Shrink Wrap Damage Question

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walterv

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I had my boat shrunk with wrap last season as I always do. The difference this year is I had the boat wrapped to the rub rail. Anyway, after unwrapping the boat last week, I noticed that a bow rail stanchion broke at the weld where the bow rail meets the stanchion (top of the stanchion).
When I approached the Shrink Wrapper and told him what happened, he said it was the wind, nothing he did. I find that hard to believe since during Sandy (Hurricane) I had no damage while wrapped.

Also,
I had a TV antenna snap off before this damage (early after wrapping) and he used the "wind story" , he did finally concede it was not wind and replaced the antenna.

I still owe him for the shrink wrap and want to know your thoughts on the cause of the damage and if you think it was the shrink wrappers fault. I want to be fair, hence asking your opinions.

On a side note,
Silvertons bow rails do suck, IMHO, They are not as solid or rigid as other manufactures like SeaRay or Regal. But,with that said, this damage was at the weld, as mentioned the weld let loose.

Appreciate any feedback.

Walter
 
I find it hard to believe that any pressure from shrink wrapping could break a weld. I would suggest it was likely broken while the boat was being pulled or blocked.
 
Is it possible the weld was cracked before and/or the design let water penetrate and then freeze? For the wrap to break the weld it would have to push pretty hard on the rail and you should see the rail bent or a pull out. As it is if it just snapped at the weld I would suspect a bad weld with water penetration.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Stephen

I find it hard to believe that any pressure from shrink wrapping could break a weld. I would suggest it was likely broken while the boat was being pulled or blocked.

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You'd be amazed at how much force shrink wrap exerts as it cools, especially a large patch.

I moonlighted working on boats until my middle child was born, then tapered off al to after that. MOST of my work was shrink-wrapping - that was the big biller. On a decent weather day I could do a half dozen easy-to-moderate boats by myself, on the boatyard contracts I had one guy helping me, and between the two of us we'd start staging and strapping an hour before sunrise and work until dark and knock out at least a dozen sailboats and cruisers a day, and countless small boats when the weather wasn't so good.

If a lifeline stanchion was found broken after shrink-wrapping, that would be my first guess as to cause. Happens a LOT if you're not careful. shrink-wrap exerts a LOT of pull as it cools, easily enough to bend or break stanchions. The section of plastic between the top of the rails and the 'peak' of the wrap, where strapping or banding is run to create that sharp angle for rain and snow to run off, is a large flat section that is REALLY tempting to heat as much as you can from the ladder or scaffold you're on as quick as you can. Time is money. The sooner you smooth the wrinkles and draw that part tight the sooner you move on to the next job. Aside from cutting vents and taping down doors (NEVER cut the wrap inside the door until you actually need to go in, and don't allow your shrink-wrap guy to), that's the last part of the job. It's really hard to go easy on that part because every part of a human brain says "take big passes and knock this whole section out quick, move the ladder, get it done so you can pull plastic on one more boat before it gets dark and your wife starts asking where the hell you are because you promised you'd be home for dinner".

There absolutely could be another cause, but when I hear broken stanchion I assume shrink-wrap damage. A good shrink wrap guy is probably good at fixing stanchions (sometimes they're just screwed into rotted substrates or ****ty to begin with, but you're on the hook because you're still the one that broke or bent it).

My unscientific but well experienced estimate is that on a 36-50' sailboat, you can badly bend every single foredeck stanchion heating about 6x15 feet of plastic in one pass.
 
Oh, on second read - root cause was bad weld. Stanchion should bend well before the weld fails. Shrink-wrap was probably the straw that broke the camels back, so to speak. Pulled out screws because of self tapping screws in rotten substrate, bent stanchions, but never saw one break at the weld. Shrink wrapper probably broke it, but it was weak to begin with and shouldn't have broken - at least not like that.
 
Walter, don't think you can prove one way or another what did it, but we did have a crazy amount of wind this winter, often over sustained periods of time. That first big snowstorm we had was so windy 4 of the lines running under my boat to hold down the wrap snapped where they chafed against the hull bottom. I never had that happen before. Wind against the large sail area of the wrap must exert a lot of force.
 
quote:
Originally posted by JohnC

Walter, don't think you can prove one way or another what did it, but we did have a crazy amount of wind this winter, often over sustained periods of time. That first big snowstorm we had was so windy 4 of the lines running under my boat to hold down the wrap snapped where they chafed against the hull bottom. I never had that happen before. Wind against the large sail area of the wrap must exert a lot of force.

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Your shrink wrap guy needs to plan better. Two very important (won't day most important, because there's plenty of pitfalls from getting blown off the staging or ladder to fuel vents) considerations are venting (quick, easy, and effective if you cut them the way I do), and weatherproofing. Your customer is paying you to protect their boat from the weather - so engage your brain and think about the damned weather. Don't leave anything that will collect rain or snow, and don't leave a wind trap. Angles are where it's at, homie. If the belly bands chafed through, the plastic was not tight enough, and the job was not planned well enough.
 
