Ouch, Ouch, Ouch - Those Handles Have to Go!

The galley cabinet doors in the early model L40s use a U handle and friction catches. The catches can be bought in a variety of strengths (we've seen 5 pound and 10 pound). They work reasonably well, except for the trash bin, where the catch died twice. We replaced it with a magnetic catch, which works much better.

However, the operation of the catch wasn't the problem here. It was the location of the U handle on the outside of the door. It is just at the right height to hit with our knees. That's where the Ouch, Ouch, Ouch originated, resulting in the plea: "Please, can we replace these handles with something that I won't hit with my knee?"

We hadn't found anything over several years until we were looking through an Endeavour Power Cat at the Annapolis Sailboat Show a few years ago. It was the Southco Mobella Novibra Latch, available from uglyfishinc.com for under $30 each. We ordered two to see if they could be the solution. Sure, enough, with a little work, they eliminated the source of the pain and the doors have a positive latch. The picture below shows the old handle on the left and the new latch on the right. It uses a 1/4 turn handle to open and a spring latch so the door can be pushed closed.

The Details

We planned to remove the old handle and use one of the screw holes as the location for the new latch. Unfortunately, the latch receiver needed to get mounted in the middle of the wood shim that held the old latch mechanism. We removed the old latch mechanism, then measured and re-measured the location for the new latch and receiver.

A hole saw quickly made the hole for the latch.

And the receiver replaced the old latch mechanism on the door jam. The wood shims for the old mechanisms was glued to the door jam, so we left it in place. That's the reason for putting the new latch in the same location as the old latch.

A couple of pan-head machine screws filled the old handle holes, making it look like they were holding something inside. We had thought about looking for plastic inserts, but the screws were handy and we've not had a need to replace them.

The doors open and close easily and our knees are no longer asking for relief - at least from the old handles.