53MY eng room door latch orientation?

[MikeP]

OK, I know this may sound weird but I need some info.

Recently I had the 4 eng rm doors/jambs refinished while we were in Mexico so I wasn't here. The person doing it did a great job and they look mahvelous! HOWEVER, he pulled the doors and hardware to do the work because the door skins were delaminating. He reglued/clamped/sanded/painted and when reinstalling them could not get the latches to align even though he says he installed the latch parts in the same position the had been located. However, he has installed them in a different orientation than they were.

Specifically, the part that is mounted to the jamb - don't know what you call it - the opening is somewhat oval shaped. Here's what I want to know: Does the wider part of the oval face upward or downward? Do they all face the same way or does the wide part of the oval face one direction (up or down) on the upper latch and the opposite direction on the lower latch.

He and I disagree on how they should have been originally (from the factory). There is evidence that the doors/latches had been removed previously (though they worked fine). But there are plugged/redrilled holes from the PO so I am not sure if the way they were on the boat when I got it is the correct way. I have to redo the latches in any case to get them to work properly and I would also like to be sure they are oriented per original Hatt setup.

SO...could somebody take a look at their ER doors and tell me how the piece mounted on the jamb is oriented re the wider part of the oval?

 

[GJH]

Mine are wide part down, so that when the latch is 90 degrees to it, the latch is in the narrow part, which snugs it shut. The alignment is such that the latch is centered in the oval.

 

[Pascal]

here you go...

 

[GJH]

So there you have it! One boat with the wide down, one with the wide up. Now your job is easy! Actually, I should say 3/4 wide down.. I just noted that the aft starboard door has them up; no wonder that one doesn't fit as snugly...

 

[yachtsmanbill]

It should be like any water tite door... so vibration or racking in a seaway wont cause the latch to fall open and have your wife/guests wear the door! ws

 

[Walter P]

I agree with Yachtsman willie...... set them so that the natural weight of the handle will tend to keep it in a closed position. I bought a pair of them from Sam's years ago and re-designed the door to my engine room using two of them....one on each side. That way the door completely comes out when opened. The original door was a combersome affair whereby the stairs from the salon to the galley would hinge upward for access. Now just fold the teak stairs away and a latch on each side frees up the door for removal.

By the way, treat the latches with TLC as they are not cheap.

Walt

 

[MikeP]

LOL!

Maybe I'll just remove the latches and use some long drywall screws - unscrew 'em to open the doors.

Thanks guys. I'll just fool with them until they work.

 

[Angela]

I took mine off to paint. I should have marked which precise piece went where - they are not perfectly the same. I now have some that won't latch at all. I'm going to have to take them off again and keep re-arranging them until I can what works where and get them all to latch again. Sort of like a Rubics Cube puzzle. LOL

 

[MikeP]

Except that it IS possible to solve a rubic's cube. I don't know about these Hatt latches!

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Gi yerself a tin of Kodiak and a 6 pack of Budweiser jusy like bubba used... itll all start to make cents... ws

 

[Angela]

I looked at mine last night. They are oriented with the wide part down, but like Walter and Yachtsmanwillie mentioned, you want the orient the latch so that it will not open with vibration. That is not the way mine are currently configured and I do have a door swing open while underway every now and then, and when it does, boy is it loud! I WILL be changing the orientation of my latches!

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Hi Ange... better tell yer pal to fix his! LOLOL ws

 

[REBrueckner]

This thread reminds me of the old joke: "How many XYZ does it take to change a light bulb?" It's about as embarassing a thread as I have seen here!!!! Is this the best all we "experts" can muster?????

But I have a good excuse not to be involved: I ddn't have that kind of "high techie" latch on my YF....and I'm thankful, because I could argue either way...

For those who are still unsure, I say get a latch you can understand.....

 

[MikeP]

Actually it's more complicated than it may appear. I discovered that every one of the 8 rotating latches on the 4 doors is a slightly different profile. That means the because of manufacturing tolerances at the time, each latch and the part that mounts on the jamb had to be individually fitted. SO THAT means that every one of the 8 latches has to go back where it was or they won't work. Either they won't latch at all (too tight) or they will latch but the door can still move.

I know this because I just spent several hours moving latches so that they will work as they did before they were removed. So IF you remove latches, be sure that you mark their position so you can ensure the all latches go back where they came from when the factory custom fitted them to their positions.

In order to work as they are designed, I believe the top latches must rotate counter-clockwise to latch, while the bottom latches rotate clockwise to latch. The wider part of the opening on the door jamb portion is UP at the top latch and DOWN at the bottom latch. This insures that the door is tightened into position as the latch rotates. If you reverse it, the door will not be pushed tightly closed with the latch fully engaged.

Laugh if you want.

 

[GJH]

I agree this is very silly! But heck, I'll dive back in!

There is no reason for the bottom to be different than the top. Think about it. The latch doesn't know how close the edge is let alone where it is. The latches I have are light, and if they are going to move because of gravity, they will move upward into the top of the catch. The handle side is the heavy side, though it is inconsequential. As long as the latch is perpendicular to the top of the catch in its final resting place, all is well. It is much easier and faster if they all secure the same way.

That's why I want the narrow side up among other reasons. Given the friction caused by narrow side being the resting place, the door will seal better. My latches have built in friction to begin with, so between that and being firmly gripped by the narrow end and the door sealed against the gasket, they do not and cannot come loose. That's why I am changing my one door that had wide side up, because it is slightly less snug than the others.

 

[MikeP]

IMO, the latch should be set so as to tighten the door as you rotate the latch. If the "catch" rotates from the narrow part to the wide part, the door is tighter as the latch is first engaged, loosening as the catch is turned to fully engaged. Seems as though it should be the other way.

But as has been noted, it appears that the doors were set up differently from the factory, apparently just depending on who installed the doors that day. So we are all "used" to a different factory setup!

 

[REBrueckner]

Mike,
I happen to think your post# 16 likely has the right idea.....but the contra argument is that once the latch is closed if mounted the opposite way, it is VERY unlikely to ever work loose...

Clearly these latches are more sophisticated than we.....

 

[MikeP]

"Clearly these latches are more sophisticated than we....."

Good one!

 

[Angela]

Didn't have one open up on me today, but that's a first...still going to analyze the orientation of these latches.

Didn't have the fresh water pump go tits up either, but since that's a first, too, I'll be keeping an eye on that too.

 

[Bill Root]

One final note: take good care of those latches. One of mine broke last week. The washer holding the handle to the latch body broke off. Sam's informed me that the latches are no longer available.