Leaky Hobie Adventure caused by Twist n' Seal Hatches?

After the ORC I noticed taking on more water in my Adventure than "normal", approx 1 gallon. I checked the drive well and drain plugs, no problems there. After filling the hull with water, I noticed a few drips escaping out of the rudder cable holes but nothing major. However, there was more of a steady stream from the middle TnS hatch.

I hit the google and found:

http://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=75&t=12020&start=0

There are good pictures on the O-rings which do tend to twist. It is like they are a little bit too large for the slot and end up rolling over. Every time I close the middle hatch the O-Ring twists in one section. Most O-rings tend to be round in profile, right? The Hobie hatch seal relies on the O-rings sealing around the rim but when they keep twisted, water is allowed in.
 
I am wondering if anyone else has had this problem and if there are any solutions besides constantly fiddling with the O-rings?

I haven't had that problem on my Revo but I haven't been in enought tough conditions to give the seals a work out. Have you tried asking that question on the Hobie kayaking forum?
T2

Micah,
Have you tried using the soap and water test with a slight positive pressure in the hull?
Check out the following link

http://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=12575

Make sure to double check the large hatch flanges. My latest Outback had small leaks in both flanges when I brought it home, but its an easy fix.

Cheers!

Jammer I have not tried that test. That looks like a simpler method to rule out other leaks so I can find out for sure if it is TnS or not that is leaking. Thanks for the tip

I seem to get a lot of water in my Revo too.  I thought it was coming in the front hatch when water comes over the bow.  Recently I noticed the crotch hatch lid does not seat completely unless pressed down on the right side.   Also, the crotch hatch seal is a good collector of sand and grit.  So I now wipe it off before each trip. 

Thanks for the link to the Hobie forum thread.  I'll check for twisted gaskets (sounds like a heavy metal band).

Also, as stated in the Hobie forum thread, every time the crotch hatch is opened it dumps an ounce of so of water into the hull.  Not a big issue, but I now unlock the hatch cover and throw it open quickly so most of the water is tossed off the lid before it can be dumped into the hull. 

For the center hatch drip, just lay a Sham Wow type of towel on the floor of the hull below the hatch. You can wring it out if it gets soaked at any time during your float. I keep my towel folded to cover most of the hatch up top. This holds and eliminates most of the water that would otherwise drip in when the lid is opened.

After reading this thread I went and checked my crotch hatch o-ring.  Twisted.  I removed it, wiped it down, wiped out the hatch channel, wiped off the cylinder, lightly wiped down o-ring and cylinder with a silicon lube, replaced the o-ring in its proper orientation, closed the hatch, opened the hatch - twisted.  Repeat.  Twisted.  Nearly every time I closed the hatch on the untwisted o-ring it twisted.  It is twisting right at the latch.  I am tempted to goop it into the channel at the twisting location as a first pass.  Also looking for a round o-ring replacement.

is the latch adjustable? if so, try backing it off a bit.  i run into this issue on some of the hatches i deal with on the equipment i work on. usually a too tight latch. 

Unfortunately, the hatch is not adjustable in any way.

Hobie is aware of the "twisting gasket" issue with the twist & seal hatches and the engineers are working on it.  The hatch does still seal well enough to keep the hatch from significantly leaking when the gasket is twisted though.  They are also aware of the drip into the hull when a twist & seal hatch is opened.  Flipping the hatch open very quickly allows you to avoid any drip into the hull as demonick previously mentioned.   

Thanks for all the help guys!

I went to Westport for a few hours today and took on very little water, a pint or two at the most much less than before. I think constantly fiddling with the O-Ring to make sure it is aligned right each time it is closed seems to makes a difference. Cleaning only lasts so long and sand sticks to the grease IMHO. Until Hobie improves the design, it looks like some fiddling and minor leaking (drips) is to be expected.

Seems like this would be a no brainer,but i think they should use an angled surface for the gasket to contact. It would start high at the inner edge and angle down to the outer edge, water would go to a few small open grooves away from the hatch down towards one of the scuppers. Any gasket shape , flat, round etc could easily seal that flat angled surface and not get caught.

The gaskets on the twist and seal tend to dry out about every 3-4 months of use. Spray on some WD40 and gets it back to normal.

I think I have solved my Hobie hatch seal problems.  It was so bad I dreaded and avoided using the crotch hatch while on the water.  In the past I've tried WD-40 and WD-40 Silicone and I think they may have caused the seal to swell, get looser, and so tend to twist more easily.  From my hard science days of decades past, I have a couple of tubes of silicone based stopcock grease.  This is a clear, rather stiff grease used to lubricate glass stopcocks and glass stoppers before the introduction of teflon.  It is quite inert and so great for chemistry and food.  I think any clear, food-grade, silicone-only based grease would work as well.  An Amazon search of "food grade silicone grease" gets many hits.  I think a restaurant supply shop would carry something too.  A few ounce tube will last a very long time.

I removed the seals, cleaned them well, then dabbed a bit of the grease in a few spots around the seal.  Worked it around with my fingers and the warmth helped spread it thinly and evenly.  In this case less is more better.  It easy to add more, but hard to remove excess.  After a few salt trips the hatch seal is still operating slicker than snot.  While the seal has rotated it has NOT twisted which is what really causes the problem. 

Good tip, I have used WD40 and 303 protectant and they last a day a two.  I am going to see if I can find some food grade silicone grease. 

Grease can get messy, but if you do like Demonick and go light, should work great (until you introduce sand).

I've also found the WD-40 Silicone lubricant lasts 1-2 trips (longer if no salt/sand gets on the deck)  But I bought a can of "silicone lubricant" from a dive shop, and it works twice as well as the WD-40 Silicone.