Gelcoat blisters?

Waxing the boat today and noticed some blisters in my gelcoat.
If I run my fingernail over it the blisters crack and a small amount of water comes out.
What gives?

B-

I had them on my 93 CC. Repair costs for the a 3 foot section on each side of the hull about $600. I would be screaming to the dealer and the factory on an '03 boat. It is my understanding that they are caused by pockets of trapped air inside the gelcoat. CC used AME500, which is supposed to be the best, and it still happened to me. If you find the right gelcoat person, you will never be able to see the repair. This is becoming common in many production boats. I just purchased a new '01 Tige 22i R, hoping that I don't have a similar problem. Understand, I was not dissapointed in with my CC. Things happen!

What color is the gel coat where you are finding the blisters? Do you have colored hulls or are you finding them in white gel coat?

McFly

Barry- Check your e-mail.

Marty, white gelcoat.

Jeff, thanks a bunch!

B-

Barry, this is caused from water absorbing into the fiberglass. Hard to fathom, I know. I just went through this with my boat and luckily had it covered under warranty.

Marty, I heard that some manufactures don't warranty coloured gel coat, is it true? If so why?

This is one thing that Correct Craft warranties under their 5-year promise... no matter whether you have a colored hull or not. I am sure any dealer would be willing to fix that on any new boat... because it shouldn't happen that fast.

Darren, I am not as familiar with Gel Coat as I am with the rest of the boat, so I really don't know why. Maybe someone else can answer that question..

McFly

At the boat show there were two Tiges that had some bubbles in the gelcoat, I asked the rep and he said that it was impossible to get all that out of the gelcoat.

I think that it is just poor inspecting of the boats before they go out of the factory, am I wrong?

Took the boat down this morning.. The dealer called Sanger while I was still there, they asked him to bring the boat down to be fixed.
We'll see how it turns out.

B-

blisters should not be in the gel coat. this is usually caused by either inferior materials, bad application or a combination of both.

from what i understand, if the epoxy resins aren't mixed correctly, if they start to set-up before the process is finished or whatever....imperfections can form and blisters can develop. due to batch processing, the hulls before and after may have the same problems.

do you keep it in the water?....don't hear about new tourny quality boats with blisters, its usually older cruisers docked all the time

Blisters are a major problem and not easily fixed! I also agree that they show up when water gets under the gel coat. I would be leary of buying a new boat that already showed them - definitely an application problem.

Check out a technical article written about blisters here

Here is one detailed discription of what needs to be done to repair them

Barry, you really need to discuss this with your dealer. Blisters in Gel are usually a sign of a bad gel coat job. Especially with a new boat.

Do not pass go, do not collect $200.00, just talk wiht your dealer, or Sanger.

Generally, it's a grind and re-apply job.

hope all goes well,
Matt

Blisters are caused by water absorbing into the fiberglass. Once the water gets in, the fibers expand causing the blister. Vinyl based as opposed to polyester based resins usually have better resistance to this if applied properly. Most good manufacturers will warranty against this, but check the fine print. Some warranties are void if the boat stays in the water for an extended period of time, sometimes as little as two weeks.

Thanks for all the info guys..
Sanger fixed my boat! Not only did they fix it, they waxed the whole thing for me! I really expected to have to fight for this to get fixed since it is excluded from warranty.. I didn't get a bit of resistance from Sanger. I was told that since it has been documented, if it happened again they'd fix it!
I was surprised to see Sanger take full responsibility. 'It was obviously a manufacturer defect. There must have been contaminants somewhere in process of gel coating the boat' is what Sanger told me.
What?! a manufacturer admitting they made a mistake?! Kudos! From what I understand, the boat making process is more of an art then a science and sometimes things happen. I'm pleased to know that Sanger is honest and is upfront enough to admit it was a mistake...This kind of service is what keeps people buying Sangers..
I can't even see where they worked on it.. they did a wonderful job!
Thanks Brian, Scott and Sanger, you'll get a Christmas card from us this year.

And, if you're thinking of purchasing, give Sanger a good look over. Call Mark at Semper Speed & Marine 559-436-1888. He's good people!

B-

we are having bad luck with the boats barry

What's going on with your boat?

The ballast broke, there are glue spots all over, a large scratch on the tower (when picked up), and yellow spots on the interior that he can't explain or remove.

Yeah, I had some yellow spots and glue. The spots disappeared for whatever reason and the glue was removed.
How did your ballast break? pump? valve? sac?

I'm sure Mark will handle it.

B-

i will hope so. he is giving bill a bunch of shiot.

They need to serve the guy with the glue gun decaf. I had the same problem, it comes right off.

You would think that QC would catch stains and scratches on a new boat. My .02

Justin, instead of baiting me to ask more questions, why don't you fill me in. I'm curious.

B-

wait.. boats? I thought you only got one!?
Bill purchased one too? He probably deserves the poop he's getting anyway.
E-mail me with his phone number, I lost it and I wanna call and say hi.

B-



(Message edited by Barry on March 26, 2003)