Simple way to raise/lower the dinette/berth?

[Marco Flamingo]

Our TT has the common dinette table that can be lowered to make a double berth. Lowering is fairly simple. Just loosen the jam screw handles on each post and the table top drops into position. But raising it back up is much more complicated. The outer edge of the table is easy to get a grip on, but neither side is accessible because it is sitting flush with the dinette seats. The far end of the table is up against the cabin side with barely enough room for a few fingers. It is awkward to get purchase and possible to pinch fingers.

I'm wondering if anybody has come up with a simple solution (or even not so simple) to raising the table back into position. Preferably something less complicated than figuring out how to install something like this.

 

[HTurner]

Our TT has the common dinette table that can be lowered to make a double berth. Lowering is fairly simple. Just loosen the jam screw handles on each post and the table top drops into position. But raising it back up is much more complicated. The outer edge of the table is easy to get a grip on, but neither side is accessible because it is sitting flush with the dinette seats. The far end of the table is up against the cabin side with barely enough room for a few fingers. It is awkward to get purchase and possible to pinch fingers.

I'm wondering if anybody has come up with a simple solution (or even not so simple) to raising the table back into position. Preferably something less complicated than figuring out how to install something like this.

I had the same problem with a previous boat. I ended up using a suction cup handle (the same one I used to clean my hull) on the far end of the table to lift.



Here is an example:


https://www.amazon.com/Sea-Dog-4900...wicXNhIjoiNC4xNCIsInFzcCI6IjMuNzYifQ==&sr=8-2

 

[Marco Flamingo]

a suction cup handle (the same one I used to clean my hull) on the far end of the table to lift.

Thanks. Turns out that I already have one, but hadn't thought of that use. I knew I could count on some ideas from TF.

I already showed my wife the 12V linear actuator in my first post, so now I may not be able to backtrack to using a suction handle. I have to admit that the actuator, if it can be fitted, does make it a one person job. There are even remote control fobs for the actuators.

 

[PennBruce]

Same problem. The actuator you reference could be a solution. I need about a 16" stroke. The specs on the actuator says it has a lifting force of 1348 lbf. It's slow, about 80 seconds to raise 16".

Vevor also offers the actuator in stroke distances from 150mm to 500mm.

If it fits inside my pedestal and doesn't extend too far down into the engine room it will be a viable solution.

Thanks for the posting,

Bruce

 

[OldDan1943]

Hmmm, you have 2 post?
Perhaps the table is getting 'cocked'? It wont take much to prevent an 'even' lifting.

 

[ranger58sb]

Our TT has the common dinette table that can be lowered to make a double berth. Lowering is fairly simple. Just loosen the jam screw handles on each post and the table top drops into position. But raising it back up is much more complicated. The outer edge of the table is easy to get a grip on, but neither side is accessible because it is sitting flush with the dinette seats. The far end of the table is up against the cabin side with barely enough room for a few fingers. It is awkward to get purchase and possible to pinch fingers.

I'm wondering if anybody has come up with a simple solution (or even not so simple) to raising the table back into position.

Can you get yourself partially underneath it and push upward to get it started?

-Chris

 

[Marco Flamingo]

Can you get yourself partially underneath it and push upward to get it started?

-Chris

Yes, mine has two posts and I can get on my hands and knees, crawl under the table, and lift it up using my back. That's what I do when solo. Because there are two posts, the lifting force is best with two people (one on the inside edge and one on the outside edge wiggling it up). The inside person has to be on hands and knees on the bench and put fingers in the 1/2 inch gap between the table top and the outside cabin wall. As the table is lifted, that gap disappears, so it is easy to pinch fingers. I'm just checking to see if there is a more elegant method.

I haven't yet tried the suction cup centered between the posts and whether that works for solo. Even if it still requires two people, it sounds better than what we were doing.

 

[OldDan1943]

Can you open the retaining screws more?

 

[Marco Flamingo]

Can you open the retaining screws more?

It isn't loosening the retaining screw handles (which probably have a specific name, but I haven't found it yet). Our dinette area is sort of like a breakfast nook. When the table top is dropped to form a double berth, it sits on ledges at bench height on the long edges and is almost flush with the cabin wall on the short back edge. It is awkward to lift the table surface straight up when one really only has access to one edge (the front) of the table.

Another possibility would be to have a pad eye in the center of the table and another on the cabin ceiling beam above. A mini 2:1 block and tackle could be used to lift the table top straight up. Best might be a ratcheting becket block on top, so this idea is also at $100 in parts, but it would be very solo friendly. Or a mini cam cleat. A bit fiddly and having a pad eye in the middle of a dining table would inevitably cause a problem.

 

[OldDan1943]

LOL
You start hanging stuff from the ceiling without your wife's permission and your wife will hang you from the ceiling. Back to the drawing board.

 

[wkearney99]

The table in our EB47 has a hydraulic cylinder in it. Like the kind you'd have to lift a hatch, or the kind under an office chair (more or less). It has just enough spring to push the table up. There's two knurled knobs on the outside that hold it in place once you let it rise to where you want it. At least it's supposed to, the one in there was original and quit. I have as yet to get around to replacing it.

There would have to be enough vertical height inside to allow for the strut to be compressed into the cylinder, and the lift height would have to not exceed the length of it extended.

 

[Circumnavigator]

The table in our EB47 has a hydraulic cylinder in it. Like the kind you'd have to lift a hatch, or the kind under an office chair (more or less). It has just enough spring to push the table up. There's two knurled knobs on the outside that hold it in place once you let it rise to where you want it. At least it's supposed to, the one in there was original and quit. I have as yet to get around to replacing it.

There would have to be enough vertical height inside to allow for the strut to be compressed into the cylinder, and the lift height would have to not exceed the length of it extended.

A gas spring (or two?) would be a middle of the road solution, simpler and cheaper than the linear actuator. Most tables are about 50% higher than the seats around them, so raised/lowered ratio should be OK. According to your description, the spring would only really have to get the table up past finger-pinching territory, but you can probably find one that will end up at exactly the right place.



Try McMaster.com -- they offer hundreds of gas springs in 17 styles.


Jim

 

[wkearney99]

A gas spring (or two?) would be a middle of the road solution, simpler and cheaper than the linear actuator. Most tables are about 50% higher than the seats around them, so raised/lowered ratio should be OK. According to your description, the spring would only really have to get the table up past finger-pinching territory, but you can probably find one that will end up at exactly the right place.

Try McMaster.com -- they offer hundreds of gas springs in 17 styles.

True, McMaster and Grainger are great resources for all kinds of mechanical bit. I really ought to get around to replacing the gas spring.

Pix attached. The table has a central pedestal that's two hollow rectangles. The top one (attached to the underside of the top) slides over the bottom one (fixed to the base). The gas spring helps push the top up. There are two screws on each side of the top column, with knurled handles on them, that pin the top against the bottom to hold it in place. There's also some locking points on the inside of the top sleeve that allow a pin to hold it there, with a pedal to release the pin to allow lowering the table (holds the pin retracted to allow pushing the top downward).

Last pic shows the release pedal, along showing the difference of how a 2005 teak floor looks like after years of UV exposure. The original stain was MUCH darker.