What year did blisters become a known issue?

[MN1965]

Are those that have them seeing the blisters spreading beyond the bunks, or are you lifting/going diving to find them?

[mrblue1122]

AME 4001 is not a Gelcoat though a resin. The 1001, 4001 and 5001 are all Ashland resins in house from their 1000, 4000 and 5000 predecessors. The 6001 and 6441 are post Ashland buying DOW Durakene and are variations of the DOW formula. The 6000 series is pure vinyl ester while others are polyester orthothalic blends in tier levels increasing as they move up in number.

This man sounds like he knows what he's talking about...

[alli ss]

This man sounds like he knows what he's talking about...

Yep. And blisters dont seem to be much of an issue on a basscat like they are on other brands either. Sometimes that extra cost goes into better materials and sometimes costs get cut for more profit/advertising.

[grout-scout]

Yep. And blisters dont seem to be much of an issue on a basscat like they are on other brands either. Sometimes that extra cost goes into better materials and sometimes costs get cut for more profit/advertising.

But they still don't warranty not getting them.

[gbsmallie]

Dont be fooled by the "epa" mandate. Cost cutting measures cause blisters. Some brands never get them

Which brands would those be? Do tell, as I havent heard of really any brand, including Basscat, that hasnt got them. Ive heard some years were worse than others, but atleast some years of each brand seem to have issues. Like @panama said, the manufacturers, all of them, skirt around this issue and will not warranty against them for any length of time. I also bought aluminum for this reason alone this Winter, and I am very happy but would be in glass otherwise

[alli ss]

Never seen them on an allison, gambler, stroker or bullet. Dont see many stress cracks on em either.

[bfrank]

Which brands would those be? Do tell, as I havent heard of really any brand, including Basscat, that hasnt got them. Ive heard some years were worse than others, but atleast some years of each brand seem to have issues. Like @panama said, the manufacturers, all of them, skirt around this issue and will not warranty against them for any length of time. I also bought aluminum for this reason alone this Winter, and I am very happy but would be in glass otherwise

So I'll add to this something that basscat doesn't talk about but maybe helpful. My wife's uncle works for one of the larger ski boat companies and he basically says they all will do it because they all absorb water and the best thing that you can do is replace bunk carpet as soon as it looks worn at all. Basscat doubles up the carpet and that may be why they have fewer issues. I'm not saying that the materials don't matter but this particular company is very picky about what they use and he still views it as something that just happens. Maintaining the trailer is the best advice he had. Bigger than the EPA/model year stuff.

[Coke]

So I'll add to this something that basscat doesn't talk about but maybe helpful. My wife's uncle works for one of the larger ski boat companies and he basically says they all will do it because they all absorb water and the best thing that you can do is replace bunk carpet as soon as it looks worn at all. Basscat doubles up the carpet and that may be why they have fewer issues. I'm not saying that the materials don't matter but this particular company is very picky about what they use and he still views it as something that just happens. Maintaining the trailer is the best advice he had. Bigger than the EPA/model year stuff.

Why would worn bunk carpet be worse? I would think that the new carpet would hold more water for a longer time.

[mikesxpress]

Never seen them on an allison, gambler, stroker or bullet. Dont see many stress cracks on em either.

Gamblers have them. Look in there forum. Many have swapped out carpet after blister repairs.

[mikesxpress]

Why would worn bunk carpet be worse? I would think that the new carpet would hold more water for a longer time.

Correct.
Carpet holds moisture against the hull. This moisture stays there for extended periods of time (sometimes months) before, if ever, before it drys out.
As far as doubling up on carpet:
http://www.bbcboards.net/showthread....t=#post8255178

[TritonJT]

Why would worn bunk carpet be worse? I would think that the new carpet would hold more water for a longer time.

I agree with you. Goes against logic.

[Capt Ray]

Never seen them on an allison, gambler, stroker or bullet. Dont see many stress cracks on em either.

Come on down here and I can show you a handful of bullets that have stress cracks.

[Deadeye1]

About 3-4 years ago I went to a dealer lot to look at a used Stratos Boat he had advertised. It was one of those smaller ones they had came out with to compete with the Aluminum Market, can't remember the line name right now. Anyways, boat looked great, motor looked great. That is until I looked under the boat. WOW the entire thing was blistered and BAD. I'm talking blisters as big as 2-4 inches long! What a mess.

The dealer said it was a Consignment Boat that they were helping the guy sell after his buying a new Ranger Aluminum. Claimed he had kept it in the water at his lake home. Dealer said he was calling him to come get it, as he didn't know it was that bad. I actually think he was telling the truth as the boat was gone off of the website by the time I got home.

Since that time I looked at several others of that same line and almost all of the had blisters or I could tell that they had been repaired.

I ended up buying a good used Ranger, with no problems so far that I can see.

[bfrank]

Why would worn bunk carpet be worse? I would think that the new carpet would hold more water for a longer time.

He was referring to even once it is matted. I'm assuming once it is matted they feel that the carpet holds the moisture near the hull and it can't dry because it is trapped. That link is also old as bass cat went back to carpet. I don't disagree with you that it seems odd... But he works directly dealing with issues like this and it was his suggestion to me for preventing them. I'm assuming when the carpet pile still is upright it drains/drys better than once it becomes matted.

[MN1965]

I'm assuming when the carpet pile still is upright it drains/drys better than once it becomes matted.

Hmmmmm.....I'm thinking the carpet gets pretty flat, new or old, when the 3000# boat is on it.

[billius]

I know BassCat uses the best resins and whatever else goes into making a fiberglass boat, but as some have said, I have heard of a few of them getting blisters. One thing I do when I get the boat home, after unhooking from the truck in the garage, is to leave the trailer jacked up pretty high. You'd be amazed at the water that starts to drip off of the end of the bunk boards. I just leave it jacked up like that until I'm ready to use it again. I don't know if that helps protect against blister formation or not, but I figure it can't hurt anything.

[APS]

I've seen em on strokers and basscats too. Haven't seen em on Ally's , but don't work on many of them around here.

[mikesxpress]

Carpet is carpet. Piling gets wet/backing gets wet and stays that way for quite awhile as it trapped between the hull and the board with no way for it to escape other than restricted wicked evaporation. The more humid it is the longer it stays wet.

[cweb]

Most people are going to gatorbacks to help combat the problem.

That's exactly what I did

[1bluemcm]

You don't see many reports of a Champion with blisters. Sure, not made any more, but this conversation seems to mention boats going back several decades.

I wish we had more input from manufacturers, or people that were in the thick of manufacturing and really had that direct knowledge of why one boat would get them and another wouldn't. I appreciate the input from Charger and BCB on this thread.