Serious corrosion before warrantee wore out!

[davidludlow1]

Hi ya'll.

I need your help, big time. Last time I was here, one year ago, you gave me confidence to buy the 25 SC instead of the 27 letting me know it could handle big seas. I use it out of Eastham, MA on the cape, visiting the islands around here.

The warrantee is just about to end, and I've had serious corrosion from seawater getting into and finally disabling: 1) the inverter, 2) both thruster housings, 3) most recently the engine! I bought it in NJ and keep it pretty far from even the closest dealer in Salem, MA. Craig, manager of Allen Harbor Marina in Harwichport has been great, helping me negotiate with Ralf Henkel at Ranger. Ralf has been great too, offering to design a shield inside the inverter hatch to prevent destroying the new one they sent Allen Harbor Marina under warrantee.

Long story short, Craig at allan harbor warned me to wait until Ranger sends the new inverter shield that Ralf indicated is now on the drawing boards to install the provided inverter. He is happy to fix all the corrosion in the thruster housings, and now on many parts of the engine, but again warned it will only happen next season if we can't figure out how sea water is getting in there. We both asked Ralf if they are encountering this with other Ranger Tugs and have not yet heard back from him.

Can any of you offer knowledge or insights about this problem?

Thanks,
David Ludlow
617-721-5909

 

[Brian B]

Serious issues for sure. Many of us have removed the plastic screens on the scuppers to allow water to drain faster. There are two under the engine hatch near the cabin and one in the battery compartment and one in the starboard locker. With those removed less water will overflow the channel into the engine compartment. Run a hose in those 4 scuppers frequently to make sure they are clear. Make sure the drain channels are open from the rear thruster to the engine compartment, there is also one on the starboard side. Don't know how the bow thruster could get corroded without serious amount of water in the bow section.
Rear engine mount plates are a corrosion issue.

 

[knotflying]

Besides what Brian said, you should also make sure that the weep holes that are in the engine compartment are cleared and water runs freely out of those, especially the one that leads to the stern thruster.

 

[trailertrawlerkismet]

In the engine compartment, have you taken notice as to how many drips come from your shaft per minute? It should one or two but if you have much more then this it can cause a great deal of water flinging around in your engine compartment, which in turn could be causing some of the problem in the engine compartment....worth a check if you have not.

Jim F

 

[nzfisher]

If you are in really big seas and take an occasional splash in the cockpit or you are subject to exposure of deluge rainfall the foam seals around the hatches could be problematic. The internal diversion channels will only divert minimal amounts of rain before they over fill and try to dump overflow into the various cavities they cover. If the seals are not "tight" especially around the corner curves one can guess where the water ends up. I have replaced some of the factory foam with wider "gaskets" taking more care than the factory did with the install fit and finish of the original seals. Just another place to look. My engine covers were corroded (removed and refinished) and the rear engine mounts are suffering but other than that the engine looks pretty good. The rear thruster housing compartment is a poor design and only works in optimum conditions- that is when the boat is level and all weep holes are functioning 100%. If there is water in the that compartment and you give the boat throttle to get it on plane the water will inundate the lower portion of the thruster. This is also true when taking the boat out on trailer from a ramp, trailering it up hill in the rain and any other instance when the boat is not level. If you do replace the thruster extra water proofing on the lower reaches of the thruster housing and cleaning the "weep holes" are worth considering.

 

[doke01]

Check the cockpit drain hoses. I had a cold winter split one and you couldn't see it by looking at it, the crack was so thin. Open all of the cockpit deck covers and stick a spray nozzle into the drain after removing the drain cover. Run a ton of water through it and observe all of the hoses. Use your hand also and run it along the hoses since it may be difficult to see. Do this for each drain. Replacement hose is cheap and easy so hopefully that is it. I also added more rubber foam seals to the covers. No issues with excessive water in the bilge or thruster area after I was all done.

I took the drain covers off as Brian indicated and never put them back. They clogged too easily with the covers on and I haven't had the drain lines clog once with them off.

I've also had the shaft seal issue. Of course this all happened over a 10 year period on my R25 so definitely not complaining.

 

[david orr ludlow]

Hi. This is David Ludlow the original poster last September of SERIOUS CORROSION BEFORE WARRANTEE WORE OUT!

I found that the problem was as simple as not removing the screens on the scuppers. (Thanks to Brian B and others of you.) But the corrosion damage compounded so that the engine water level alarm was disabled, causing serious engine damage from corrosion as well.

