Tall Tails Posted February 6, 2020 Report Share Posted February 6, 2020 I had a friction hinge on my main live well break a few days ago. GEM Lux, replaced it and its partner so once again there is a matched set of friction hinges on that lid. When I took the old ones off I was amazed that there was no friction left to the hinge. It pivoted like a regular hinge. The new ones require quite a bit of force to open the lid. And they hold it in place in any open position. This caused me to start checking all my hinges on the rest of the hatches. Basically there is no friction remaining in the others. Fish box, both rear storage/second live well lids, fish box, etc. All loose as can be. The boat is 2.5 yrs old. Seems to me these hinges do not have much of a life span. Replacing all of them at approx $27.00 a piece adds up in a hurry. I have to say I am a bit disappointed in this. Is anyone else noticing their friction hinges are losing their grip? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Posted February 7, 2020 Report Share Posted February 7, 2020 Give GEM Lux another call to the customer service dept. Explain, and see what they can do. I hope you have a complimentary report for us. I will send a note to the Factory and see what they think. Mod Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FINCHASER Posted February 7, 2020 Report Share Posted February 7, 2020 Im guessing this is unavaoidable......Im sure the friction is coming from sort of compression of the metal between both halves of the hinge, so with opening and closing you are going to lose the friction over time 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slyshon Posted February 7, 2020 Report Share Posted February 7, 2020 Odd, we have not heard much of this. Suggest you get in touch with GEM customer service, they are very good about warranty and I'm betting they will replace them. Skip 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tall Tails Posted February 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2020 Sent an e-mail out with screenshots of this topic included. Awaiting a reply. They were very good about replacing the one that broke and its mate. Will see what is said regarding the ones that have lost their "friction". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tall Tails Posted February 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2020 GEM Lux is happy to replace the hinges that have lost their grip/friction. Their explanation is "these things happen for a number of reasons". No actual reasons were provided. I have a call out to Maverick factory to confirm the proper hinge model numbers so that I can get the proper replacements. Not sure if the fish box hinges are the same as the ones used on the anchor locker and the most rearward port and stbd hatches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCFD rtrd. Posted February 7, 2020 Report Share Posted February 7, 2020 I've seen friction hinges with a small adjustment screw in the pin the holds the two hinge halves together. I'm guessing the GemLux has no such adjustment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tall Tails Posted February 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2020 Just now, SCFD rtrd. said: I've seen friction hinges with a small adjustment screw in the pin the holds the two hinge halves together. I'm guessing the GemLux has no such adjustment? There are instructions either on their website or a paper that comes with the hinges stating they are not to be adjusted by the consumer. I saw these instructions...just don't remember where I saw them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason p Posted February 8, 2020 Report Share Posted February 8, 2020 Yes... all mine except the anchor locker and lower console door (the two that are rarely opened) are pretty much shot. They will send new ones for this, I replaced the fish box hinges. Gemlux has excellent customer service. Take a pic of the hinge and email to them and they’ll send new ones. Now the rest are getting pretty loose. I did experiment tightening the old hinges... was able to tighten one and snapped the hinge bolt on the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernieNC Posted February 8, 2020 Report Share Posted February 8, 2020 If you think about it, how can this not happen? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeviam Posted February 8, 2020 Report Share Posted February 8, 2020 3 hours ago, bernieNC said: If you think about it, how can this not happen? Never had an interest in them. Having the word "friction" in the name maybe? We put the best synthetic oil in our motors to fight evil things like friction and wear. I'll take my chances and install stainless steel gas struts to hold the hatches open and close them quietly. Besides, it seems like the friction hinges would put excessive stress on the few screws holding them in place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCFD rtrd. Posted February 8, 2020 Report Share Posted February 8, 2020 5 minutes ago, geeviam said: Never had an interest in them. Having the word "friction" in the name maybe? We put the best synthetic oil in our motors to fight evil things like friction and wear. I'll take my chances and install stainless steel gas struts to hold the hatches open and close them quietly. Besides, it seems like the friction hinges would put excessive stress on the few screws holding them in place. Never thought about it like that, but it seems that you are right about all the stress is being transferred to the few small screws that connect the hinges to the fiberglass. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason p Posted February 9, 2020 Report Share Posted February 9, 2020 They’re cool, but as stated they do have limitations. MBG did build thickness into the hatch lid molds where the hardware thru-bolts of my 2500 so they definitely thought of the stress (I wish they would have made the whole hatch lid as thick, the larger hatches have a little give to them) gas struts are better. Friction hinges on live wells and swinging doors like the console are great but everything else I’ll take struts. It’s an easy enough fix but frankly I’m a little tired of fixing assembly errors, design flaws, and shortcuts on such an expensive boat. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tall Tails Posted February 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2020 GEM Lux is replacing all hinges that are not working as they should. I am pleased that they DO stand behind their product (s). It's a shame that the product did not hold up better than this. I tend to keep my boats a long time, I see this happening again in a couple of years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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