Stress cracks ???

Corrosion, Paint, Through Hulls, etc.
Hiramsaint
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Joined: Mon Jul 02, 2018 2:49 pm
Location: Hiram, Ga.

Re: Stress cracks ???

Post by Hiramsaint »

Thanks ddependo, that's the ad. It's a decent price until the welding part came up. No worries as I'm pretty stuck on a 32 FBS.
Matt
No boat yet but in the hunt
Hiramsaint
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Posts: 33
Joined: Mon Jul 02, 2018 2:49 pm
Location: Hiram, Ga.

Re: Stress cracks ???

Post by Hiramsaint »

Busia wrote:Sounds like someone's boat left at his shop and being sold for storage fees. Might be a deal at the right price.
Very well could be. I'd like to have the trailer. I expect mine--when I get it-- to be here at the ponderosa for awhile while I set it up. Being able to move it about during that time would be a huge plus.
Matt
No boat yet but in the hunt
EWRice
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Re: Stress cracks ???

Post by EWRice »

The only time I have seen so called "stress cracks" in a metal hulled boat was when the hull was allowed to get substantial amount of water in it that froze solid over the winter. That was on a Roamer but I was amazed at how many welds were cracked. They decided to cut her up after that.
Muskegon Lake
1972 32' Express flybridge
"AL13"
Twin 318s
On board air & prime 920
1963 Thompson Super Sea Lancer
Graymarine 327
1961 Alumacraft 12'
'55 10hp Johnson
javalin390
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Re: Stress cracks ???

Post by javalin390 »

That sounds like the most likely story, although I was thinking that it was left in the lake during the winter, the opposite of forgetting to pull the drain plugs while in drydock and water freezing inside the hull.
Jim Elias
1974 37' SedanFlybridge
Twin 360 Chryslers.
Marblehead, Ohio
Rockit
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Location: Phoenix, AZ

Re: Stress cracks ???

Post by Rockit »

I agree, it sounds like they mean there were defects in the original welds.

This is why a report from good marine surveyor who is familiar with aluminum boats is helpful. I remember mine going over the welds.
Joe Napoli
1977 28' Express
Twin raw water cooled 318s
Beaver River--near mile 25 on the Ohio
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bill
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Joined: Sat Jul 12, 2014 7:17 am
Location: Grosse Ile MI

Re: Stress cracks ???

Post by bill »

BigM
32' Fisherman with new rebuilt motors. :o From the pictures it does not look like there was a lot of welding going on. :o It would surely need a good Marinette surveyor to look at it first. :) If I was just 20 years younger and a billionaire. :idea:
bill
Former owner of
ALUMINATION
Grosse Ile MI
Located on LakeErie
37' F/B Sedan
1975
Twin 360 Chrysler Marine
Raw water cooled
Hydraulic steering both helms
USCG Master Lic. Retired[/color]
Third Owner bill
mrkstr
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Re: Stress cracks ???

Post by mrkstr »

I have a 1968 32 foot Marinette Cruiser. I have found 5 small cracks below the water line in the last 4 years. The first one was somewhat large and the welder told me he thought it was probably just from a bad weld at the factory that came loose. We welded everything back together from the inside and outside. The other cracks have been much smaller, an inch or two long or shorter. One of the small ones has been all the way through the hull, but most have not.

I know the boat hasn't had any collisions with anything, including the bottom. It hasn't been left in the water over the winter, ever. There hasn't been water left in the bilge (unless it was a small amount caught in a spot I couldn't see.) I haven't noticed any sign of electrolysis, except on the anodes.

Am I just at the life expectancy of the boat? Do I scrap it or keep welding it? Can it be saved or is it going to keep getting worse?

mrkstr
jralbert
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Re: Stress cracks ???

Post by jralbert »

"Stress cracks" in Marinettes are rarely if ever reported. If it's a factory weld problem, one that held for +50 years, it's likely it would have shown up earlier. There could be a few scenarios here, impossible to figure out. If the new welds are holding, with no new cracking occurring you may have hit the solution. If you are getting new ones, under the water line, it doesn't appear to be a safe situation.
-joel-
former owner 1988 '32 FB Sedan
Chesapeake Bay
twin 318 / 240 hp
Potomac MD
mrkstr
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Re: Stress cracks ???

Post by mrkstr »

Joel,
The last owner only drove it to church and back. Seriously though, the last owner would criuse Presque Isle Bay a couple times a week. I have taken trips to Canada and up and down our side of the lake. I think the factory weld gave way because it was the first time the boat had been out on open water in a long time. I'm not entirely sure if the small cracks are new or if they have gone unnoticed until now. I suspect they are new. Could the hull have been weakening over time and is now cracking because I'm using her more? Can electricity in the water be weakening it? Or is it just age?
jralbert
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Re: Stress cracks ???

Post by jralbert »

Though Lake Erie can be brutal w short choppy wave conditions, it's hard to imagine the boat got pounded so hard the welds cracked but anything is possible over decades of use. I am not enthusastic about the "first time on open water" theory. Can't possibly guess on electricity in the water - you'd have to confirm that. But I think - and this is wholly hypothetical - it is more likely corrosion than stress cracks. Is the paint bubbling anywhere around the leak points?
It boils down to the fact that it's unlikely judgments from a distance will help you.
-joel-
former owner 1988 '32 FB Sedan
Chesapeake Bay
twin 318 / 240 hp
Potomac MD
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