use of European hinges for hatch and doors??

[Bent bike guy]

been busy building my first tear drop and thinking of using European hinges instead of the expensive hurricane hinges at $10 a foot.
any one try them My thinking is all vehicles w/ doors use similar type??

[noseoil]

On the hatch, biggest issue is weight. They aren't designed to take a load of what a hatch will weigh (upwards of 60# typically). A normal hatch hinge is stronger & better with leaks in general, depending on the design.

[Tomterrific]

I'm not sure what is a European hinge? I was disappointed with a hurricane hinge the first opening of the hatch, as it leaked a little when dew ran into the hinge. I used a strip of rubber over the hinge to get it fully waterproof. I could have saved time and money by using a piano hinge with the rubber strip. Many get good results with a hurricane hinge, it depends on hatch design/placement.

T

[drhill]

when I think European hinges I think of the cabinet door hinges made popular by Blum and now other hardware companies. Is there another type of European hinge?

If it is the cabinet door ones, I wouldn't suggest using them. They are great in my kitchen, easy to adjust to get even door gaps but they occasionally do go out of adjustment and that is in a non vibrating application. With all the vibration of a trailer going down the road they would likely need frequent adjustments and as mentioned are not designed for a lot of weight. I would also think they would be very hard to mount on a hatch. After reading of all the failures (leakage) of hurricane hinges (but lots of successes too), I saved my money and just used some old closet door hinges from my junk collection and a rubber sealing strip over top (bike tire tube). Cheap, no leaks and easy to install.

[Bent bike guy]

a piece of rubber over piano hinge sounds pretty good.
A hatch weighs 60 lbs?? never would have guessed. Have yet to build the hatch but getting close.

[noseoil]

60# is just a guess & general number, but that's what mine is with a 5' wide build. the hatch on a 4' wide which is smaller would be less. Depends on how it's made, what size & what's inside it.

A good piano hinge (aluminum or stainless steel) with an inner tube under it will last a long time & be less expensive than a hurricane hinge. A steel hinge can rust over time but is less expensive.

[Bent bike guy]

thinking about the ribs inside the hatch. I am questioning why are some if not all are using 3/4" ply for ribs? Am thinking of 3/8" or 1/2" ribs with 2 x 2 " spars or 1 x 3" spars. Skinning outside w/ 1/9" Luan and 1/8" paneling on inside.
Locating a 5" long piano hinge as the cabin is 60" id
Have several inner tubes for sealing the hinge.
cover entire cabin with Dacron then PMF method.

[tony.latham]

thinking about the ribs inside the hatch. I am questioning why are some if not all are using 3/4" ply for ribs? Am thinking of 3/8" or 1/2" ribs with 2 x 2 " spars or 1 x 3" spars. Skinning outside w/ 1/9" Luan and 1/8" paneling on inside.
Locating a 5" long piano hinge as the cabin is 60" id
Have several inner tubes for sealing the hinge.
cover entire cabin with Dacron then PMF method.

Ribs? I'm more of a gusset and spar guy.











No springback with three hatches now and it makes for a great seal with that lip that comes up from the wall into the hatch.

Tony

[Bent bike guy]

in that last pic w/ cute blond, where are the hinges? on the bottom or ??
looks like you used plywood that was laminated to about 1? thick?? and the spars are 2 x 4's??
need more details before I start construction of hatch.

[tony.latham]

in that last pic w/ cute blond, where are the hinges? on the bottom or ??
looks like you used plywood that was laminated to about 1? thick?? and the spars are 2 x 4's??
need more details before I start construction of hatch.

Hey! That's my wife helping with the hatch install!

The hurricane hinge is at the top. (I do like those.) You're looking at the Steve Fredrick's hatch method as he explains in his Teardrop Shop Manual. (Google it.)

The spars are made from 1" popular and are two-inches deep. The sides of the hatch are cut off the walls, a piece of half-inch ply is attached on the inside of the the wall and sits 1/2" proud. To really understand it, I'd recommend you purchase a copy of his manual here: http://www.campingclassics.com/shopman05.html

I'm tempted to post a screen capture from his manual but that'd be stepping across a copyright line.

The 250 pages is well worth the $60. My head was in and out of it during build #1 and I used it back and forth to figure out stuff on #2 and #3. (And no, I have no association with Steve).

NoseOil did something along that line (with the lip coming into his hatch) but when I looked at his teardrop, I was so bedazzled with it that I didn't focus on his hatch.

Tony