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Critters ate my powerwedge


bb01760

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on my 2007 RLXI that I just pulled out of the water the cables to the powerwedge are eaten away.

I contacted my dealer and I was told that this is not uncommon, and that he gets a few of these every now and then.

The boat has been in the water almost through the season, so it must be those pesty muskrats.

I see this as a design issue , as the fix is very simple, and that was suggested by the dealer, cover the wires with stainless steel mesh.

He suggested I contact Malibu directly and see what their thought are, as this seems to be common around this area. ( And I will )

Remember, these are EXTERIOR wires, not inside the boat.

Does anyone else have experienced this issue?

Is there a way to have Malibu pick up the bill? Exterior wires that are just in the open are calling for trouble.

I was wondering what are peoples thoughts .

BB

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You're not gonna like my answer but I'd say T.S. What if something got inside your boat and ate the wires? Should Malibu put stainless steel mesh on every wire harness? I've seen rodents eat wire harnesses in cars under the hood and that's not a warranty issue and the access is just as easy.

I really don't see Malibu offering to cover this but, yes, I agree, exposed wires on the exterior of the boat should be protected.

Edited by Pistol Pete
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My pontoon boat was "attacked" at during the fall last year. Same thing with multiple place on the wire harness bundle chewed. The dealer said that he sees 4-5 per year with the same damage. $1000 later, we had a new harness encased in PVC. Our insurance picked up part of that bill.

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sorry but I don't see it as a design issue. My guess is maybe 5% of this type of boat will be left in water. and you can't engineer for every possible scenario. It's not to say I don't understand just don't see your side.

I also had one of my seats in my pontoon boat eaten from some critter but can't blame the manufacture. A long time ago I lived in Texas and had a boat docked on lake Travers. One weekend I went down to go boating and found a rattle snake in the boat. Just can't keep the critters out of everything.

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What if they ate the "boot" on an I/o and it sunk.....

I say T.S. also.

Are they responsible for washing the slime off the gel after having it in the water for months at a time?

Sorry!

Pat

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Had the same thing two years ago on my delivered LSV that I bought with 20 hours on it! See the pics. Replaced both actuator/wire assemblies myself quite easily as the wedge was eventually shorting. I also don't think the design flaw is in covering the wires, but not being able to replace the wire without replacing the entire actuator assembly is maddening. I essentially threw out two perfectly functioning actuators that as I remember were about $475! No problems since as we store the boat out of water between uses.

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sorry but I don't see it as a design issue. My guess is maybe 5% of this type of boat will be left in water. and you can't engineer for every possible scenario. It's not to say I don't understand just don't see your side.

I also had one of my seats in my pontoon boat eaten from some critter but can't blame the manufacture. A long time ago I lived in Texas and had a boat docked on lake Travers. One weekend I went down to go boating and found a rattle snake in the boat. Just can't keep the critters out of everything.

off topic...

A while back one of th Texans on the site gave a link to his home for sale with dock access...etc.... I remember drooling and thinking our overpriced Cali home could pay for what they wanted and I could retire @ 40 as well....

Now I remember why I don't live in Texas!

P

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Are you saying that muskrats started attacking boats just this year, or is this just the first year you've been aware of it? Muskrat damage to boats around here is a well-known occurrence and every boat owner that lives on our lake is well aware of the potential, so no one stores their boat IN the lake. Wrapping the wiring with some sort of SS cladding is feasible, but I've had muskrats chew through stainless steel-wrapped hydraulic lines on my previous I/O. Personally, I don't think that will solve your problem.

I suspect you'll have to cover this repair out-of-pocket, but if I were you, I'd be MORE depressed out the $5000 boat lift you're going to have to buy to keep this from happening again in the future.

Around here, we shoot the little buggers on site. .22 cal Shorts and a 4x scope really does the trick out to to about 50 yards. These days, the population is way down.

Edited by Big Mac
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