Hobie hatch o-rings

[Wavy Davy]

The o-rings on my Hobie hatches make it hard to close them. I've tried doing without them, but I get a lot more water inside the hull when I do. I tried using Armor All to lubricate them, but it didn't help. Any suggestions?

[Grilled]

You can order new ones, i replaced mine on my old revo for the same reason.

contact Dennis at backyard boats, he might have some in stock, thats where i got mine.

[Redfish12]

Be careful with what you use to clean them. I would say to stick to mild soapy water and not use any sort of lubricant or grease that is not silicone based. Mine swelled up and I had to replace them too. I took the gasket off the rear hatch and switched, eventually that one also became to difficult to close so I replaced both.

[chex]

Use silicone grease to lubricate them.

http://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewt...p?f=11&t=39816

[Pinch]

Use silicone grease to lubricate them.

http://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewt...p?f=11&t=39816

^^^^^This^^^^^

[tufnik]

I've had my Hobie for 1 1/2 years. I clean the hatch/gasket with soap and water, then coat it with Armor All. Still like brand new and seals fine.

[ComeOnFish]

I had enough of cleaning the rings. The only bad thing is that juice of all cut-off blue crab drips into the inside.
Also check the pin of the twist handle. When the pin slide to one side, the pin prevent the twist handle turn. -- I think you already checked

I removed the ring from the center hatch. My turtle tests show that there were almost no impact for first 2 minutes. The center hatch is about 3 inch above the surface when turtled. (Both Revo and Adventure). Water goes through the rudder cable holes even with the center hatch is tightly sealed. The bow hatch is the one that is not sealed well, and I don’t think we can do much about the bow hatch

I am not suggesting this, just FYI if you ever go out without the ring.
The following video show my capsized Adventures with the center hatch wide open. I couldn't upright the kayak over 2.5 minutes due to the jammed mast. There was only a Gallon of water inside when I uprighted the Adventure. At 1:32 mark you will see the turtled Adventure:

Joe

[Wavy Davy]

Thanks for all the info guys. I'll try it all out and let you know what works for me.

[ComeOnFish]

Wavy Davy,
First I corrected a typo on my post post. I changed “a quirt” of water to “a gallon” of water.

I buy my 100% silicon grease from diver shop. The small package at plumbing section at Lowes and Home Depot are small and very expensive. I grease the rudder cable and rudder components (under water camer housing seal, Gopro ring, electronic contacts such as FF) with the following grease. I have over 3000 miles on the original rudder cables, and they still look good:

http://www.leisurepro.com/Catalog.as...&Term=silicone grease&Hit=1

Just in case, I want to make it clear. When I did the water intrusion test years ago and last year, I put 10lb of weight on the stern to simulate the Battery and other stuff (sinkers in the tackle box that are tied up on the stern well).
The additional weight on the stern made a huge difference in water intrusion rate. For a turtled Revo and Adventure, the rudder cable holes are at surface level without the weight. With the weight the rudder cable holes are under the surface. This made the difference. The rate of water intrusion increased exponentially.

After two gallons of water inside the kayak, the water intrusion rate accelerated.
After 5 gallons of water inside the kayak, I could up right the kayak. But the kayak is not stable. Now the rudder cable holes are under the surface with the kayak upright

So I always keep my battery under front hatch, not under stern hatch. This gives me additional few minutes if something prevents me from uprighting the kayak.

Joe

[ronaultmtd]

got mine about a month after Tufnik got his- a 2010 Outback- bought it in early August from a Ft. Belvoir Army helicopter pilot deploying overseas - same story- clean, fresh water and a bucket of mild soap- Nothing has broken, no issues at all with anything- spray the Drive with CLP and wipe it down with clean rag, wash the boat and store it in my pole barn on racks covered with foam rubber- yak sitting upright