I stupidly broke my hinge on the hatch on my Pungo 125 while emptying my kayak. Have a new one coming but wonder if anyone has any advice for removing the old hatch and ring and installing the new one. Scraping off any old silicone and what product to use to seal it. I’m assuming the old one unscrews and the new one should just slide in? WS suggests a silicone product but it’s like $30 for a small tube. Any good alternatives? I see some guys saying Lexel? Thanks so much.
That area should only get occasional splashes. I would use a thin layer of Marine Goop.
I use 3m, 4200. It doesn’t get hard and works good. But they are proud of it. $$
Usually some restrained 5 in one tool action will pop it loose. Perhaps some MEK and the 5 in 1. (painters putty knife) Be careful with the screws. If thru bolted machine screw with nut things will be easy. If sheet metal screw in plastic you can strip the threads fairly easy.
Ok awesome thanks guys. I’ve seen others mention the 3M stuff too. I’ll see if I can find some. Just a line of the sealant and seat it in place? I noticed the screws are not that tight at all from the factory so I’m assuming the sealant and the rubber gaskets the screws slide into do the job and the screws don’t need to be to tight.
When my Pungo hatch broke, the replacement came with a very adequate generic sealant.
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Yes to the other suggestions. Lexel is good for what it does, I have used it to refresh bulkhead seals in plastic boats. But not the right material for sealing hatches.
But might be worth seeing in WS sends you some goop, like string says.
Speaking of Goop, a tube will be adequate for the job.
The manufacturer of my boat recommended Lexel to repair bulkheads in a Kevlar boat. It’s wonderful stuff. crystal clear, exceptionally strong, flexible, and sticks to almost anything even when wet. However, once it cures it’s almost impossible to remove. You’d be better off with a different marine grades sealant. BoatUS has a whole article on these. https://www.boatus.com/magazine/2013/april/how-to-pick-the-right-sealant.asp . GOOP 170011 is the marine version of GOOP. Fairly cheap.
Flexible is why l used Lexel for bulkhead but would not for something on the deck like a hatch. The latter can cure hard.
Thanks guys for all the help. I just took the broken hatch off and the sealant that came from the factory was strong but quite pliable and flexible. With just my fingers breaking the seal I was able to wiggle the old hatch out so I can definitely see the reason why one would want to use a sealant that you could easily remove if you needed too. From the looks of it I’m assuming it’s the stock grey goo in that tube that WS sells. Just a little bit of fine sand paper should be all I need to remove any remnant of the old sealant around the area where the hatch sits.
I had plenty of that left over from my Pungo hatch replacement and it has come in handy for other repairs.
You might want to try an adhesive remover like Goo Gone to remove the remaining adhesive. Sand paper often tends to clog up and smear when trying to remove adhesive. Acetone and WD-40 often work to remove adhesive as well
Acetone and Goo Gone have worked for me. If you wet it with GG and let it sit, it works better. I put a paper towel over the spot and soak it.
Oh good ideas thanks. I’ve actually got some goo gone right here already!