Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I was wondering what the purpose of the 3/8 cutout on the galley walls? Im referring to the generic benroy plans by the way. Is it for weatherstripping? What would be the result without it? Too tight a fit. Im arriving at the wall building stage and dont want to miss anything

Thanks

Yes it is for the weather stipping. If you don't allow for the clearance your hatch won't shut.

Seth here' what I did this weekend. 1/4" groove for the weatherstripping. Did it with a router.

Dave

boomboomtulum wrote:Seth here' what I did this weekend. 1/4" groove for the weatherstripping. Did it with a router.

Dave

That is great! It gives you the space for the weather strip and also gives you a hard lip to keep any potential water out. I wish I did that, not that I have had any water in my galley. I also did a 1/4" and for the weatherstrip that I have is enough. Get the weatherstrip that you are going to use before you cut. There should be enough space for the strip but tight enough to compress it.

Remember, you can use the piece you cut out as a template for your hatch ribs.




Mk

Yeah, and be sure to have a template for the hatch ribs before you cut the gap.

Don't make the cut out too big. I had someone with a tear (not from this board) tell me 3/8 was too small. I made mine 1/2 and had to use double weather stripping to seal it up. I would think 1/4 would be plenty.

Great timing for this thread! My hatch is completed and ready to attach, and I neglected to cut the 3/8" notch earlier. Since my wall thickness is 1.5 inches and already skinned with aluminum, I was thinking of using a rabbeting bit in my router to cut a groove in the middle of the wall. That way, any water that wants to try to get in the galley has to get past the lip on the insert molding, into the groove, around the seal, out of the groove and into the galley. I'm hoping that the water is too lazy to do this. I know I would be.

Joe

Joe,

Just make sure that the wood inside the groove is sealed really well and that the water can get out of it and not lay there. I could see water being trapped by the weather seal and causing you problems if it can run off.

Jim