Sponge Rubber Hatch Seals

Sponge rubber hatch seals are extruded sections that are manufactured from materials such as expanded EPDM or expanded neoprene. These materials are a type of closed-cell sponge that does not absorb water or moisture. This makes them suitable for applications such as sealing hatches, lockers and other enclosures where you require a seal to stop the ingress of water.

Our extruded sponge rubber sections are available in a selection of shapes and sizes to suit the wide variety of hatches and closing forces. A number of these profiles are manufactured with a central hole or external fin to aid compression and create a long-lasting reliable watertight seal. Depending on the particular profile, you can either use the pre-applied self-adhesive backing or a separate adhesive to bond the seal to the edge of the flange. We recommend using a plain seal with a  good quality contact adhesive if the environment where the seal will be installed is prone to constant water submersion.

We recommend that you compress any sponge rubber hatch seals by approximately 30%. As sponge seals need to be squashed to create a watertight seal, prolonged compression of more than a third may cause the section to deteriorate and experience compression set. For example, to seal an 8mm gap between the flange and hatch lid we recommend that that you use a sponge seal that is approximately 12mm high. It may be necessary to fabricate stops around the edge of the opening to stop the hatch from over compressing the seal.