test the theory, get some waterproof leak seal tape, and tape it over the frame and see if that stops you're leak.

[masknfins]

Thanks, I'll run that test and report back, though it will be about a month due to other travels.

[CSY Man]

I had Beckson portholes on the previous boat. Found out one way to stop the leaks was to clean the gaskets as grains of salt and dirt would compromise the sealing. Easy fix for the gasket leaks, but still had to re-bed the porthole frames as the 20 year caulking had given up and more than half the portholes was leaking around the frames.
Ended up buying brand new ones at a discounted price of $155 each from Sailorman in Fort Lauderdale. MSRP was $250. The new ones had more (green) tint and a better locking mechanism.
Ended up through bolting all 8 new portholes for a tighter fit, but had to drill 10 holes in each cover plate and another 10 holes through the side of the house, a total of 160 holes.
Big job, but no more leaks..

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by CSY Man

Found out one way to stop the leaks was to clean the gaskets as grains of salt and dirt would compromise the sealing.

^^^^^ this.

We have Beckson ports and cleaning the gaskets and lens stops any minor drips.

Another thing we did to minimize potential leaks was to screw in the ports behind the outside trim cover, then silicone the trim cover over the screw heads. No leaks for many years!

[pcmm]

As others have said, clean the gaskets to prevent and foreign debris from compromising the seal.

New gaskets are a pain as they need to "flatten" before they are at their best performance. The biggest improvement I made to our Beckson ports (16 of them) was to convert them from the lever latches to the old knob style. Much easier to get the correct tightness to prevent leaks without over stressing the plastic lenses.