Portlight Lens Replacement

Sandy Welte

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Jan 19, 2023, 1:03:50 PM1/19/23

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Wondering if anyone has replaced the lenses in the side opening portlights and, if so, approach taken. Send out, DIY? Source for replacements? Many thanks, Sandy Welte

Nelson Garcez

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Jan 20, 2023, 11:36:33 AM1/20/23

to Sandy Welte, J28 Sailors

Hi Sandy.

Sorry I can’t provide any insights as I have the same situation and haven’t addressed it yet.

Looking forward to other group members posts.

Safe winds

Nelson Garcez
nga...@gmail.com

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On Jan 19, 2023, at 13:03, Sandy Welte <wwe...@weltelaw.com> wrote:

Wondering if anyone has replaced the lenses in the side opening portlights and, if so, approach taken. Send out, DIY? Source for replacements? Many thanks, Sandy Welte

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sendt...@gmail.com

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Jan 20, 2023, 4:37:49 PM1/20/23

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Hi Sandy,

I've looked into this in the past but haven't replaced mine yet. There is a guy named Stephen Worsfold in Wisconsin who can craft a frameless less that uses the existing hinges. According to the J34c website, Steve's number is (218) 349-6020. The product looks like this: http://www.jcruiser.org/uploads/3/4/3/3/34331946/bomar-ports.jpg. I don't know much about it, but I am intrigued by it.

Another option would be to get Bomar replacement parts from Pompanette. I think the model numbers are as follows:

Bomar port lights 3000 series extruded aluminum

Cabin - 4 total
Portlight = Bomar N3519
Screen = Bomar P3000-04

V-Berth - 2 total
Portlight = Bomar N3414
Screen = Bomar P3000-01

I hope that helps. Please keep us posted.

Jeff

B Whitehurst

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Jan 20, 2023, 5:10:59 PM1/20/23

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Sandy,

One of the 2 lenses on my J28 was leaking, to the point that the floor board under it was rotted. I have made new boards to fit in there and ripped up the bad ones, but before I did that I wanted to get them sealed up. It was the gasket between the lens and the frame that was gone. The lens frame was also pretty corroded. After investigating and trying to locate new gaskets, I wound up deciding to replace the lenses. The frames are in good shape and don’t seem to be leaking into the cabin topside. So, I found someone who could make replacement lenses for less than new ports or, for that matter OEM gaskets (if available). I did this last summer. He does them to your measurements and will send a measurement guide. Apparently the old Bomar ports had a lot of variation in their hinge mounts. His are thicker acrylic and are frameless. He had several shades of tints to pick and one was nearly spot on the old one. He sends them w/ installation instructions and gasket material (it’s a different gasket than the original). Seems to be working fine. He’s a small, one man shop I think: www.kiwicomposites.com

Regards,

Brad Whitehurst

Ardea (ex-Compass Rose)

P.S.: It looks like his web address is "parked". I have no info on his status.

bradb...@gmail.com

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Jan 20, 2023, 5:49:59 PM1/20/23

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Hi Sandy - My portlights were dripping as well and pretty crazed; it was the gasket and it seems they couldn't be replaced in that model, so I replaced the portlight. This was probably 15 years go and at that time the Bomar (from Pompanette, LLC) replacements were N3519 (~5x20 glass) and N3414 (~4x14 glass), same as Jeff reports. No drips since then and have worked well; one of the big plusses of J28 is the opening ports.

Brad

On Friday, January 20, 2023 at 11:36:33 AM UTC-5 nga...@gmail.com wrote: