Complaint Review: Marine Dynamics Inc.

The response by Marine Dynamics is accurate.  Pin holes in an alumiinium boat are caused by electrolysis, not by improper bottom paint application.  Bottom paints are used to prevent barnacle and other marine organism growth on the submerged portion of a boat.  Any piece of aluminum left in salt water (or freshwater, although a much slower problem) is subject to deterioation of the metal by electrolysis.  Any metal boat hull, or outdrive, or prop shaft, or rudder, left in the water will deterioate due to this electric - chemical reaction.   The only way to prevent this is by the installing of several sacrificial zinc anodes when in salt water, or magnesium anodes in fresh water.   If you look at an outdrive, there will be a vertical zinc tab just past the propellor.  On inboards, a zinc collar will be attached to the prop shaft and a circluar zinc plate attached to the rudder.  On an aluminium pontoon boat, one needs to install large zinc plates on each hull as well as on the engine.  These zinc anodes need to be checked every 3 months and replaced as needed, or at least once every 18 months.  I have seen boats berthed in locations where the zincs dissolved within 6 months due to high electrical action.  

As a boat owner, you need to be responsible for preventative maintenances, or hire a pro to check on it for you.  Better yet, store your boat in a dry rack!

PS

For those skeptics, buy a zinc grouper from a boat supply, connect it to the pontoon above the water and let it sit for a few months.

Marine Dynamics can not properly repower engines and will not correct improper servicing for the following reasons:

1.  During September 2014 I paid for a repowered Starboard VP GXI-E 5.7L engine and upon initial startup immediately noticed a VERY high idle.  I accepted the boat after demanding the boat be properly detailed (it had excessive mold) and cruised 4 hours to my home.  During the trip the idle never changed.  I reported this to Marine Dynamics, however, they claimed it was acceptable.  I did not use the boat due to this complaint.  In April 2014 I hired a VP certified mechanic and he discovered the high idle was caused by an improper throttle linkage adjustment and adjusted it.  Idle is perfect.  

2.  Sadly, since the engines were not constanty used, seals eroded.  Two water pumps failed due to the inactivity of the boat.  During the replacement of the Starboard pump, the same mechanic discovered the Hamonic Balanzing bolt and washiers were missing.  I am thrilled I did not return the boat to that marina as demanded by the marina for proper adjustments since that missing bolt could have caused a catastrophic failure of the engine and loss of more than the engine.

Additionally, this marina has not properly registered my two year warranty since August 2014.

This is response to complaint from William H. Rodd of Ft. Myers, Florida. William H. Rodd is the owner of a Harris aluminum pontoon boat .

Mr. Rodd called Marine Dynamics Inc in February 2001 and told me (Michael Blaney) that the paint came off of the bottom of his pontoons and 100s of holes the size of a pencil lead are burned through his aluminum pontoons. He said this occurred within year of having paint applied to the pontoons. I told Mr. Rodd that holes burned through the pontoons was caused by electrolysis not paint job itself.

To understand what happened to Mr. Rodds pontoon boat, a few items need to be covered.

1) Electrolysis
In a marine environment, electrolysis occurs when stray electricity from a poorly grounded or shorted electrical system on a boat, dock or boat lift bleeds electricity off into the water. Any metal that is in the water near the bleed off whether it is a bronze thru-hull fittings, propellers, shafts, rudders, outboard motors, bottom paint and even aluminum pontoons with bottom paint will actually start to dissolve.

When I explained to Mr. Rodd what electrolysis is and where it comes from he told me that where the boat is kept in the water there was a new boat lift built next to his boat. I told him that is a real possibility the electrolysis is bleeding from there.

I called the Harris Pontoon Company about the holes in the pontoons. I was able to speak to Rod Pranger in engineering. I explained that William H. Rodds is claming that the lack primer under his bottom paint caused the burning of 100s of holes in his pontoons in less than a year. Mr. Pranger in engineering told me that the described burn off of paint and pencil lead size holes are cause by electrolysis. He said the pontoons are made of aluminum with a thickness of .080. That is thicker than a nickel. Mr. Pranger told me that he could take a brand new Harris pontoon boat, put it in saltwater unpainted and it would take a minimum of 4 years to rote though if it would even happen at all. Mr. Pranger told me to have the customer call him if he needed further explanation.

2)Bottom Painting
When painting an aluminum pontoon boat, the portion of the pontoon that is under the water will be prepped by heavily sanding the aluminum with 40 grit sanding disks on a D.A. sander. After the aluminum is fully sanded or fully etched it is completely washed off and then wiped down with acetone. 2 coats of bottom paint are applied to the bottom and a third coat on the water line.

We have great success with painting aluminum boats this way. We did use primer at one time, but there were some problems with the bottom paint releasing from the primer. The primer would stay on the roughed up aluminum, but on occasion the bottom paint would come off of the primer. The primer wasnt always chemically bonding with the bottom paint. By applying the bottom paint directly to the etched aluminum eliminated the problem of the paint releasing from the pontoons.

I called Pettit Marine the manufacture of the bottom paint. I explained that William H. Rodds is claming that the lack primer under his bottom paint caused the burning of 100s of pencil lead size holes in his pontoons in less than a year. They told me that if what Mr. Rodd is describing is true that he has electrolysis eating at the pontoons.

I told them that we dont use primer under the bottom paint. They said they recommend a primer under their paint but also told me that their bottom paint will permanently adhere to a heavily etched and clean aluminum pontoon. I was also told that none of their paints and primers can guard against electrolysis burning holes in aluminum pontoons. In fact they said electrolysis will burn the paint off. They said that their products can only guard against marine growth for a period of time.

3) Common Sense
When William Rodd called to complain about the holes in his pontoons he had already had them repaired months earlier at another marina. He never notified us of any problem, he just called one day demanding a $1000 for repairs.

When an adult has a problem with a product or service they contact the company the product or service was obtained from. The customer will explain what the problem is, bring the product back or a reprehensive will go out to see what is wrong. William Rodd did not do any of these things. He didnt even take pictures of the pontoons.

The first thing William Rodd did is demand $1000 for the repairs on his pontoons or he will get his attorney. Generally when a person has a problem and they mention their attorney right off the bat they are trying to pull a SCAM. After I contacted Harris Pontoon Company, Pettit Paint Company and had William Rodd do the same he started changing his attitude and demands. He sent me a fax April 25, 2001 at 2:54pm that said I feel it is reasonable to expect a refund for the bottom paint job you did, rather than arguing as to how the holes were caused on the pontoons.

Now William Rodd is saying, Ok, the $1000 demand, never mind that. Ill settle for, say a refund for the original bottom job and the lets not worry about how the paint was burned off and how all of those holes ended up in the pontoons. Lets make believe that part didnt happen. I reviewed what the pontoon and paint manufacture said with William Rodd, I told him that what he is trying to do is wrong, unethical and I wasnt going to reimburse him for anything. William Rodd was trying to pull a scam and was caught lying and he knew it.

Marine Dynamics is one of biggest marinas in southwest Florida. We have become one of the biggest by outstanding customer service. We investigate any problems or concerns our customer have so that we can feel confident that there will be a fair out come for both parties. In William H. Rodds case, it was thoroughly investigated and the out come was crystal clear.

William H.Rodd wrote his complaint to The Rip-Off Report in the same way he went about trying to scam money out of Marine Dynamics. Tell only part of the story and leaving out the facts. It is unfortunate that people like William H. Rodd use an informative website like The Rip-Off Report to broadcast slanderous and unsubstantiated views. It hurts sites like this one to produce an accurate and reliable forum for real customer complaints.

Thank You For The Equal Time,

Michael Blaney
President