Proboat Gelcoat Chips - Is this normal?

[LuckY07]

I recently bought a brand new Proboat Voracity 36. I've only used it 6 times and everything is stock and has been treated carefully. The boat has never flipped, hit anything or had any issues. Yesterday after my 7 minute run on the dynamite 3s 11.v I brought it in and upon inspection I found 2 'chips' in the gelcoat and a 'pinhole' above the stuffing tube (where it enters transom).

My question is whether this stuff is considered normal wear and tear? Do I need to 'fix' any of this? What would cause these chips?

There's no other damage, not even a small spider crack so this has me confused. Really no water is getting in the hull, just a couple drops.

Location of the chips:

1) Lower-left corner of where the strut hardware mounts
2) Just right of the trim tab on the left side.

The pinhole is directly above the stuffing tube on the transom.

[Darin Jordan]

It's not gel-coat. It's paint.

[LuckY07]

It's not gel-coat. It's paint.

Thanks for the reply Darin, I'm new to this hobby so excuse my lack of terminology.

Are the chips in the paint that you see in the pics normal wear and tear? What would cause that?

Does the transom pinhole at the top of the stuffing tube look ok?

I adjusted the strut back end to ~ 1.7mm (above the stut bar)..so maybe something when I did that?

[Darin Jordan]

Thanks for the reply Darin, I'm new to this hobby so excuse my lack of terminology.

Are the chips in the paint that you see in the pics normal wear and tear? What would cause that?

Does the transom pinhole at the top of the stuffing tube look ok?

I adjusted the strut back end to ~ 1.7mm (above the stut bar)..so maybe something when I did that?

No worries. Just clarifying.

I'm guessing that the inside of the transom has a WHOLE lot more epoxy around that tube. If you are getting any water inside, it's likely coming up the stuffing tube due to lack of grease on the shaft.

Go over every nut and bolt and make sure they are all tight. They are usually a little lose after the first couple of uses.

Otherwise, in the water, you'll get nicks and chips, etc. And, since these are mass-produced RTRs, they are never perfect.

[LuckY07]

No worries. Just clarifying.

I'm guessing that the inside of the transom has a WHOLE lot more epoxy around that tube. If you are getting any water inside, it's likely coming up the stuffing tube due to lack of grease on the shaft.

Go over every nut and bolt and make sure they are all tight. They are usually a little lose after the first couple of uses.

Otherwise, in the water, you'll get nicks and chips, etc. And, since these are mass-produced RTRs, they are never perfect.

Ah, so maybe some of the bolts/nuts came loose and would cause enough flex to chip the paint. I actually tightened the trim tabs right before the last run too.

I'll check them again tonight (especially the strut mount) to see if they are still tight.

I'm planning on using silicone on each bolt to hopefully tighten it up a bit and prevent any water from getting in.

What about the stuffing tube area? Almost looks like a faint circle around the stuffing tube.

[boredom.is.me]

It could have just been dinged during installation. As DJ said, it's a mass produced boat. They aren't going to put the same care into them as a space satellite builder.

[fweasel]

It could have just been dinged during installation. As DJ said, it's a mass produced boat. They aren't going to put the same care into them as a space satellite builder.

Tell that to Facebook and Space-X. Whoops.

[LuckY07]

It could have just been dinged during installation. As DJ said, it's a mass produced boat. They aren't going to put the same care into them as a space satellite builder.

When I got the boat it definitely didn't have these chips.

Aside from the chips.. did you see the stuffing tube? It has a pinhole on top where it appears there should be adhesive. I can stick toothpick head into the hole. It also looks like there's a slight 'ring' around
the stubbing tube from some kind of flex.

Does the stuffing tube look ok? It almost seems like the glue around it is breaking away..

[Newboater]

For the pin hole seal it with two part epoxy. As far as the paint goes I own a impulse 31 v3 and the paint used on the boats seems to be low quality. I rubbed mine with rubbing alcohol and it started removing the paint. Run the boat and enjoy it when the chipping gets to be too much for your taste you can repaint it.

[Doby]

If thats the biggest issue, a pinhole in the paint, then you should by a lottery ticket...your numbers are coming up soon.

Seriously, its a mass produced toy made in China. If I were to return every RTR boat I've bought over the years because of something so minor, I'd have no RTR boats!,

As you said, it wasn't there when you bought it and now its materialized, its from stress on the boat from running it.

Not saying you did anything wrong, but crap happens!



Enjoy it and have fun.

[martin]

If your worried about these tiny chips wait until the stress cracks start appearing in the hull as they do in most rtr hulls.

[iop65]

i agree with the posts above , sorry man but when running these boats at those speeds....and you worry about that pinhole in the paint?

[LuckY07]

i agree with the posts above , sorry man but when running these boats at those speeds....and you worry about that pinhole in the paint?

Appreciate the replies! I'm new to the hobby so I wasn't sure what to expect. If these are normal I'm fine with that.

I was afraid I might be doing something wrong, such as adjusting the strut to much for example but it seems like this is par for the course
with wear and tear.

I do a lot of fast turning with the boat and also sometimes get it going in circles to build up some wakes.. maybe all the turning flexed it more than normal too.

[LuckY07]

If your worried about these tiny chips wait until the stress cracks start appearing in the hull as they do in most rtr hulls.

From the reading I've done it seems like those are from the boat hitting the water hard after kiting, flipping, or hitting something. I've only taken this boat out in glassy conditions and never even came
close to flipping it or hitting anything.

I went back in the Voracity 36 thread to look at pics and didn't see these issues, which is why I posted here.

If it's a normal wear and tear thing I can live with that though.

[Doby]

If you haven't come close to flipping your boat yet, then you aren't running it hard enough!!!!