leaking windows

It's amazing how much of response this topic evokes. And to make it clear: I don't want to look Hanse bad. My intention was to find out wether the leaking on our 470 is a single incident or if there are similar ones. Apparently there really are, including other models like 370 aso, which is a kind of comfort. As for my case: Hanse sent me new plastic frames as fast as they could by DHL (bravo!) but they didn't fit. According to the shipyard the old wooden frames are soaking wet because Hanse failed to put on some primer on the inside of the frames. What shall I say?!

It's not the first time things like that happened (well documented in this forum) but it also shows that the company doesn't keep track when they make changes to a model and forget or neglect to note which part fits which model. IMHO this is something I don't understand; in an big international company this should be standard procedures, shouldn't it?

After two years of owning this lovely yacht I asked myself now for the first time if I had bought a Hanse had I read all the issues on this forum before. At the moment and after all the incidents that would fill many pages I'm very reluctant. If I were Hanse I would take these things very, very serious. There have been bigger companies that went bankrupt in an economic crisis like now because they couldn't handle growth and quality. It's easy to be a good company when world's economics is doing well; Hanse will have to proof now that they are a good company also in harder times.


Edited by tobo - 14 February 2009 at 15:04

Hi All,

Firstly, any update on this topic from people that have requested replacement parts and installation?

We are back on board now and this issue was high on my list of things to check. It looks like we too are having a very minor impact on the window frames. On only the port side and only at the very back end near the chart table. We have had loads of water over the boat and never notice any leaking from outside to in. I will however be testing this extensively when we go back in the water.

However when you stand in the saloon and run your hand along the window frame you notice a gap btw the window and the said wooden frame. This to me looks like an ideal place for internal condensation to gather and only to be absorbed by the wooden frame.

Here are some pics, the first is the "damage" so far. Not too bad really. And the second is trying to show the gap where i can get half a finger tip int here. My thought is that if this is the "damage" so far then it hasn't see huge about of water coming in from outside and it is a condensation issue. Or at least that is my hope.











Edited by Brad McMaster - 10 May 2009 at 05:55

Hi Annsea,

thanks for the info. So black flaky paint? We haven't noticed that but i will keep an eagle eye on it. I do know that the black glue/sealant/filler that is around the said windows and also the port lights in the hull does mark if you wipe you finger along it or step on it. On the port lights it makes it look like the windows are crying.

Is this anything to do with the degradation of the product?

B

Hi Brad - in *my* case the "black flaky paint" was the outer layer of sika primer. The outer layer needs to be UV stabilised, but on my boat some other product had been used. So after about a year the primer failed and started flaking away. As this progessed I was getting more and more water in the boat - but at first it was just a very little. from the outside it looked like a discolouration around the edges, almost exactly like the picture of the 461 from a couple of days ago.