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Old 11-13-2015, 02:51 PM   #21
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Originally Posted by kulas44 View Post
For all you'z guyz that think your "solid" fiberglass hulls are immune to blisters...
That THAT, ladies and gentlemen, was my buzz-kill for the day.
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Old 11-13-2015, 04:22 PM   #22
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I have seen identical boats and age from the same builder that had few if any blisters and some with many. My take on this half century debate is quite simple, if you are selling a boat blisters are no big deal and like STD every boat has them. But if you are buying a boat a careful inspection and vetting can find you a vessel with few if any blisters and you can avoid the doctor's office.

My FRP vessel, 12 years old, has no "material" blisters that can be found when the annual pressure wash and painting occurs.
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Old 11-13-2015, 04:48 PM   #23
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Us Carolina boys use epoxy. What's a blister??
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Old 11-13-2015, 07:12 PM   #24
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So if you buy a new boat and have several coats of epoxy rolled on it before it ever hits the water will this end your blister worries? That is as long as the barrier coat is not compromised?
David
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Old 11-13-2015, 07:32 PM   #25
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So if you buy a new boat and have several coats of epoxy rolled on it before it ever hits the water will this end your blister worries? That is as long as the barrier coat is not compromised?
David
Many quality new builds use vinylester as the final step in the layup schedule so as to effectively negate blisters.
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Old 11-14-2015, 06:00 AM   #26
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So if you buy a new boat and have several coats of epoxy rolled on it before it ever hits the water will this end your blister worries? That is as long as the barrier coat is not compromised?
David
Probably....but water migration can come from within also...so your bilges have to be kept relatively water free or be epoxies inside as well....

And like you said..not compromised.

Even epoxy is water permeable...but the ones formulated against it and specialty barrier coats are a pretty good defense.
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Old 11-14-2015, 10:55 AM   #27
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For all you'z guyz that think your "solid" fiberglass hulls are immune to blisters keep in mind that the uniflight hulls were also solid. Actually solid frp is more prone to blisters than sandwitch cored hulls. A 1 inch thick solid frp hull takes much more expertise to lay up properly. Expertise was and still is missing from most boat hull manufacturers. Most companies now are using vacuum bagging procedures. This takes most of the guess work and "expertise" out of it. Basically, some boats blister from permiable gell coat, some boats from dry laminates. Typicall gell coat blisters, even those extending into the laminate, are unsightly but not structural issues. Dry laminates are a whole different issue, and potential huge can of worms. As an aside, years back on this or the other "trawler" forum someone posted his way of dealing with blisters. He drilled a hole in the top and bottom of the blister and flushed it with acetone (IIRC). then with a syringe he filled it with epoxy from the bottom up until it ran out of the top hole. He then plugged the bottom hole and let it set up. He later sanded the "bump" smooth and flush then painted with epoxy primer. Then bottom paint. Apparently it worked for him, and I've used the procedure several times with good results. YMMV.
Beginning sentence in your post: "For all you'z guyz that think your "solid" fiberglass hulls are immune to blisters keep in mind that the Uniflite hulls were also solid."

I owned a Uniflite. Very nice boat! Mine was a 1973 - i.e. pre Uni blister problems that migrated into the company's build-outs by latter portion 74. Did my home work in Uni's. Spoke with Art Nordtvedt Uni founder in his late years; during a day at work while still operating his own Uni repair shop. We mostly discussed V-Drive tranys in 31' Uni (that day he had a couple of same model at his shop). We also chatted about the Uni blister debacle. We were on phone for 30 +/- minutes; Art was a great guy! I learned more than time/desire to print here. Suffice it to say: It was the fireproof FRP resin additives that U.S. Govt developed and mandated Uniflite Co to use in all the many thousands of Viet Nam delta boats that eventually financially ruined Uniflite. That additive was the cause of Uni blisters. Once the Co began using the fire retardant on so many govt boats they let it become standard product throughout their pleasure boat line too. It took up to years from a build-out for the blisters to begin to appear. But... Once they began to form on a boat - there was no stopping them from becoming more and more in numbers, size and appearance. Class action suit broke Uniflite's financial back. The rest is history!

