hatches open or closed during storage?

[dale1]

hey. what's better? I just had both shocks on the fish box fail. I left the lid open for a couple of weeks. came back and they had lost all pressure. the other wet boxes "sink, and live well" were closed. the shocks on those lids are fine. was that a coincidence?
thanks, dale

 

[Fishtales]

I keep everything closed. Never a problem.

 

[DennisG01]

I have never heard of this issue, before. Many hatches, even when closed, still don't fully compress the gas springs - in other words, even when the hatch is closed, the springs are still slightly open. Other than a coincidence, the only thing I can think of is somehow something (dirt, debris) got into the springs. I would wonder about water/rain, but I'm not even sure that would "normally" cause a problem. I don't know - sounds strange that just leaving them 'fully extended' would cause a problem - there would have to be another variable here?

 

[suzukidave]

cold weather?

i use an ice scraper as a hood strut for my 1999 truck in winter. in summer the gas shocks work fine.

 

[drbatts]

I assume your talking about the hatch for the fish box directly behind the helm seat. I routinely leave this hatch open along with the live well hatch when my boat is not in use during the season. I leave the full enclosure up, so both compartments dry out nicely. Have been doing this for 7 seasons now, no problems with the rams I do close both when I cover the boat for the winter.

 

[dale1]

correct. I left the fish box open for a while to let it dry out. the shocks failed. I didn't know is leaving them open caused the failure. Probably just a coincidence. thanks, dale