Advice on adressing pontoon fencing paint bubbles

[steveday]

I have a five year old pontoon that I bought new in March of 2011. It is stored in my side yard, the paint is bubbling on ~70% of the pontoon fencing at the bottom. The pontoon looks brand new with the exception of the bubbling paint. Manufacturer refuses to do anything, they say it's due to environmental influences and therefore not covered by the warranty. The plan is to upgrade the boat next year so I need to address this issue, I cringe at the thought of replacing the fencing.
What would be the best coarse of action?
Should I paint it?
Should I leave it alone?
I thought about removing the aluminum fencing and replacing it with sunbrella material when I have a new boat cover made.
Any thoughts?

 

[MH Hawker]

that looks real bad, you can get replacement sheeting or have it repainted

 

[HotTommy]

My first thought is to wonder what caused the paint to bubble. I don't consider sunlight or the passage of time to be "environmental influences" so I wonder what the manufacturer is talking about. I certainly wouldn't accept that excuse if the same thing happened to the paint on my Ford truck. If there truly is some unique environmental exposure that caused that, a fresh paint job couldn't be expected to last very long either. If on the other hand the bubbling is the result of less than proper preparation and painting of the fence at the factory, I would expect the manufacturer to at least share in the cost of repairing/repainting it.

Properly painting aluminum is challenging because it oxidizes very rapidly when fresh aluminum is exposed to air. As I recall, there is a special primer that must be applied almost immediately that will stick to the aluminum and the paint that covers it. In other words, repainting your fence is not a job for people who don't know what they are doing. I would expect it to be an expensive job if done right.

How difficult would it be to replace the sheet portion of your fencing? For example, if it were just riveted to the frame, perhaps you could remove the old sheet pieces and replace them with new ones. You might even be able to get the manufacturer to provide new ones at no/low cost.

Sunbrella might look ok, but it has a finite lifetime and will need to be replaced in a few years. Another short term solution might be to grind off and prime the bubbled area and then cover the entire fence with custom vinyl sheets. You could choose any design or image you like. For example it might say in huge letters, "The paint on my "brand" boat failed in only 5 years." That might get you a more sympathetic response from the manufacturer. ... Good luck.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Do you boat in salt water?

 

[ahicks]

Was thinking the same thing - the source of that corrosion? Does this boat have any salt water in it's history? I'd be surprised that it had anything to do with the sunlight, but it's source needs to be properly identified to best address how to best proceed.

 

[Scott Danforth]

The corrosion could also be from winter road salt if the boat was trailered in the winter and not washed off right away.

The bubbles are either oxidation corrosion or galvanic corrosion.

 

[Silver Eagle]

If you can sand the paint smooth I'd go to one of those places that does window tints. A lot of them have Vinyl wraps, Measure how wide it is and try some on your boat. They carry many colors.They also can clear coat it for protection.