New Plate Boat Corrosion Advise ?

[1lastcast]

Hi all i have a 2009 6m plate boat and some of the after market fittings that were fitted by the dealer have started oxidising and the paint around the fittings ( rod holders ) is starting to bubble up .
The boat is 15 months old and i am worried what it will look like later , my question to you all is do i have a case to ask the dealer to fix it as the holes drilled for the fittings obviously were not treated in any way causing this to happen .
Dont get me wrong i understand that it is an alloy boat but my previous alloy boats after a few years didnt have bubbling paint and i need to do something now before it gets to the stage were i may have a major problem .

any suggestions on what to treat it with before repainting

Any advise ?
Thanks guys regards 1lastcast

[peterbo3]

If the holes for the fittings were drilled after the paint job & were not repainted correctly, the bubbles will appear as surely as the sun rises in the East. This will occur with dissimilar metal, plastic, nylon or alloy fittings. Salt laden moisture gets under the paint via the breach & the bubbles follow.
Remove a few fittings & get some photos showing the untreated holes & bubbles.
Could I suggest that the dealer is your first port of call. If he denies liability or blames a third party, send him a Registered letter outlining your complaints & what you want done. Include a reply deadline.
If he still blows you off, then Small Claims Court (if you are in QLD) is next. No lawyers, easy & the judgement is enforceable.

[Jarrah Jack]

As peterbo3 said, the job was not done correctly and it is devalueing your boat. There are lots of threads here on how to do the job properly. Duralac is always mentioned as a good product to protect against galvanic corrosion.

I would be talking to the dealer nice and frendly like and letting him know that you know what you are talking about and insist that its fixed properly. Hopefully you won't need to use the big stick. I have found that emailing an ausfish thread to a dealer can wake em up no worries...

[Gippslander]

Make sure, as the other fellas have said, that an epoxy, non conducting seal is applied to the fittings, and as I have found, isolate any electrical current from the body. IE all negatives back to the battery. Worked for me. Now all I have to do is scrape back the bubbling paint, prime and repaint.

[GBC]

So we've got epoxy and duralac.

Maybe I'm stupid but can you please explain to me how a rod holder which is screwed in with staino self tappers (or bolts) can possibly be isolated from the alloy using either or both of the above? The screws still have to bite into something and the circuit will be complete.

Proper isolation would require a nylon backing plate, nylon sleeves, and nylon washers would it not, or is it a whole lot more simple than I am imagining?

[bigjimg]

If you want to isolate bolts use the smallest heat shrink tubing that fits and cut to size.You can also buy nylon washers any size to go under your stainless washer.Bolt everything.Jim

[Nobleboats]

Try using Tef-Gel. http://tefgel.com.au/ Best anti corrisive stuff around.

[Fido]

It's just part and parcel of owning a boat made out of Aluminium. They all do it.

[peterbo3]

My plate boat is unpainted & although I have used a lot of SS fasteners (bolts, no screws) I have nil corrosion after more than two years use. I used Lanotec grease on all fasteners & on the holes they go into. The Lanotec dries & becomes a barrier to moisture.
There is a large variety of alloy rivets available which will do many jobs but the holes into which they go must be treated. This is critical on a painted alloy boat because the salt laden moisture gets under damaged paint & causes these problems.A plate boat should have ALL holes into which fasteners will be introduced drilled prior to painting. Similarly cutouts for flush mounted instruments & electronics need to be made early in the peace.

[Smithy]

Unfortunately what Fido said. I Duralaced every fitting I put on and my boat is riddled with paint cancer near any SS fitting through dissimilar metals reacting.

[MattyDucati]

I have the same problem, i'm starting to think about paint striper. I dont mind the look of un painted alloy. Has anyone done this??

[Mr__Bean]

After going to great lengths to prevent galvanic corrosion on my painted platey I have found that the installations that have prevented the corrosion have been the ones that I installed on a bed of Sikaflex.

I have press studs on nylon washers, stainless self tapers installed wet with Duralec (corroding).

I have fittings installed with stainless metal threads put in with wet Duralec and a bed of duralec (corroding).

I have fittings installed with stainless metal threads that were put on a bed of sikaflex, screws wet with sikaflex (NOT CORRODING).

This says to me it is more important to seal out the salt water with a good Sikaflex coverage (including the nut behind the panel) than it is to hope Duralec jointing compound will protect you.

- Darren

[PinHead]

I would never use self tappers on anything aluminium..not because of corrosion but because Al is too easy for them to pull out of.
I got an unpainted tinny so I won't have the paint peeling problem. I am currently fitting it out..and am using nylon washers and duralac on all stainless metal threads I am using.

[finga]

My plate boat is unpainted & although I have used a lot of SS fasteners (bolts, no screws) I have nil corrosion after more than two years use. I used Lanotec grease on all fasteners & on the holes they go into. The Lanotec dries & becomes a barrier to moisture.
.

The lanolin grease seems to have worked on my boat.
Been 4 years and no corrosion and I can undo screws and bolts when need be.

After I do some work I always put the boat out into the sun for a day just the warm up the grease so it runs into every nook and cranny possible.

I think the trick is too seal out the moisture as others have said.

[gofishin]

...the paint around the fittings ( rod holders ) is starting to bubble up ...

Are they rod holders with black rubber gaskets??? If so you have a problem which requires greater isolation than suggested.
cheers