Lewmar aluminium frames

I had hitherto considered Lewmar to be a reputable brand. But as so many have be affected then I'm not so sure anymore. Lewmar changed hands in 2019 - now owned by an American company - Lippert.

Best wishes

Richard

Do you have a photo of the Chrome finished outcome? Im in the same boat and am planning to sandblast, prime and powder coat black. However, this may be a good alternative.

Anders

If a customer like Hanse is asking Lewmar strongly to deliver pure white or black aluminium than powdercoating it the only option. Maybe it works on anodized aluminium as well but I am not shure.

I'm talking with a local supplier to get the frames anodized for a very reasonable £30-£40....which begs the question "Why didn't Lewmar do this in the first instance" especially now this is a widely known issue.

 

The potential challenges with this approach appear to be:-

 

1) How to remove the frame without damaging them (mine have only started to fail, so are still well adhered to the deck after I remove teh screws). Because these hatches are "flush" its very hard to get access under the flange of the frame becuase of the surrounding GRP

 

2) How to prepare the frames for anodising. My supplier is saying that blasting will leave them too rough and I'll need to get them polished of "brushed" first

 

Anyone with any experiences?

 

Does chroming eliminate some of the preparation issues?

 

If I can get them out, prepared and either anodised or chromed then I think I will have a future proof solution and better than orignal, but the meantime it's pretty frustrating to be honest.

 

Grateful for any thoughts / experiences