Sliding Cabin Door Sticks

[WaterLover]

I have owned my Albin for only a few weeks and while I love her, getting in and out has become a sticky situation! The heavy sliding wood doors are not sliding so well. Does anyone have any good advice on how to improve this situation?
Thanks,
Annie

[jleonard]

Try cleaning it up. But you'll likely have to remove the door and lube or replace the rollers.

[crowra]

Annie,

For a quick fix, I spray a little silicone lubricant on the bottom slide rail. Here's a good article on a permanent fix (lots of good projects on that site):

http://trawler-beach-house.blogspot.com ... -door.html

Rob

[WaterLover]

Thanks so much Rob and Leonard. I am going to start with a good cleaning and lube job and if that doesn't work will move on with the big project posted in the trawler-beach-house blog. Thanks so much for the wonderful blog link Rob. What a great new resource for me.
Best,
Annie

[Despacio]

Interesting that you mention this, because this was my project for the day.

My door has been very hard to open for way too long. The only way to keep it working was by rubbing the track with bees wax. Finally even that wouldn't do it.

I removed the piece of wood on the bottom, and removed the brass track. The door was easily removed. I found two little cast brass housings that each hold a 1 inch steel ball bearing. The bearing stopped turning during the early part of the Reagan administration. The bottom surfaces had worn smooth. One wore through leaving sharp edges that refused to slide along the brass track.

While the door is out I stripped it and will revarnish before I reinstall it.
_____________________________________
Update:
Two stainless steel 26 mm sealed ball bearings, two bushings, and two roll pins, and it now works just as it should. In fact, it rolls too easily. Total cost, $16. Found the bearing a bearing supplier and the roll pin and bushing at the hardware store

I bought a piece of plastic if I had to go that way, but I'm not into reinventing the wheel.

The original hardware has guides that keep the door on the track, replacing it with plastic looks like a nightmare to make the heights correct, (my door is very tight) and with no guides it's the wood that would wear, (In my mind, a very bad idea) and fabricating the plastic seemed to be much harder.

Using plastic is a "jury rig" way to fix something that turned out to be simple to fix, uh, properly.

[WaterLover]

Despacio,
Rob gave a great blog link on how to replace the worn hardware in your door with a plastic based product rather than with metal hardware. Take a look at it here:
http://trawler-beach-house.blogspot.com ... -door.html

-Annie

[bccanucker]

I use white lithium grease on the bottom metal track. Works great!!

[lfrankooh]

Our 1978 doesn't have wheels - just what seems to be a stainless steel strip as the bottom track (on the frame). Our doors remove by simply lifting them up so it was easy to put a strip of self stick linoleum flooring (left over from a friends project) on the bottom of the door. So now the flooring slides on the stainless strip!

Works great - of course this is not a permanent fix as we replace the linoleum strip every 6 months or so.

Linda
Yesterday's Dream
1978 36' Double Cabin

[WaterLover]

Roy, I tried the lithium grease and it is working like a charm! Now to see how long it lasts...

My doors also don't have wheels and slide on a copper strip. Found out that they just lift up and out too. This boat exploring can be fun!

[jchicola]

our guy in panama city fl fitted a small block of Teflon, notched to lay on top of the brass bar like a saddle. two per door. now it's a one-finger operation. we had no luck finding the replacement rollers but the Teflon blocks work very very well. John-Albin 43 High C's

[psneeld]

Roy, I tried the lithium grease and it is working like a charm! Now to see how long it lasts...

My doors also don't have wheels and slide on a copper strip. Found out that they just lift up and out too. This boat exploring can be fun!

I find the dry Teflon of silicone works a little better...the grease attracts too much dirt but that's a function of where you have your boat...we have a dusty parking lot...cruising salt crystals also slow the door down..truly just keeping it clean is the trick.

[RobS]

I use this dry lubricant on my pilothouse sliding windows and it works well.

http://www.mclubemarine.com/sailkote/

[DougSea]

our guy in panama city fl fitted a small block of Teflon, notched to lay on top of the brass bar like a saddle. two per door. now it's a one-finger operation. we had no luck finding the replacement rollers but the Teflon blocks work very very well. John-Albin 43 High C's

That sounds like a great fix. Do you have any pictures of the setup?

[varmont]

Couple quick blasts of SailKote every 4 weeks and the doors slide like butter.