UL-1 first run + videos

[skibo2]

I am sure that warranty would have covered my boat because it came out of the box broken but after I inspected the damage, I decided that even if I got a new hull the same problem could easily occur so I decided to apply properchoppers plate technique. After installing the plate, I am confident that it would take a major inpact to do any damage.

[Jeff Wohlt]

From the pics it looks as if the gelcoat is shot in then the alum piece and then glassed. They should gel, glass then put the plate in. Just looks like it is coming apart from the gelocoat. If a person could get to the inside they could drill it on thru and put the plate on the inner side but doubt you can get in there.

I have not seen Mike on here for a few days. He did say to "bare with him" he was looking in to this. I would think warranty would cover it...or it should.

[properchopper]

I intend to reinforce the inside of the area where the plate is by drilling a hole inside the radio box opposite the sponson & pouring in some epoxy resin.

[properchopper]

more reinforcement

I finally got the courage to drill a hole in the inside of the sponson. Mixed up some 30 min. epoxy thinned with alcohol & poured it in. Held the boat at various angles to let the epoxy flow all around & let it set. Small abs patch will be next.

[properchopper]

Good running today !

Just to be on the conservative side I put the stock 3-blader on , a little negative strut adjustment & no air dam. Had a ball. Boat was fast but not "on the edge". I'm happy running in this realm & may sneak a little more propping up, but I totally enjoyed the boat set up this way. BTW, absolutely NO water leaked out of the jacket after a very little tightening of the end rings.

[Fluid]

More data points...

We had three new UL-1s out running in pretty rough water at yesterday's club meet. We ran on a narrow oval and all three models handled well. Two of us were running K-45 props with good speed, and in spite of 10-15 mph winds only one hydro flipped out of a lot of laps. Racing with older LSH hulls with AquaCraft power and metal props showed the UL-1 to be slightly faster, but then the LSH boats were not really set up yet for their new power. The K-45 gives a much better hole shot and all the speed we need.

BTW, we had one leaky jacket but it was disconnected and the model ran without water cooling. No problem on a 50 degree day, nothing got hot. Too, no one tore out a turn fin in spite of the rough water and the racing. Not to say it won't happen next time out, but clearly not all these boats are as vulnerable as others.



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[egneg]

From the pics it looks as if the gelcoat is shot in then the alum piece and then glassed. They should gel, glass then put the plate in. Just looks like it is coming apart from the gelocoat. If a person could get to the inside they could drill it on thru and put the plate on the inner side but doubt you can get in there.

I have not seen Mike on here for a few days. He did say to "bare with him" he was looking in to this. I would think warranty would cover it...or it should.

If this is the case then I would think that drilling a hole and adding epoxy to the inside would be futile. The plate put on the outside to better distribute the load is the only solution at this point. I think I may do this before the turn fin is sacrificed to the pond monster.

[Fluid]

From the pics it looks as if the gelcoat is shot in then the alum piece and then glassed. They should gel, glass then put the plate in...

Strange observation, that is not at all what I see...but then I have a UL-1. Looking at this photo, you see the aluminum plate, the glass fibers, then presumably the gel coat. The plate is on the inside of the broken off piece. It is assembled just the way the poster suggests.....

The fiberglass seen through the hole in the boat is the inside surface of the interior hull - the hull has two pieces like the Phil Thomas etc. hulls. Squirting in epoxy will clearly help the problem. Gluing an aluminum plate to the outside will rely on how well the gel coat sticks to the fiberglass underneath. I'd prefer to rely on the strength of the actual glass fibers, but that's just me.





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[properchopper]

The fiberglass seen through the hole in the boat is the inside surface of the interior hull





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Actually what you see through the hole is a loose chunk of "flotation" foam. From the inside of the hull to the outside is : 1] the plate , 2] the fiberglass hull ,3] the gelcoat, 4] the turnfin bracket. That's all. The plate I made for the outside isn't the entire solution. I must say I'm embarassed to admit that after the outside reinforcing plate was installed, and JB'd and cured , the next time out I ran the boat aground and the hull cracked just behind the plate . [ hydro's "coast" more than mono's I've found out , and as I stepped up to catch the boat I slipped and fell on my #ss ]
I then drilled a hole, filled with thinned epoxy & rolled around to penetrate & seek the weak points & then sealed it up with a small piece of ABS.

[Ub Hauled]

I saw the so called "slip"... the man dove after the UL to avoid land collision...
Legg is kicking a$$ and taking numbers, the week before it was Henry Velasco's turn, he fell off
the stern of the rescue boat while the thing was beached... I am afraid that next time it'll be me!!!!

[Jeff Wohlt]

Yes, I can see the FG. Looks like a very small area to be supporting the turnfin. Most have the support that covers the entire sponson wall. Or maybe I should say that most kits have a full support on that hull area.

That areas takes a lot of stress...throwing a 5# hull at 40 mph into a hard corner makes some serious stress on that part.

We can probably agree on that.

This was an isolated issue from one person so I doubt there will be any trouble with others.

[Fluid]

Yep, the material seen through the hole is not the inner hull - the interior hull does not come that far out to the sponsons. But the plate is positioned behind all the hull glass.

Apparently at least two hulls have broken out the fin, hopefully most will not. I was surprised at the small size of the backing plate - I'd bet the original drawings showed a larger piece of metal there. Some Asian makers have demonstrated that they will shave a penny off a product to gain a little margin...not the way it's usually done in the West.


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[properchopper]

[QUOTE=Fluid;68943]Yep, the material seen through the hole is not the inner hull - the interior hull does not come that far out to the sponsons. But the plate is positioned behind all the hull glass.

FWIW, if you pop out the drain plug & hold the boat up to a strong light source & put your eye up to the plug hole, you'll get a pretty good view of what's inside. 'Not sure what this means, but I thought I'd mention it

[Jeff Wohlt]

Seems Mike or R&D dep. could easily send a larger size pattern to the maker and tell them a larger alum plate it needed. Same everyting else, bolt pattern, etc just larger to cover more area. That would take care of it quickly.

Easy fix if done at the manufact level. Yes, they are good about cutting corners if not stood on hard.

Heck, the real pattern that went from Mike and R&D may just have been larger and we are just now finding out what they are using!

I would say it is worth beefing up BEFORE it fails. Seems you get epoxy in the screw hole and then remount and stand the hull and the tail to let it set on that area. If not there I would come in from the bottom of the sponson with a hole to keep it clean and then touch up the bottom after fixing.

[Fluid]

FWIW, if you pop out the drain plug & hold the boat up to a strong light source & put your eye up to the plug hole, you'll get a pretty good view of what's inside....

I already tired that Tony, but even with a strong LED flashlight I can't see anything forward of the drain hole but air. Maybe mine got the "short piece" of foam!



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