My Hunter 170 mysteriously developed severe cracks in its hull over the winter. Some of the cracks are 1/4 inch thick and 10 feet long. The hull now has no structural integrity and is completely useless to me. It seems their Advanced Composite Process hulls can't take withstand severe cold temperatures. I've done some investigating and found that the product they use (BASF Luran S) has a coefficient of thermal expansion that is far inferior to other common boat building materials. Morover, it appears that this website has had dozens of Hunter owners who have experienced the same problem. I've contacted Hunter to let them rectify the situation but they refuse to offer reasonable compensation for this defect. Have others had the same poor treatment at the hands of Hunter's customer service department? Please let me know.
Manufacturing Defect with Hunter ACP Hulls
- Thread starter wundrbar
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Here are some photos of the cracks that mysteriously appeared one morning.
http://picasaweb.google.com/p.eisenschmid/CanonEPP070204?authkey=Gv1sRgCL3Zp-H_tP-cAw#
http://picasaweb.google.com/p.eisenschmid/CanonEPP070204?authkey=Gv1sRgCL3Zp-H_tP-cAw#
Have you ruled out the possibility of water intrusion? It looks like expansion damage rather than a failure of the plastic.
Yup. The hull was bone dry. In fact, it hadn't touched the water in 18 months. This was the second winter I had it stored in identical circumstances. The only difference was the sever cold snap we experienced in 2008/09. I wondered what might have happened and then checked out this forum. There were dozens of comments from other Hunter Owners who had the same problem over the years. I brought this to Hunter's attention. Mysteriously, most of those posts have now diissappeared.
Pressure From the Inside Out
I do not know this type of Hunter boat or material but the first thing I would think from the photos is that you had water inside the boat that froze and expanded, cracking the hull. If this is not the case, I sure hope this type of material is dropped from boating use. Anyway the snow in the photos just reminded me not to complain about the rain we have been having around Annapolis. Please let us know what you find out and if Hunter responds in a technical way. Good luck.
I do not know this type of Hunter boat or material but the first thing I would think from the photos is that you had water inside the boat that froze and expanded, cracking the hull. If this is not the case, I sure hope this type of material is dropped from boating use. Anyway the snow in the photos just reminded me not to complain about the rain we have been having around Annapolis. Please let us know what you find out and if Hunter responds in a technical way. Good luck.
My 170 developed a similar problem this year. I live in the northeast, and wrap my boat loosely with a tarp; mostly to keep the leaves out. I run a 2x4 (three 2x4's screwed together) length-wise between the mast holder in the front and the crutch in the back to prop it up off the boat. I drain it in the fall, but leave the drain plug off and tip the boat up a little just to make sure any water is out or can get out. It gets snow, some ice and freeze-thaw toward the end of winter. Sometimes we get single digit days/nights, but not often. I bought the boat used.. guessing it's about 10 years old. I haven't had a problem until this year. My cracks showed up mostly around the motor mount and the mast step.
I suggest you give Hunter a call, tell them your problem; maybe send them some pictures or give them your link. They gave me very specific instructions about how to repair cracks in the ACP, inside or out.
I don't know about cracks in the hull, but aside from what Hunter says about the strength of the ACP, I'd guess a serious rap on the outside would cause a crack to develop.. A little freeze/thaw would probably help it migrate. Hunter has also warned me that ACP doesn't like heat either. They advise against shrink wrappng your boat for the winter.
Let me know if you don't get a satisfactory response from Hunter and I'll send you the instructions they gave me.
I suggest you give Hunter a call, tell them your problem; maybe send them some pictures or give them your link. They gave me very specific instructions about how to repair cracks in the ACP, inside or out.
I don't know about cracks in the hull, but aside from what Hunter says about the strength of the ACP, I'd guess a serious rap on the outside would cause a crack to develop.. A little freeze/thaw would probably help it migrate. Hunter has also warned me that ACP doesn't like heat either. They advise against shrink wrappng your boat for the winter.
Let me know if you don't get a satisfactory response from Hunter and I'll send you the instructions they gave me.
Striped-Bass,
I am in Connectictu. Now I am worried. Forthnately, my 170 survived 5 winters including 4 from the previous owner in Mass. Question: What is the drain plug for? I know it is for draining, but how does the water get inside the hull?
I am in Connectictu. Now I am worried. Forthnately, my 170 survived 5 winters including 4 from the previous owner in Mass. Question: What is the drain plug for? I know it is for draining, but how does the water get inside the hull?
Thanks everyone for the feedback. I too drained the hull thoroughly, tilted the trailer up and left the plug out. I know that it wasn't water in the hull. I've given Hunter lots of chances to rectify this. I've dealt with Customer Service, their warranty manager, their VP Sales and Marketing. I've just sent a note to their President. Let's see what he has to say. I even took them to Small Claims court in Ontario. After all of this, they offered to try to fix the boat (with no guarantees) if I paid all costs to ship my boat to/from Florida (about $3,000). I thought this was hilarious given that their warranty manager told the judge here in Ontario that my boat was only worth about $1,000 now (that's about 90% depreciation after just 9 years!!!).
Cracks in ACP Hunter 170
My story is apparently very familiar.
My H170 did fine for 5 Quebec winters but this spring it was unwrapped to reveal serious cracks. The Hunter dealer says they want nothing to do with it. They won't even take it in trade, for any price, on a new replacement boat. They say the ACP defect is causing nightmares and they can't sell these boats to anyone.
I have left both emails and voicemails with Hunter customer service to no avail.
Hunter has sold a defective product and now wishes to avoid responsibility!
Please let everyone know; no one else should be blindsided by this irresponsible company.
andyn
My story is apparently very familiar.
My H170 did fine for 5 Quebec winters but this spring it was unwrapped to reveal serious cracks. The Hunter dealer says they want nothing to do with it. They won't even take it in trade, for any price, on a new replacement boat. They say the ACP defect is causing nightmares and they can't sell these boats to anyone.
I have left both emails and voicemails with Hunter customer service to no avail.
Hunter has sold a defective product and now wishes to avoid responsibility!
Please let everyone know; no one else should be blindsided by this irresponsible company.
andyn
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