Humber ribs

JerseyMarine · 08 September 2010, 21:47

After contacting Humber regarding a blistering problem with the tubes of my 3 year old rib,they advised me that their suppliers think the blistering are actually 'rubbing/wear' and therefore do not accept any liability.
Firstly the location of the blisters is both sides of the bow on the underside where the fabric meets the flange, my point being that it is an area which only has contact with the water when afloat and nothing else.
Secondly, the boat has only had 150 hours of use, is kept covered and ashore when not in use.
Humber have offered a couple of fabric 'patches' to cover up the blisters, does anyone know of an alternative/solution. I am worried that the area will spread and therefore need retubing.
Any suggestions welcomed

Chris · 08 September 2010, 23:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by JerseyMarine

After contacting Humber regarding a blistering problem with the tubes of my 3 year old rib,they advised me that their suppliers think the blistering are actually 'rubbing/wear' and therefore do not accept any liability.
Firstly the location of the blisters is both sides of the bow on the underside where the fabric meets the flange, my point being that it is an area which only has contact with the water when afloat and nothing else.
Secondly, the boat has only had 150 hours of use, is kept covered and ashore when not in use.
Humber have offered a couple of fabric 'patches' to cover up the blisters, does anyone know of an alternative/solution. I am worried that the area will spread and therefore need retubing.
Any suggestions welcomed

Hi I have a couple of blisters on my fabric on the underside of the tubes at the rear. I spoke to Chris at Henshaws and he said that as there is a double layer of fabric on this area of the tubes it should not be a problem however if it got any worse to get it in for a check up. I would keep an eye on the blisters and if they continue to spread then get on the phone to Henshaws or Paul Tilley.

Not ideal for you being based in Jersey I guess

BogMonster · 09 September 2010, 00:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by JerseyMarine

After contacting Humber regarding a blistering problem with the tubes of my 3 year old rib,they advised me that their suppliers think the blistering are actually 'rubbing/wear' and therefore do not accept any liability.

Hmmmmmm that sounds very familiar

If the tubes are inspected it is blindingly obvious if something has been damaged by abrasion, as there will be surface marks. I'd see if you can get an independent expert opinion from a tube or boat manufacturer. I got told much the same thing when my Humber tubes fell to bits a few years back, do a search on RIBnet if you are interested in the full story, and when I eventually had to chop them up for a drastic solution the actual cause was the seams delaminating from the inside out so absolutely no way it was external damage which was what they insisted.

HUMBER P4VWL · 09 September 2010, 07:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by BogMonster

Hmmmmmm that sounds very familiar

If the tubes are inspected it is blindingly obvious if something has been damaged by abrasion, as there will be surface marks. I'd see if you can get an independent expert opinion from a tube or boat manufacturer. I got told much the same thing when my Humber tubes fell to bits a few years back, do a search on RIBnet if you are interested in the full story, and when I eventually had to chop them up for a drastic solution the actual cause was the seams delaminating from the inside out so absolutely no way it was external damage which was what they insisted.

did they pay up then? or was it out of warranty?

JerseyMarine · 09 September 2010, 09:13

to Chris:will phone Henshaws and send photo of the both areas.

to BogMonster: you hit the nail on the head, my point being that the photographs
Humber requested clearly show blisters without any signs of wear or rubbbing, infact given the location it would be impossible to 'set up' such a senario.I am considering a Marine surveyor and then take the matter further.

to HUMBER P4VWL: the boat is well within the 5 year fabric warranty, but sadly no offer to replacing the tubes. Humber only want to send a couple of 'patches' to hide the problem. Funny thing is it looks like we are both going to lose out, I was going to trade up to a 6.5 metre Ocean Pro. Now it appears I will have the cost of a hefty retube. I feel quite let down by Humber, just hope other people dont make the same mistake.

HUMBER P4VWL · 09 September 2010, 10:09

I'd contact Humber and say you aren't satisfied with their response. It may have been a reply from one team member, someone "higher" up or more concerned with the brands reputation may be more "helpful". Mention comments from other users from a forum, remain polite and say you like the brand and wereconsidering the upgrade. if they don't wish to reconsider then at that point say you disagree and what would their view be on an independent assessor and continue that course of a action. Show them the report, see what they then say, if still no action, inform them you will take it to court/trading standards etc. These ribs are often £20-£30k upwards, if it were a car with blistering paint, you'd be straight in there.

BogMonster · 09 September 2010, 10:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by HUMBER P4VWL

did they pay up then? or was it out of warranty?

No mine was some way out of warranty - I think when it happened it was about 6 years old and I was not the first owner either, warranties in those days were probably only 1 yr I think.

With hindsight I did not approach it in the best way - anyway the full story is on RIBnet if you are interested, no need to regurgitate it here. Look for threads started by me in May 2006 onwards. The main comparison I was drawing was the immediate response along the lines that there was nothing wrong with the material or the design, I didn't know what I was talking about and the most likely cause was impact damage when they had not seen it and I could clearly see it wasn't....

Anyway if you want some advice I would try and resolve it behind closed doors before resorting to a name n' shame on RIBnet, didn't do me much good anyway. An independent expert view would be the way to go IMHO, not an option available to me at the time.

wavelength · 11 September 2010, 20:00

you change that name by deed poll Stephen???
With all due respect yours was surely a very different scenario to this one. A used boat of uncertain age and history on an island 8,000 miles away and with a hole in the ozone layer letting all that lovely ultra violet thru onto tubes. I doubt any car manufacturer would be sympathetic to a claim for body rot after say 8 years or so and indeed the response was probably similar from landrover when one of our local cg vehicles had to have a new chassis leg after very few years from new. (Which is perhaps one of the reasons HMCG stopped buying them

) But thats all ancient history now.
Whens your new boat due, or have you got it already.

BogMonster · 11 September 2010, 22:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by wavelength

you change that name by deed poll Stephen???
With all due respect yours was surely a very different scenario to this one. A used boat of uncertain age and history on an island 8,000 miles away and with a hole in the ozone layer letting all that lovely ultra violet thru onto tubes. I doubt any car manufacturer would be sympathetic to a claim for body rot after say 8 years or so and indeed the response was probably similar from landrover when one of our local cg vehicles had to have a new chassis leg after very few years from new. (Which is perhaps one of the reasons HMCG stopped buying them

) But thats all ancient history now.
Whens your new boat due, or have you got it already.

Ah the name ... it is what I use on every other forum so thought it was time to change this one to match

Not wishing to dwell on history either as it's now a closed chapter for me, but just worth pointing out that not a hell of a lot of sun hits the bottom of the tubes especially not in a warehouse with no windows

will never know why mine did what it did, but I still maintain it shouldn't have done at that age and 300 hours.

The new baby is due to enter the bowels of a ro-ro ship any time now and should hatch at this end in just over a month so it's getting close, and as a result of my past experience THIS one has wear patches where it should have, and it will probably need them at 47 knots

willk · 11 September 2010, 22:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by BogMonster

THIS one has wear patches where it should have, and it will probably need them at 47 knots

I'm going to miss BogMonster. Tell us a bit more about the wear patches, I have an interest in such things - are they on the underside of the rear sponsons? If so, what is the general arrangement?

BogMonster · 12 September 2010, 02:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by willk

I'm going to miss BogMonster. Tell us a bit more about the wear patches, I have an interest in such things - are they on the underside of the rear sponsons? If so, what is the general arrangement?

Well that is the first time anybody has ever said that

You can make out the black patches under the rear tube sections on the attached photo, should protect the underside and the cone seam where most of the wash hits it at speed - I hope

Basically just a copy of what I have seen on several other ribs, should be standard on everything IMO.