Agreed. Formula's engineers are usually good, but sometimes production fails the plan. Good luck with your project.

BTW, still don't see how the "suspended" stringer is a good idea, but I'm sure they had their reasons.

Below is the response I just received from Scott Smith at Formula....Certainly not what I ever would had thought...Very disappointing. Frankly they have slid this under the rug. Screw opening "Pandora's box"...they are blowing the fact they made a mistake at manufacturing off and will not stand behind it. This has nothing to do with warranty as far as I am concerned. this has everything to do with standing behind mistakes....NOT HAPPY !!!!

Good morning, Chris,

I did forward your pictures to the other people on my end, and nothing has changed. The age of the boat precludes any sort of warranty coverage. The best we could have done is have you deliver the boat to us at your expense and charged you to do the work that Glass Dave is currently doing to the boat. I will let my supervisor know that you have sent another inquiry, but honestly, I do not see another way forward at this point. The boat is now 17 years old and the reality is that we cannot cover boats indefinitely. The boat long outlasted its then-five year structural warranty, and wear and tear will eventually affect most any product.

I’m sure this is not what you wanted to hear this morning, but this is where it stands. I wish you the best with your project and I will be happy to provide you with advice or information in any other regard for the boat.

Best regards,

Scott Smith

Formula Support

Audiofn (Jon),

I apologize for my post in your thread. My post should be placed in the thread for my boat...I was not trying to lose the track of your thread. I am copying my post into the thread of my boat and let the comments be directed in there.

Thanks, Chris

A thought just came to mind.

For those if us with Fastechs that don't have this damage (yet), I was thinking it might be a good idea to drill some holes and force some new plexus into the existing stringer system to ensure it touches both surfaces - the hull & liner.

Good idea or a waste of time?

Reading Daves reply in the other thread - maybe not such a good idea unless done correctly.
Foam sounds like the go.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/f...chillin-6.html

Maybe not ...

Dave " I have to agree with you on not using foam to try and fill the cavity especially if you have some water/sludge in there, I have to revise my earlier comment i made on that while we talked. I think foam filling would have corrected the issue without the presence of the crappy Plexus spoodged in there, if the foam had a clear run throughout and was used as a primary fix it did stand a chance but again it to would have to be carefully done. "

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/f...chillin-9.html

No problem at all! I am totally fine with an official response from Formula being on the thread. It is honestly what I expected and I see your point and theirs I guess. If it was me that built the boat I would fix it. That is what I do for any of my customers with my company. If I make a mistake in my wiring I don't care if it is 20 years later I will go back and fix it for free. Some times that repair could cost me as much as this. in fact I was just working on a house and the electrician forgot to pull a wire. I gave him one of mine and spent 20 hours working with him making relays and so on to make his stuff work so he did not have to rip open walls in the customers finished house. I am just a small company however and my customers don't communicate with one another.

The issue I see is getting a bond. Your idea of filling the void is one that I researched. It would help IMO if you could get it into all the voids. Not so sure that is possible? It certainly would not hurt! The issue being do you want to unrig your entire boat for an issue that may or may not be there? The major issue I had was that there was oil and water between the sections so there was no way that I was going to get a good bond. The bond is critical if you have a failure as bad as mine or Chris's boats.

I have one advantage - I am 100% unrigged right now with no engines in the boat as I'm installing Arnesons.
So if I do anything now is the time to tackle it.
Call it preventative maintenance.
It's just a matter of deciding what is the best way forward for a boat that may not have any issues.
I liked the camera in the drain hole idea to have a look around.

Keep the ideas coming.

Hey Audio.....when you talked with Plexus...did you ask them what the maximum gap spacing for Plexus is? I wonder if too big a gap and the plexus doesn't bond structurally anymore??? For some reason 1/4" sticks in my head from back when Nort was dealing with the hull/deck separation issues...

Wally they now have some stuff that can go up to an inch or more. It used to be a lot thinner and faster setting as work time can now be extended up to around 45 min for some of it. I have no idea what sauce Formula used back in 99 or what they use now.