Ralf Henkle has assured me that the one year warrantee would be honored until this issue is settled. I am writing to find out how many others have had a similar problem because Ranger still not replied to that request.

In one week, I will have payed $18,000 to Alan Harbor Marine in Harwich, MA (Cape Cod) for damages from corrosion due to not removing the scupper screens. I will be requesting that Ranger reimburse me for all of that under the original one year warrantee. Up until now it has been their position that any boat owner should know enough to religiously clean those screens without it's being brought to their attention as a serious potential corrosion threat. My first and previous cursing boat was a Seaward 27 R/K in which I slept in the bilge. Any water accumulation got my feet wet when I got up, so I falsely assumed I would know if their was water buildup in the bilge of my new boat.

Were any of you notified that this might be a problem when you bought your Ranger Tug? How many of you had to learn to remove your scupper screens the hard way like me?

In their R-27 Owners Manual, which I was told is the same as that for my 25-SC, this is only mentioned on p.37: "Example of a spring pre-launch checklist" Cleaning: "Remove debris from scuppers and scupper drains." Once a year only?
Nor was I alerted to this issue during the sales run-thru.

I will also be requesting that Ranger post in the Manual a warning about this and require all their sales people to include it in their pre-sales briefing checklist.

I expect that I will only win this warrantee claim if many of you also express here that you agree that this issue needs to be addressed for future Ranger Tug owners.

Thanks,
David Ludlow, and "This Is It!" Eastham, MA

 

[Champ]

In a year of ownership you never once looked in the engine compartment? I don't think Ranger owes you anything. Good luck.

 

[sheral]

Seems to be two threads on this issue, unless I am seeing double :shock:

Ralph is a stand up guy, from my experiences, and I suspect he / they will do what they can. Personally I would wait or contact Ralph and discuss it further, before getting too carried away. I had a few QC issues with my boat, very possibly because of the dealer, not Ranger itself. The guys at Ranger looked after me and continue to provide me with excellent assistance when required. Good luck, I feel your pain, but lets face it they make great boats and from time to time there will be an issue that arrises.

 

[MissJill]

Hi. This is David Ludlow the original poster last September of SERIOUS CORROSION BEFORE WARRANTEE WORE OUT!

RE your corrosion plight. I have a 2012 R-27. I removed my drainage screens the moment I buy my boat. HOWEVER, I now discover a serious issue with the motor mounts. Noticed them rusting excessively about two yrs ago. Have cleaned and repainted said mounts several times (the plates are mild steel hence subject to heavy rusting) but could not keep up with the rust. (the forward ones are really tough to reach)

During yearly haulout last week, noticed the aft mounts (ie plates) where rusted so bad and cracked through and probably the front ones.
I keep my boat squeaky clean and no water can reach those mounts since they are above the bilge area. (maybe salt water mist from the shaft and bilge compartment?)
Anyway, I am now faced with replacing 4 mounts - requiring estimated 10 hrs of labor and cost of mounts.
YANMAR dealer states no warranty available and should have painted said mounting plates with Boeshield T9.
Where is that in the manual??
My take on this saga is that those mounts should be stainless or at least some warning given to owners.
Not a happy Tug owner!!
Miss Jilly

 

[knotflying]

Those mounts have been a concern of mine since purchase. They have rusted, but I do clean them and have applied corrosion block. Perhaps Boeshield T9 in the future. I see them rusted, but they do not seem compromised. Mounts resistant to salt water would have been nice.

 

[baz]

David Ludlow:

To answer "did RT inform you about cleaning and/or removing the drain plates in the scuppers..." ?

I bought a R-25 (Classic) in 2009, a R-21EC in 2015 and a R-27/OB in late 2017 and during the 2-day training for each boat was told that the scupper drains need to be inspected regularly, cleaned and/or removed to facilitate proper draining performance.

Periodically, the built-in seep holes need tp be inspected and throughly cleaned out using a straightened wire cloth hanger. Residue from the boat's assembly can get into the seep holes and plug them up or seriously interfere with their purpose.

Engine mounting assemblies should always be covered with rust inhibitor wax/solution (CorrosionX come to mind). The engine compartment is subject to moisture and at times even sea water. The engine requires air to operate and this air is sucked into the engine compartment from the outside which can and will contain much moisture.

Seeing your boat rusting away is very discomforting, but with a few things done periodically can arrest much of the rusting issues.

Good luck and let it be said.... any boat in salt water will be subject to rusting no matter what precautions are taken.