I agree w/ NC, the weld was probably not completely 'up to standards' when originally completed, and with weathering, ect, it was on it's way out. I'd bet the shrink wrap and any heavy wind over the winter, did it in. Is there light rust on the weld where it split?
 
Was there a belly in the shrinkwrap where snow, rainwater, or ice could have accumulated adding weight and pressure on it? That could cause a shaky weld to let loose.
 
NC
The weld break was at the top of the stanchion where the stanchion meets the rail, not at the base.

Greg,
I can't say for sure but doubt there was a crack before. If there was a crack I can't see how water could get in there, two reasons why. First is the weld is at the bottom of the rail and gravity if the rail got wet would just have the water run down, guess you got to see it to understand. Secon is the wrap sealed where the stanchion is and there was no water on the deck around the stanchion, entire bow was dry.

John,
I too had a lot of broken line that supported the wrap.

GG,
No rust, shiny and clean

JVM,
No belly, wrap was still tight
 
Take both sections of the fractured weld to a Competent Metallurgist and have him examine the weld under a Scanning Electron Microscope. He should be able to tell you exactly how and why the weld failed. Of course you could replace the rail section for what the inspection will cost you and if the weld failed from other causes you are really out of luck. Shiny and clean leads me to believe that long term wear and tear caused the failure as the weld fractured and two pieces continued to rub against each other resulting in the smooth surface. An overloaded weld would fracture the parent metal, in the heat affected zone in a jagged pattern, not smooth.
 
Unfortunately, you're going to have a hard time proving the cause one way or another. The only solutions are to either replace the broken sections (expensive) or have the break rewelded. I had the cover of my radar dome cracked beyond repair with no replacement available, because the shrinkwrap was laid across the cover. Snow load did the rest. Unfortunately, I didn't notice it until I had moved from that marina. Insurance wouldn't cover it because shrinkwrap damage is considered a part of maintenance, not covered! I was able to glue the cover pieces and parts back together with some epoxi glue; the only other alternative was to replace the entire radar unit. Just my experience with shrinkwrap. PS, I found yesterday that the guy who did our boat last fall heated the shrinkwrap too much and fused it to the hull in spots! Bummer. Hy
 
Two things.

The weld was likely weak. I don't think the wrap alone caused the damage.

It is mid April and you haven't paid the guy for something he did in the fall?
 
quote:
Originally posted by littlebookworm

Unfortunately, you're going to have a hard time proving the cause one way or another. The only solutions are to either replace the broken sections (expensive) or have the break rewelded. I had the cover of my radar dome cracked beyond repair with no replacement available, because the shrinkwrap was laid across the cover. Snow load did the rest. Unfortunately, I didn't notice it until I had moved from that marina. Insurance wouldn't cover it because shrinkwrap damage is considered a part of maintenance, not covered! I was able to glue the cover pieces and parts back together with some epoxi glue; the only other alternative was to replace the entire radar unit. Just my experience with shrinkwrap. PS, I found yesterday that the guy who did our boat last fall heated the shrinkwrap too much and fused it to the hull in spots! Bummer. Hy

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Fused to the hull? Is your hull painted? Never seen shrink wrap fuse to fiberglass. Shrink wrap tape can stick really well if it’s heated enough, though.
 
Hull is not painted; the shrinkwrap stuck to the hull in about a dozen spots below the rub rail. I only had difficulty peeling two spots. A little compound and some wax will take care of the problem. I will mention it to the owner of the service company. His boat is two slips down from mine!. Hy
 
Mark,

LOL, Victor is strange, I tell him to leave or send me a bill, and nothing?? One year, in the winter he wrapped and cleaned the boat, then in the spring waxed the entire boat, cleaned Bi-Weekly all season, never left a bill after many requests, finally settled with him in the fall. Which by the way I hate, I prefer small bills as we go rather than a large bill.

Its not an expensive repair, just a bit pissed that I had two things break (Antenna as mentioned), then bow rail.

Thanks all for the feedback

Walter
 
It's a silverton, your lucky the wrap didn't crush it like an accordion!

What is odd is the same exact thing happened to your 34' Silverton and that was a different shrinkwrapper.

In my view the bow rail is weak and not made very well. Only option is build a frame to protect it from the wrap.

Do other silverton owners have this issue or just you?
 
Only other shrink wrap damage reported from Silverton owners was friends that had Regals, seems the shrink wrap crushed the hull of the boat?? Weird, but I understand that. LOL
 
walter, would you rather break a weld or lose your nuts? I remember some Regal guy that lost his nuts and then the tranny beat itself to death!
 
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