Stained hatch covers

[Marnis]

I have a 2018 RT31CB. It's been a great boat. Very few problems since purchase. What few issues that arose were covered under warranty or were easy fixes I took care of. Both the factory and my local dealer have been fantastic in their support over the years. I made an inquiry from Ranger Tug regarding the manufacturer of the nine hatches on my boat. I asked Ranger for the sizes and model numbers of each hatch. The information was provided promptly.The manufacturer of the hatches is HMG Hi Tide Marine Group. I found their website and filled out an online request for answers to my problem. Below is a copy of what I wrote:

Hello. I bought a brand new 2018 Ranger Tug 31CB. It is equipped with 9 Jim Black & Associates hatches of various sizes and shapes. I have been having problems with staining on the outside tops of the hatches. The boat is in the Great Lakes and is stored indoors heated for 6 months every year. The stains are black dots that no cleanser will remove. They are not spider droppings. I have photos if you need specific details. The staining has been progressively worsening and now there are hairline cracks in the corners of some of the hatches. No leaking. Just esthetically terrible. I would appreciate any help or consideration you can give me. When you respond, I can provide the dimensions and SKU numbers. Thanks

They quickly replied with:

On Sep 20, 2023, at 7:26 AM, Amy Arnudts <amya@gotohmg.com> wrote:

Thanks for the inquiry. Please complete and return the attached warranty claim form along with pictures of the issues you are having, our team will review and someone will get back to you.

As always HMG thanks you for being a valued customer, please advise if we can be of further assistance.

Amy Arnudts
Customer Service – Plastic
HiTide Manufacturing Group, LLC
http://WWW.GOTOHMG.COM
http://WWW.HURRICANETOWERS.COM

I replied:
From: Sonny Modiano <sonnymodiano@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2023 11:39 AM
To: Amy Arnudts <amya@gotohmg.com>
Subject: Re: Contact Us form submitted on https://www.gotohmg.com

Hello Ms. Arnudts,

Thank you for getting back to me so quickly. I am attaching your warranty claim form along with a word document with specific details of the problem, along with part numbers and photos. If you do not receive everything, please let me know. Your assistance in this matter is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Sonny Modiano
248-496-1967

They replied:

On Sep 20, 2023, at 12:12 PM, Amy Arnudts <amya@gotohmg.com> wrote:

Mr. Modiano,

My team has reviewed the photos provided and we have never seen nor had reports of this type of coloring on our hatches. We will reach out to our plastics material provider to inquire as to whether or not they have ever seen this.

Unfortunately, the hatches are out of warranty but I have spoken to management and I have been authorized to offer the hatches to you at our cost plus freight charges. From your list you have the following; (2) 1217’s, (3) 1919’s, (1) 1616 & (1) 1010, please advise how you would like to proceed.

As always HMG thanks you for being a valued customer, please advise if we can be of further assistance.

Amy Arnudts
Customer Service – Plastic
HiTide Manufacturing Group, LLC
http://WWW.GOTOHMG.COM
http://WWW.HURRICANETOWERS.COM

I replied:

Ms.Arnudts,
Again, thank you for getting back to me so quickly. I appreciate your offer, but I would like to wait until you get an answer from your plastics material provider. Despite the mention that the warranty is over, we are not talking about normal wear and tear. If you look at the photos of my vessel, you can see that it is in meticulous condition. Every winter during storage I have a company professionally detail the boat from top to bottom. This care and service has been done since I purchased the boat. In actuality, when I go to the “Tugnuts web site” for ranger tugs and do a search for hatch issues, there have been similar postings. I cannot help if others have not reached out to you with their concerns. I am not requesting complete hatches, but simply the top enclosure. I am sure that you can appreciate what an investment this has been for me and despite my best efforts 7 of my 9 hatches look terrible. If you could move this request to a higher level for consideration I would greatly appreciate it. I am not declining your generous offer, I am simply requesting a reconsideration of this situation.

Sincerely,
Sonny Modiano

This was the last communication I had with HMG Hi Tide marine Group. I posted multiple pictures on the Tugnut site on Facebook as well as various other Ranger Tug Facebook sites. I was not surprised to read multiple comments from other Ranger owners with the same problem. Some were able to clean up the hatches but many could not. Many of these Ranger tugs were newer than mine. I am posting this information with the hope that if any of you have a similar problem, you should please reach out to HMG Hi Tide Marine Group and make them aware that this is not an isolated problem. HMG has been extremely professional and polite during the short communication. I don't feel that I should cover the cost of replacing 7 of my hatch covers if it can be shown that there might be a defect in the plastic material used to manufacture some of these hatches.

Thank you for reading my post and thank you if you reach out to HMG Hi Tide Marine Group if you are experiencing a similar problem.

Sonny Modiano

 

[kam4182]

I have a different issue with the hatches - they are cracking at the corners, worst crack is 0.25" wide and needless to say - leaks. I have a 2018 31S and it is a tad frustrating. Boat is kept on Lake Huron, heated storage, only 152 hours on it, not that that has much to do with solar exposure. Anyone else have this issue?

 

[Bosn Mate]

I have the same issue with the hatches cracking in the corners. In a previous post on Tugnuts, an owner referenced CA (Cyanoacrylate) glue, otherwise known as super glue, mixed with baking soda, as a possible way to repair the cracks.

I did research on this suggestion and found lots of info especially on Youtube. I found one video where a PHD Chemist explained in detail the science of CA glue and baking soda, as well as other substances including graphite powder.
After experimenting on scrap plastic with positive results, I used on several hatches and sealed the cracks.

Recommend you give this a try!

Mike

 

[Marnis]

Update on stained hatch covers on my 2018 RT31 CB. I had my usual waxing done this past winter while my boat was in heated indoor storage. I mentioned the staining problem to the gentlemen that has been detailing and waxing my boats for over twenty years. He said he had a product that would remove all the stains. I went and looked at the hatches on my boat after he used the product he mentioned. All of my hatches were clean and white. The product he used was, Nautical One Extreme Mildew Remover. Here is the link: https://nautical1.com/products/nautical ... ew-remover
Thank you also for the advice on filling minor spider cracks in the corners of hatches. None of mine leak at the present moment.
Thanks,
Sonny

 

[S. Todd]

Sonny, We have a 2021 R29S used on the Great Lakes and stored in an insulated facility except when we are using the boat. We have not had any of the staining/mildew issues you have experienced but on all of our 19" X 19" hatches we experienced cracks in the hatch corners within the first year of ownership. Because the defects appeared so early, new hatches were provided by Fluid Motion under warranty. At this time, I have not yet installed them because the cracks are minor and there is no evidence of leaking yet. Unfortunately, the worst cracks are in the two hatches that are in the cockpit roof and replacing them is going to be a major project because they cannot be opened enough to remove the screws because of the sport racks they are installed under. For the life of me I don't know why Ranger Tug even wasted the cost of these two hatches given that the roof is over the open cockpit, and even if you wanted additional air flow back there when a canvas enclosure is installed, because of the sport racks they only open about an inch. I am not looking forward to removing and reinstalling the sport racks just to replace these worthless hatches. A solid roof would be lighter easier to build and have less maintenance issues. In my opinion they should have used the savings to install some Bomar or other quality hatches made out of something other than the plastic compound used in the Jim Black hatches. We had a R25SC for 6 years prior to purchasing the R29 and had no issues with the Jim Black hatches on that boat but they are smaller at only 17" x 17". The rectangular hatches in the roof of the cabin on the R29 also have no cracking issues but they are also much smaller than the 19" x 19" ones that seems to have issues.