Distorting door?

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TerryA

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Our new acquisition has a head cum shower compartment with a grp door in the grp enclosure. The door is a tight very fit at the bottom and lower side but doesn't appear to have dropped on the hinges. Could the door have swollen or distorted as a result of the humidity in the compartment? If it was wooden I'd take a plane to it but that would spoil the nicely rounded edges. Any ideas please as to cause or problem and any neat cures?
Terry
 
TerryA said:
Our new acquisition has a head cum shower compartment with a grp door in the grp enclosure. The door is a tight very fit at the bottom and lower side but doesn't appear to have dropped on the hinges. Could the door have swollen or distorted as a result of the humidity in the compartment? If it was wooden I'd take a plane to it but that would spoil the nicely rounded edges. Any ideas please as to cause or problem and any neat cures?
Terry
Click to expand...
Perhaps more likely that the FRAME has slightly distorted; perhaps as a result of tensioning rigging or similar stresses.
 
AntarcticPilot said:
Perhaps more likely that the FRAME has slightly distorted; perhaps as a result of tensioning rigging or similar stresses.
Click to expand...

. . . or perhaps the supporting framework it is fitted to never having been truly 'square' to start with and the doorframe or whole compartment either having always been pulled out of true, or having gradually flexed over time to adapt to whatever it is fitted to. Another possibility being that the compartment was never sufficiently rigid, and over time the weight of occupants, or other use, has distorted the compartment.

Possible solutions/mitigations that spring to mind, in no particular order -
- treat the edges which foul one another with silicon or some other suitable lubricant;
- carefully abrade the interfering edges;
- check the hinges themselves aren't worn, distorted or loose;
- loosen the door's hinge screws, one hinge face at a time, lift or pull/push the door in the appropriate direction and retighten the screws - the odd millimetre difference here and there, especially in combination, might make a difference;
- abrade the seat of the upper hinge in the frame, and/or insert some very fine packing (e.g. sheet plastic?) under the lower hinge, to lift the door very slightly;
- inspect the way the frame is fitted to whatever supports and braces it to see if there is scope to tighten or ease fittings to allow it to better take up it's intended shape;
- as per Antarctic Pilot, check rig tension is within parameters.
 
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What sort of hinge is it? Is it a single pin rather like a rudder pintle . If so place a washer on the pin to raise the door up a bit that will sort the binding bottom . Then you may be able to just bend the top or bottom hinge a bit to get it to pull the door in. Check the gap on the hinge side. It may be due to something simple , like a towel getting caught in the gap, bending the hinge. That would show as an excessive gap that side.
 
Is the boat in or out of the water, and is the rigging tensioned? My boat is pretty solid and the rigging hasn’t needed adjustment for years but the odd locker door occasionally sticks when out of the water.
 
Rig tension can have a surprising effect on internal fittings. Some years ago a professional rigger greatly over tensioned the rig on our Halmatic after we had new standing rigging fitted. The door to the heads was immoveable! Reducing the rig tension solved the problem.
I seem to remember reading that on the Contessa 32 they used to increase the tension before a race until one of the doors jammed and that was about right for best performance?
Naturally released afterwards.
 
+1 for rigging. After we had new standing rigging, the rigger tightened it bar tight and now the heads door does not lock securely.
 
On a Mobo.
Leave the bog door shut when not on boat and when boat occupied door will open / close perfectly with no pressure and latch will engage.
Leave door swinging and loose while away and certain amount of slamming required for latch to engage.
Hinges are aluminium. Have already tried the washers " trick"
 
I am currently making up the toilet door for my yacht. It is late at night but I will go down to my workshop and see if the camera (Pentax K10D) I bought on eBay for $A100 will take a shot in the shed light.

Well I'm astonished!

imgonline-com-ua-resize-Yr3q9HAEBV8MU6.jpg imgonline-com-ua-resize-TjPpTiIHMlTDtJI8.jpg

I plan to use Divillette type putty to fix the Divinycell foam into the ply/timber frame (glued with epoxy). Then I'll lay X2 Chopped Strand Matt over the Divinycell/timber. I think that will well and truly waterproof the whole door so moisture shouldn't be a problem.

When I glued the timber/ply door I clamped it to sheet of 15mm ply to keep it absolutely flat.

Hopefully the Divinycell foam will go some way to soundproofing the toilet/shower closet.

If your toilet door is warped can you lay glass over it once you have clamped it to ply(?) so that the warp has been eliminated?
 
coopec said:
I am currently making up the toilet door for my yacht. It is late at night but I will go down to my workshop and see if the camera (Pentax K10D) I bought on eBay for $A100 will take a shot in the shed light.

Well I'm astonished!

View attachment 133366 View attachment 133367

I plan to use Divillette type putty to fix the Divinycell foam into the ply/timber frame (glued with epoxy). Then I'll lay X2 Chopped Strand Matt over the Divinycell/timber. I think that will well and truly waterproof the whole door so moisture shouldn't be a problem.

When I glued the timber/ply door I clamped it to sheet of 15mm ply to keep it absolutely flat.

Hopefully the Divinycell foam will go some way to soundproofing the toilet/shower closet.

If your toilet door is warped can you lay glass over it once you have clamped it to ply(?) so that the warp has been eliminated?
Click to expand...
Better to clamp it to a piece of blockboard. That's what model aircraft constructors use for their building benches, as it does not warp.
 
Never heard of that until now. But you've gotta make do with what you've got!

Things are going fine. I'll have it fiber-glassed tomorrow ready for painting (white)

Just read this
"Divinycell H provides excellent mechanical properties to low weight. ... chemical resistance, low water absorption and good thermal/acoustic insulation.
divinycell acoustic insulation from atlcomposites.com.au
 
coopec said:
Never heard of that until now. But you've gotta make do with what you've got!

Things are going fine. I'll have it fiber-glassed tomorrow ready for painting (white)

Just read this
"Divinycell H provides excellent mechanical properties to low weight. ... chemical resistance, low water absorption and good thermal/acoustic insulation.
View attachment 133395
Click to expand...
Well obviously acoustic insulation is vital for a toilet door but will it stop the low frequency sounds (explosive) as well as the higher frequency screams. ol'will
 
William_H said:
Well obviously acoustic insulation is vital for a toilet door but will it stop the low frequency sounds (explosive) as well as the higher frequency screams. ol'will
Click to expand...

Well I've thought about that too.

I have a 170cfm(?) exhaust blower blasting odious air into the chain locker AND it is quite noisy!:sneaky:
 
Light mass production boats tend to bend more than the solid ones. My other boat a Bavaria 34 had the same problem when out of the water
 
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