Any ideas for a better Cabin door latch

[TRUE BLUE]

The cabin door latches, or grabbers, at the top and bottom of my cabin door fail repeatedly. They are the black plastic ones. Does anyone have a better idea? Link shows what I have. On my third set.


http://www.westmarine.com/southco-marin ... P014473086

 

[TimC2520]

I just removed mine after replacing numerous times.
I put the stainless crews back in and called it a day. Never had an issue with the door swinging open without.

 

[Bryan 2530]

Me too.

They were broke when I got the boat. Never installed new ones.

 

[kidfreediver]

Yah same with me definitly time to come up with a better idea

 

[Phil]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BAV ... KZJ6CRADAB

Mine also broke and never replaced long time ago. It is a minor annoyance since the door has a slight gap. I'm sure these super magnets would work. They are used in high-end cabinets among many other uses. Simple and slick--I might get them when I get a chance.

 

[TRUE BLUE]

The thing with magnets is you would have to put up angle irons or something in the doorway for the magnet to grab, restricting space going through the door. Of course, they would also rust. Stainless is not magnetic.

 

[miky2884]

Removed mine as well, they really dont serve a needed purpose. As long as your door handle latch works thats all you need.

 

[Phil]

The thing with magnets is you would have to put up angle irons or something in the doorway for the magnet to grab, restricting space going through the door. Of course, they would also rust. Stainless is not magnetic.

No angle iron needed--one magnet for the door, one for the frame. When the door is closed, the 2 magnets match up. Not sure about rust but these thing are highly polished and are very strong for their size.

 

[Phil]

I bought these tiny super magnets earlier. I'm going to run an experiment to see how it handles salt water. So I put some salted water into a tin lid. We will see in a few days what happens...

 

[TRUE BLUE]

I mentioned the angle iron because the block that the catch receptacle is screwed to runs fore and aft, inside the frame. I don't think there's room on the frame edge for a magnet.

 

[Phil]

Looks like it has the perfect amount of space on the frame. I might JB Weld some of these smaller one to a piece of alum. then screw it to the door/frame instead of of ordering the countersunk ones.

 

[TRUE BLUE]

Looks like it might work. Why not epoxy it to the frame?

 

[Phil]

Epoxy would work fine but not on the vertical frame because it would drip down. Not good corrosion wise with 12 hours soaktime... Need to encapsulate the magnet with epoxy, JB Weld, or heat shrink, ect... to use on the boat. It is better for the 2 magnets to not physically touch each other because the bond will be so strong that the door would feel too "sticky" when you open the door. So a thin film of epoxy over the magnets could be a good thing.

 

[Phil]

I spoke too soon. I decided to take the magnet out and clean it. It is still shiny new. So allthe rust so far came from the tin lid...

 

[TRUE BLUE]

Starting to get too complicated for me. Starting to see a general mess evolving. Thinking I'll just get another set of the originals. Don't like to go without since the door is looking like it wants to warp outward at the top.

 

[Phil]

Here's my corrosion experiment after 5 days soak. The lid is crusted with rust but the magnet cleaned up like new. I'll install the magnets for a latch when I get a chance.

 

[TRUE BLUE]

Let me know how it goes.