electric hatch cover

[BANDIT]

my new boat has an elecrtic engine hatch cover on it (which i always thought was cool) but i was wondering if the jack goes out how do you get the hatch open???? does this happen very often???

[Havasu Hangin']

On mine, I had the upholstery guy build in access holes in the back seat, so I can just reach in & pull the pin, if necessary. Also, I moved my battery switch under my back seat, just in case I kill the battery.
Do you have external hinges? You can always pull the pins on the hinges, and slide the hatch backward enough to get your hand in and pull the pin.
Otherwise, I have heard guys just muscle em up & break em, or pull the screws out. There was a thread on OSO a few weeks back, where the guy had this very problem. If you perform a search, I bet it's still there.
http://www.websitemonster.com/images/pimp.gif

[No Limits !]

Don't know what kind of boat you have, but I have a Wellcraft Excalibur with the electric hatch and Wellcraft folks told me when I asked that same question that all I have to do is grab hold and pull up. Guess what ???
I tried it and it worked fine, needed a little muscle, but nothing was broke.
Hope this helps!!

[RiverDave2]

Bandit, electric hatch that is most popular is actually a worm gear driven mechanism. The only thing that could go bad in it would be the motor from possible corrosion or what not. (pretty unlikely situation) If you actually have water up on the motor then the least of your problems is how to open the hatch http://free.***boat.net/ubb/biggrin.gif
A more likely situation is your batteries can go flat and if there located under the engine hatch then it can make an easy situation a total pain the a**. Easily rememdies as well, make some leads that run up and are secured under your back seat then you'll never have to deal with it. Or you can just go by a Nordic and they put the batteries and selector switch under the back seat.
Since I never say anything but good things about Hallett, I figure I will share one bad thing with you. For some reason they put the batteries as well as the selector switch under the engine hatch on some of there boats. This to me is completely retarded. They then give you a kind of either hole to reach your arm through and pull the pin or a actual crawl through (bigger boats) to under there and pull the pin. Why not just run a couple leads??? or relocate the batteries?? My friend has a Hallett 270 and I don't even want to get into what a pain in the A** it was to get his hatch open.. He described it as an easy procedure right up until we HAD TO DO IT.
RD

[BANDIT]

thanks for everyones help.
HAVASU HANGIN - THE BOAT DOES HAVE EXTERNAL HINGES & I HAD THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT YOUR SAYING - I FIGURED WITH MY LUCK THE NUTS ON THE INSIDE WOULD SPIN WITH THE BOLTS - I GUESS I COULD PUT A DROP OF SUPERGLUE OR JB WELD AT THE EDGE OF THE NUT AND HULL
NO LIMITS - MY BUDDIES AND I HAD SPECULATED THAT YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO MAN HANDLE THE HATCH - THE BOAT IS A BAJA 223
DAVE - I HAVE THE REMOTE TERMINALS UNDER THE REAR SEAT IN CASE OF A DEAD BATTERY BUT LIKE THE BOAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT MY SWITCH AND BATTERIES ARE INSIDE THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT.
AGAIN, THANKS FOR EVERYONES INPUT. I WANTED SOME IDEAS BEFORE I'M AT THE LAKE AND GET ALL PISSED OFF WHEN SOMETHING HAPPENS TO THE HATCH JACK. WE ALL KNOW HOW MUCH FUN IT IS WHEN YOUR AT THE WATER AND SOMETHING F**KS-UP
WITH THE BOAT. AND IT ALWAYS HAPPENS WHEN YOU'VE GOT SOMEONE NEW TO BOATING WITH YOU (USUALLY THE FEMALE YOU'VE BEEN AFTER FOR 6 MONTHS) AND THE GUY YOU'VE BEEN WAITING TO BLOW OFF THE WATER IS BLASTING UP & DOWN THE WATER.

[BANDIT]

HAVASU HANGIN - I WAS THINKING ABOUT YOUR POST. DO YOU HAVE A QUICK RELEASE PIN WHERE YOUR JACK & HATCH PLATE MEET???? MY BOAT HAS A BOLT. I LIKE THE QUICK RELEASE PIN IDEA. HAVE YOU EVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS WITH IT WORKING OUT BECAUSE OF VIBERATIONS OR ROUGH WATER?

[Havasu Hangin']

No problems. It's a beefy pin, with a push button release. Looks like this:
http://www.eddiemarine.com/cart/Pictures/302-07.JPG
When it's closed or open, there is pressure on the pin, and the release keeps it from coming out.
Here's the hinges I have:
http://www.eddiemarine.com/cart/Pictures/149-01.jpg
Note the pins. I got both from Eddie Marine.
http://www.goldenplasma.f2s.com/foru...es/happy25.gif

[RiverDave2]

DAVE - I HAVE THE REMOTE TERMINALS UNDER THE REAR SEAT IN CASE OF A DEAD BATTERY BUT LIKE THE BOAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT MY SWITCH AND BATTERIES ARE INSIDE THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT.
AGAIN, THANKS FOR EVERYONES INPUT. I WANTED SOME IDEAS BEFORE I'M AT THE LAKE AND GET ALL PISSED OFF WHEN SOMETHING HAPPENS TO THE HATCH JACK. WE ALL KNOW HOW MUCH FUN IT IS WHEN YOUR AT THE WATER AND SOMETHING F**KS-UP
WITH THE BOAT. AND IT ALWAYS HAPPENS WHEN YOU'VE GOT SOMEONE NEW TO BOATING WITH YOU (USUALLY THE FEMALE YOU'VE BEEN AFTER FOR 6 MONTHS) AND THE GUY YOU'VE BEEN WAITING TO BLOW OFF THE WATER IS BLASTING UP & DOWN THE WATER.[/B]
How do you turn the batteries off when the boat is not in use? Do you just leave the engine hatch open?
I would move your selector switch first, and if you have the remote terminals then you have no worries. You can just hook up a battery charger to the terminals and raise the hatch if the batteries are dead.
Is your concern that the motor is going to fail on the lift??
RD

[kab]

Riverdave, I know on my boat I can turn both battery selector switches off and still operate the engine hatch cover.

[tahoe22]

Originally posted by kab:
Riverdave, I know on my boat I can turn both battery selector switches off and still operate the engine hatch cover.
Kab -Edumacte me. If you turn the battery switches off, how do you power the hatch motor?