Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I finished out and completed most of my breadbox..but my friend started it and one of the things he built and installed was the galley hatch and hinge...just looking at it I knew it was going to leak...I need to remove the standard piano hinge and install a hurricane hinge..I am hoping someone here can direct me in the right direction to purchasing a hinge that will work on my camper....I am looking at something like the better than hinge from Lil Bear below is what I am working with:

Top looking down across hatch




Under hatch with it open looking out



Sides


open top


the entire with of rear of camper is 51 inches the with of the current hinge is 4 ft

how wide would my new hinge need to be to stop the rain?

You want your hinge to hang over the edge by 1/4" - 1/2". And I would definitely seal up those plywood edges on the galley wall. Even if you get the leaking to stop, you don't want those raw edges.

I'm not seeing any rubber gasketing in those pictures. Is there any? If not, when you order your Better Than a Hurricane Hinge from Grant you might want to get some of his hatch gasket material as well. It compresses down very well, to about 1/16" of an inch, so even if your tolerances are fairly tight, it will probably still work.

Good luck getting this hemorrhaging to stop. I haven't gotten my hatch on yet and not getting it watertight is one of my biggest fears. I'll know soon.

slowcowboy wrote:no rubber under the hatch hing. I used a split bike inner tube under mine. just go down to wally world and buy a cheap bike inner tube and split it with a sissors and put it under the hinge you got now. you don't really need to go buy a brand new hinge from grant. yes. they are nice but not needed and will cost more money.

just get a bike tube from wally world for a few bucks and take off your hatch and put it under your hinge you got now.

it will fix your problem totaly and let you keep your hinge you got now with out costing lots of more money.

besides grant will have to ship the new hinge to you and that will cost you shiping and freight on top of that.

bike tubes are less than 5 bucks at wally world!!!!!!!

slow

Hmm..That sounds like a fast fix...I am taking it to Charlotte weekend after next and worried about getting a new hinge shipped to me in time to fix it this weekend..I could do the inter tube now and look into a permanent fix later..how long does it usually take Grant to get a hinge out? I tried to email him but it was returned..

Thanks everyone for the advice....

It seems to me that your hatch is a text book example of what not to do when building a trailer. Piano hinge, too short, no sealant under it, no seals on the hatch, exposed ply edges. I really think you need to redo the whole deal or you will battle leaks and rot forever

CarlLaFong wrote:It seems to me that your hatch is a text book example of what not to do when building a trailer. Piano hinge, too short, no sealant under it, no seals on the hatch, exposed ply edges. I really think you need to redo the whole deal or you will battle leaks and rot forever

Yes..My buddy started building this with the intentions of just pulling it behind his vintage car to carshows..it was meant to be kept inside and more for show..I bought it when he lost interest and reworked just about all of it to make it a cool usable little camper..this hatch is the last in the long line of things I had to totally redo....

We do not have a problem with leaking around the hatch with the hatch closed or with the hatch opened and the rear tarp in place. There was however, because it is a very heavy duty piano hinge, the potential for it to leak if we do not have the tarp in place and it is raining. It now has a white piece of EPDM rubber roofing that protects the hinge and extends a bit past the end, problem solved.

Shadow Catcher wrote:We do not have a problem with leaking around the hatch with the hatch closed or with the hatch opened and the rear tarp in place. There was however, because it is a very heavy duty piano hinge, the potential for it to leak if we do not have the tarp in place and it is raining. It now has a white piece of EPDM rubber roofing that protects the hinge and extends a bit past the end, problem solved.

Lemme see it please. (Just in case)

Yes..My buddy started building this with the intentions of just pulling it behind his vintage car to carshows

Not trying to be mean, but I think I'd be real hesitant to ride in his "showcar"...

It may help to think of the roof, the hinge, and the hatch as "shingles".
Shingles on a roof start at the lowest point, and are layered going up the the highest point.
Each sheds the water to the next lowest shingle until the water falls to the ground.

As is, yours has a hole in the middle.

The roof skin, and the hatch skin need to both be full width, and all the way to the joint.
The hinge must also be full width, and is better if can overhang a little.
The hurricane hinge you want is a much better option than the piano hinge, which requires extra waterproofing by design.

The pictures show some varnished wood.
They also show what appears to be a job that was put together, and some varnish put on the "parts you can see".
It is important to seal/have varnish on anything that is exposed, as water will fast find its way under the varnish and turn the wood gray, then black.
When this happens, there is no cure.

Rob

The place to by the hinge like Grant's is from Grant. It is worth any price. If the email was returned, it must have been the wrong address, as he responds promptly. However, he has been out of the shop for the last week due to running the Dam gathering. They will be there a few more days to "power down" after the gathering, so try again. Becky is spot on about overhanging the hinge. When i realized i did mot do that in our build, I got a new one in 3 days. No leaks ever. If you want to talk about customer service, ask JohW, on his way home from the Dam, after loosing his hatch on the way.

E-mail: [email protected] 530-242-6452

His website says he will return May 8th.

48Rob wrote:

Yes..My buddy started building this with the intentions of just pulling it behind his vintage car to carshows

Not trying to be mean, but I think I'd be real hesitant to ride in his "showcar"...

Rob

Being a talented mechanic and body-man does not make you a carpenter....lol... I have figured this out over the course of building this thing..I'm a good mechanic...decent electrician but a poor carpenter...trim carpentry is for the birds..you can have it.... I understand now what needs to be done..and honestly if I had took more time and researched the problem the information was already here..I apologize for that...I need to rip the hatch off..varnish and seal everything up..buy a hinge from Grant that is a little wider than the entire width of the camper..try to not install it upside down and enjoy finished results..my camper is not perfect..but it IS sturdy and I plan to have a wonderful time with it....

nevadatear wrote:The place to by the hinge like Grant's is from Grant. It is worth any price. If the email was returned, it must have been the wrong address, as he responds promptly. However, he has been out of the shop for the last week due to running the Dam gathering. They will be there a few more days to "power down" after the gathering, so try again. Becky is spot on about overhanging the hinge. When i realized i did mot do that in our build, I got a new one in 3 days. No leaks ever. If you want to talk about customer service, ask JohW, on his way home from the Dam, after loosing his hatch on the way.

E-mail: [email protected] 530-242-6452

His website says he will return May 8th.

Thank you..I resent email with address you provided and it did not return to me..I plan to buy a hinge from him and do it correctly...

Atta boy/man. As my dad used say. Best of luck, you have a workable plan.

slowcowboy wrote:no rubber under the hatch hing. I used a split bike inner tube under mine. just go down to wally world and buy a cheap bike inner tube and split it with a sissors and put it under the hinge you got now. you don't really need to go buy a brand new hinge from grant. yes. they are nice but not needed and will cost more money.

just get a bike tube from wally world for a few bucks and take off your hatch and put it under your hinge you got now.

it will fix your problem totaly and let you keep your hinge you got now with out costing lots of more money.

besides grant will have to ship the new hinge to you and that will cost you shiping and freight on top of that.

bike tubes are less than 5 bucks at wally world!!!!!!!

slow

At under $5.00 I think your fix is gonna work pretty darn well till I get the proper hinge...passed the heavy rain test today and took all of ten mins to do...