Soooo - Uni blisters had nothing to do with solid core fiberglass nor Uniflite's quality of building. It did have to do with a simple chemical Fuc-Up on fireproofing the resin that govt chemists concocted.

Well done, sold, thick, all fiberglass construction is still just about the best that can be done for boat building. Poorly done FRP is the shats!!!



For some fun see (great mag with articles and ads, scroll up/dwn) - https://books.google.com/books?id=oC...unders&f=false

Some background on Art Nordtvedt - Art Nordtvedt, Uniflite founder, dies at 91 — Boaters Resource Center
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Old 11-14-2015, 11:13 AM   #28
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So if you buy a new boat and have several coats of epoxy rolled on it before it ever hits the water will this end your blister worries? That is as long as the barrier coat is not compromised?
David
When we build epoxy boats, we still put on several coats of barrier coat, another epoxy, that is designed to keep water out.

On a new polyester/gelcoat boat, it is tricky because there is a release compound used so boat can be popped from the mold. Remnants of the release compound are hard to remove, persistant and will prevent the paint from bonding. Hull surface must be carefully prep'd.

I think it would be a good idea to barrier coat a new polyester boat. Just need to make sure it sticks!!!
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Old 11-14-2015, 12:45 PM   #29
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It was the fireproof FRP resin additives that U.S. Govt developed and mandated Uniflite Co to use in all the many thousands of Viet Nam delta boats that eventually financially ruined Uniflite.
Art-- A longtime member of the boating club we are members of was for many years the chief engineer at Uniflite. Not long ago I asked him if the river gunboats the company had produced were responsible for the ultimate demise of the company. He said a lot of people think this but it is not true. He said what killed Uniflite was very bad management.

The blister issue was certainly real although it was not discovered until later when blisters began appearing. He said the company took steps to remedy this and it was no longer a concern in the company's later years.

Bad management decisions were the prime cause of the company's failure. The fire that destroyed a good part of the company's facilities in Fairhaven was a big nail in the coffin but he said the company would have gone under even without that.
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Old 11-14-2015, 01:51 PM   #30
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Art-- A longtime member of the boating club we are members of was for many years the chief engineer at Uniflite. Not long ago I asked him if the river gunboats the company had produced were responsible for the ultimate demise of the company. He said a lot of people think this but it is not true. He said what killed Uniflite was very bad management.

The blister issue was certainly real although it was not discovered until later when blisters began appearing. He said the company took steps to remedy this and it was no longer a concern in the company's later years.

Bad management decisions were the prime cause of the company's failure. The fire that destroyed a good part of the company's facilities in Fairhaven was a big nail in the coffin but he said the company would have gone under even without that.
Hey Marin

Thanks for more info/insight/reasoning regarding Uni going kaput.

I'm sure there was more than one reason Uniflite "fully" folded financially.

Founder Art was quite pointed during our long phone chat that he felt the class action suit regarding blisters was his company's death knell. Of courses as founder... any reason for company collapse that can take spotlight off oneself would be placed at forefront.

They did make good boats for a long time. I recall seeing Uni boats come into the limelight while attending NY, NY boat shows at MSQ throughout latter 50's into 1969. Same time I watched GB's and Tollycraft's come in as main frames. CC's, Hatt's, Owens, Trojan, even Lymans... etc were already established players... back when!
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Old 11-15-2015, 04:56 PM   #31
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I have a few blisters on my hull and was told basically the same thing as in the article when I bought ASD.


I would think blistering is a thing of the past now with the way the manufactures use the vacuum bag process.
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Old 11-15-2015, 05:57 PM   #32
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Ultimately...like engine probkems....you never can be sure unless you check.

Granted newer boats are less likely to have issues...but all hulls need an over watch to be sure.
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