Roof ends

[Hoosier Greg]

Thomas.
Nifty indeed ,hope you get lots of good use out of it.

On the hinge, with so many people having trouble with the installation and the foresight for all the extra stuff one has to do to make it work half right . Surely some one by now would have designed a simpler hinge .. I don't know, am I missing something here .

Greg

[Hoosier Greg]

TTT.
Thomas.
Nifty indeed ,hope you get lots of good use out of it.

On the hinge, with so many people having trouble with the installation and the foresight for all the extra stuff one has to do to make it work half right . Surely some one by now would have designed a simpler hinge .. I don't know, am I missing something here .

Greg


Does anybody want to comment or is it a none issue for you guys.

[Lgboro]

It's a BIG issue, but I haven't gotten even close to far enough on my build to be able to make an intelligent comment or fix. I'm sure there are many others like me that are watching this thread with much interest. I initially had considered building without a galley to avoid the many concerns it presents in a build but it just wasn't what I wanted to camp in or build.

[alffink]

The Huricane hinge is a very simple design that has held up in the industry for many years.

You do have to pay attention to the install though, it is not a standard hinge and you are not just hanging a door either.

Now I have to admit, that for the most part I followed Kevin Hauser's design, but the early users of this hinge would have it extend at least a quarter inch beyond the edge of the hatch and the edge of the roof.

Now, mine is cut to match the trim edge with a diverter to prevent direct egress of water,now I have not been in a driving rain, southern Cal hasn't had a driving rain in a couple of years, but I've tested it with a hose and it isn't wet in the inside. I have just loaded a few close-ups of the end of my hinge. There are better ways of doing this, I am sure, but this does seem to work.

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[Hoosier Greg]

I agree. With so many building and hundreds already build. I am wondering why no one in the trade has been able to come up with a better hinge or a standard method that would apply to all builds with a galley.. I read someone say the best hinge out there is the Plastic hinge.Yet I didn't read why it is. C'mon, truck cap builders have wonderful hinges for their caps. I was looking at my trucks cap the other day.There is no way in haids I will get water in my cap from around the hinge area. Car makers make trunks that don't leak.Surely with all the talent we have on this board some one would have designed a hinge that does not leak or take an Einstein to install.
Please someone, anyone, please clear up my confusion....
Greg.

[angib]

I think you're mixing up two things - hinges and seals. All the examples you give are where lots of thought (and some expense) has gone into designing and fitting good seals - in those cases, the hinges are not providing the seal.

The hurricane hinge is actually a stunningly simple device that works as both a hinge and a seal, has only one moving part and just screws straight onto two flat surfaces - something simpler and/or more effective is hard to conceive of.

Andrew

[Arne]

After running into the original problem of this topic on my first tear, I was careful to make the cut from the top/roof into the hatch area perpendicular to the roof line. The first time, I made the cut vertical to the ground, then realized the flange on the hinge was 90 degrees to the top surface.

This time, I made the cut 90 degrees to the roof. The cut slants forward a bit but the hinge fit fine. It goes a bit against the thought process to do it this way, but that is the way it is.

[Hoosier Greg]

I don't know that I am. Shouldn't a well designed hinge act as a seal against rain? if it is as well designed ,why then are so many people having so much trouble keeping water out of their galley. Didn't we have a thread not too long ago about how many times some of you had to rebuild you hatch, what's up with that ,where did the water enter the galley. Maybe the problem lies with the way we are designing the hatch in its most critical area,between the two spars the hinge attaches to.

[aggie79]

Arne - did you use one of this Tila hinges?

[Arne]

on no. 1, I used the standard hurricane hinge... on my current, no. 2, I used a centaflex hinge (a 'live' plastic hinge). The situation is the same, the flange is 90 degrees to the top surface of the hinge so the hatch cut has to be the same.

I can't really recommend the centaflex hinge because of its cost. I think it was around $150 from Canada. Hinge, shipping and 'border tax' were included in the total.... I just liked the looks of it, and since this tear should be good for years, I spared no expense getting what I wanted.

If I were to do it today, I'd go with one of the other live plastic hinges mentioned in other threads... maybe... I think they require something on top of them to keep 'pucker' down between the screws. And I wanted as flat a surface as I could get.

edit: I'd never heard of the Tila hinge, but it's profile is extremely close to the centaflex (I just googled it), but the centaflex is all plastic... the interlock is the same. Do you know what the cost of a 6' piece would be?

[aggie79]

They quoted me $122 for a 60-inch hinge.