24 ve bubbles in boat

[anhaney]

any ideas as to how much it would cost to fix? Dealer says tige will kick in $1500 but salesman said his gel coat guy will charge about $3000 but there are guys out there that will do it for less??? The boat is a deal other than this problem, I just don't want to get screwed in the long run.

don't buy the boat. It is not worth the problems. I would insist on another boat. You will kick yourself every time you look at the boat and it has the littlest problem.

[dogbert]

doh! my bad... thats the exact kit I got, except mines red.

On another note, here's what spectrum color has to say about blistering:

This condition is caused by faulty workmanship. (I have a hard time believing this is the case. It was probably left in the water 24x7) Although there is no structural impairment involved, such areas should be repaired to prevent the exposure of fiberglass fibers from wicking water and gradual eroding.

If you have blistering all over the gelcoat below the waterline, then I don't think you're going to get it repaired. One or two areas, ok, but if it's all over, there's more going on there.

[da.bell]

I'd run.

[kmosley]

We've got a 2007 20v that we use in a lake in New Hampshire. The boat was in the water for the 3 month season. When I pulled it last September, almost the entire wetted hull had about 3 to 5 small 1/8" diameter blisters every square inch. Anyone else seen this?

[Ruune]

Thats gel coat blistering, and why you dont leave a boat in the water for extended periods of time. Not going to be cheap, but you need to have it looked at by your dealer. The fiberglass can start wicking water from the blisters and then it contaminates your fiberglass lamination.

out of curiosity, is the lake salt water or fresh?

[kmosley]

The lake is fresh water. For at least 20 years we've had a fiberglass boat in for the summer (usually Glastron). I haven't seen blistering this bad! Does anyone else in New England consider the three month season too long to leave a boat in?

[da.bell]

I wonder if kmosley's issue might be a warranty claim.

[Jason B]

3 months on a new boat is not too long!!!!! It should be able to handle that with ease. I'd definitely return the boat for some warranty work. That's not right, not at all.

[SPBFAN]

I would contact TIGE' on this direct. I know that $1500 is not even close enough to get the right gel coat guy to fix it. Gel-Coat takes the right person to fix it.

[Ruune]

I wonder if that's covered in the lifeplus hull replacement warranty? I mean if the gelcoat blisters and causes the fiberglass to delaminate, that would be construed as a defect, right?

[Ruune]

from http://www.tige.com/warranty.php :
The Tigé LifePlus Lifetime Replacement Warranty fully covers the integrated LifePlus Core construction of the boat, which includes hull, stringers and flooring. Buy a new Tigé, and if there is ever any structural failure, degradation or delamination for as long as you own your boat, Tigé will replace it with a new boat at no charge. Other boat manufacturers offer hull warranties that cover only the repair of defective lamination or structure. This usually means the owner is responsible for transporting the defective boat to the manufacturer for repair. The owner is then left with a repaired boat that seldom performs as well as the original."

make sure its checked for delamination in or around where the bubbles are. Although unlikely, its better safe than sorry. Tigé uses a tremendous amount of resin (I believe its 30% more than the competition), so their fiberglass shouldnt wick up water and delaminate easily... if at all. But, like I said.. better safe than sorry.

[eks]

from http://www.tige.com/warranty.php :
The Tigé LifePlus Lifetime Replacement Warranty fully covers the integrated LifePlus Core construction of the boat, which includes hull, stringers and flooring. Buy a new Tigé, and if there is ever any structural failure, degradation or delamination for as long as you own your boat, Tigé will replace it with a new boat at no charge. Other boat manufacturers offer hull warranties that cover only the repair of defective lamination or structure. This usually means the owner is responsible for transporting the defective boat to the manufacturer for repair. The owner is then left with a repaired boat that seldom performs as well as the original."

make sure its checked for delamination in or around where the bubbles are. Although unlikely, its better safe than sorry. Tigé uses a tremendous amount of resin (I believe its 30% more than the competition), so their fiberglass shouldnt wick up water and delaminate easily... if at all. But, like I said.. better safe than sorry.

I don't think Tige has ever replaced a boat for a fiberglass issue, because of their superior manufacturing. I am wondering if this issue would fall into the replacement category.

Do you have pictures of the bubbles?

[kmosley]

Here's a picture of what the blistering looks like. The boat is now at the Tige factory in Texas and I'm waiting to here what they're going to do.

[eks]

Here's a picture of what the blistering looks like. The boat is now at the Tige factory in Texas and I'm waiting to here what they're going to do.

I think they will take good care of you! They always being very good on any warranty issue I ever had.

[Jason B]

HOLY CRAP!!!

That's a 2007 boat? That is totally unacceptable. They can't really argue that the damage shown there doesn't fall into the "degradation" category per the verbage on the warranty. If that's not degradation I don't know what is!
Good luck.