Quicksilver 365 - Tube damage

[MRJDAM]

Hi,

Looking to get some opinions on what may have caused this and what the best course of action is going forward.

I have a quicksilver 365 which I purchased last year brand new. Due to bad weather it only has around 15-20 hours of actual use out at sea. When we deconstructed the boat for transport we noticed marks/rips on the tubes of each 4 corners where the floor bars end.

I have attached images of the damage and just looking to get peoples opinion on what they think has caused the problem, and ideas on fixes. Anything like this makes me concerned for the boats durability out at sea.

Some things to note,

1. Air in both the tubes and keel was to manufactures recommendation.
2. 2x floor bars on either side of the boat, each had sharp-ish ends.
3. In 1 of the images, you can see the pressure between the tube and 1 of the bars.

Many thanks for taking a read.

J

[chipko]

Ouch! Back to dealer as sounds like you’re well inside the two year warranty period.

[MRJDAM]

ouch indeed ! - very surprised it happened with a quicksilver. Previous boats from them that we have had have always been very well made. You can really tell the build quality has changed from boats made only 10 years ago.

[The Gurnard]

As chipko mentions ..take it back to the dealer as there is a problem there. Dont mess around trying to sort it ..they have to give you a boat suit for purpose

I had the 430HD and scrapped it after 16 years of hard use. Around 12 year of age the floor made a hole through the tube at the transom .. and it was caused by constant rubbing so I reinforced the area by gluing an additional piece of PVC over the area. Your stringer and its position is the exact same as mine. However there is a noticeable difference.

Mine had blocks of “Rubber” about an inch square glued to the black PVC where the stringer ends. These blocks stopped the stringer moving back and forth. I see they don’t have these blocks on yours so presumably a design change. It may have had additional thickness at the blocks too ? but I cant recall. There were no sharp edges to my stringers either although they look the same as yours

Therefore IMO you have done nothing wrong..its a design issue when they changed the boats to lighter material

[MRJDAM]

Hey Gurnard,

Thanks for the reply.

We are going to look into the warranty route. Local Mercury dealer is near by so will be taking it to them when lockdown ends.

The 430HD is a fantastic boat, that is what we had before this one. Lasted us 11 years before we sold it on and was in brilliant condition. Only trouble was the weight which a little too much for myself I found.

Yea, the 365 is missing the black rubber stop for the stingers, as well other quality improvements that the older makes had. assuming they also changed from Hypalon to PVC which does not help with durability.

The end of stringers have a rough / sharp edge to them as well, Something that I did not notice until we took it all apart again.

A dealer told me that the stringers need to be right back against the transom, and I did not agree with that.

We came back to quicksilver because of the excellent time we had with the previous, but it really does seem they have cut a few corners to save on manufacturing cost.

Thanks again for your reply, much appreciated.

J

[spartacus]

Something isn't right. I used a Zodiac GT for years without any damage and principle is the same with the aluminium stringers used to lock the floor in place. Zodiac used to use round bump stops to hold the stringer in position. If not fitted - they could be retro-fitted as holds the stringer in position once the boat is inflated to pressure.

With the tubes inflated it will contact the stringer which it's designed to do as that what gives the boat floor rigidity.

The fact there's a reinforced section on the tube tells me this is a high-contact area. Hope you get it sorted - and well spotted before it got to the base material.

[The Gurnard]

Dealer is talking pish ..if the stringer was hard against the transom ..the photo you show of the hole would show the stringer end stopping short of the black PVC reinforcement ..so the issue would be much worse.

Yeah..the old one was great but a heavy brute..I trailered mine everywhere as it was the only way. It sat outside on its trailer 365 days a year for 16 years too. Hauled up many many beaches and bounced off rocks all its days..and it was the PVC version. Only two punctures all its days. One was a carelessly stowed anchor rubbing through the tube.. the other as mentioned was the floor wearing through the tube but that was after thousands of hours hard use. When I scrapped it I wondered about replacing it with the new “lightweight” version..but I didn’t. I replaced it with the Quicksilver 4.2 Alu hull version..and Im delighted with it

Not the best of photos but I was looking to see if I had a photo of the rubber blocks that hold the stringers from sliding back and forth. The photo is from when I was scrapping the boat but you can clearly see the block. There were four blocks..one at each end of the stringers.. yours does not appear to have them ?



Best of luck with the dealer

[MRJDAM]

Hey Spartacus, Gunard

Thanks for the reply chaps,

Unlike the older makes, mine does not have the rubber stops for the stringers, and there is no way they go to the transom like the chap at the dealership told me. I have been boating for about 13 years, do not know everything, but I know my way around.

The black contact patch is on both sides at the front and ends just before the bow starts to curve in.

This was after 15-20 hours use as well so I was really shocked to see how much it ate through in such short time.

Hoping the new dealer we are going to can see that something is not right and honour the warranty, I miss the sea

Yes, bought with VAT included.

Cheers,

J

[chipko]

Originally Posted by MRJDAM

A dealer told me that the stringers need to be right back against the transom, and I did not agree with that. J

Agree, your stringers look absolutely correctly positioned....joint on centreline of floor panel and ends under wear patches on tubes.

Premature wear like this could arguably be caused by under inflated tubes...which you confirm has not been the case. More likely are burrs on the aluminium cut ends proud of the radiused plastic push in end stops...a manufacturing defect.

These sale pics show our then three year old 150hrs+ use cheap pvc Zodiac Zoom with stringers correctly installed, as yours, with no damage to wear patches.

[MRJDAM]

Hey Chipko,

Thanks for the reassurance !

I am in agreement. I think the stringers, with no rubber stops and slightly proud sharpish ends have been moving too much as we have been driving along and digging into the contact pads.

They stringers are sharp as well, so seems like a manufacturing defect.

I am not sure if the 365 is supposed to come with the rubber stops as standard, but should be able to find out if they offer a replacement.

Thanks again,

J

[Dumbo]

Hi guys hope your all doing well I don’t suppose if any of you know what the height of the transom is on a quicksilver 420 I am wondering if my motor would possible fit

[g.scheubrein]

I don’t think it’s necessarily caused by a sharp edge but probably plastic on plastic rubbing to the point of softening the outer layer of the fabric. Using your patch kit glue and fabric, I’d add a layer or two to the locations then a minor amount of lube to allow some movement without chaffing. It may help to lightly sand the rail with very fine sandpaper and add a soft fabric to those locations. It’s McGiver, but should help. If the boat is PVC, HH66 glue is the best glue and cheap. Works like contact cement and is permanent in minutes.