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Black rubber on rear platform


sidekicknicholas

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Just picked up a new to me boat yesterday (04 Wakesetter) and one thing I noticed is the black rubber piece on the fiberglass swim platform fairly easily transfers black to skin. I noticed on my hand, but I'm sure this will continue with feet / knees / etc and I image that will pass to the seats.

Options:

1. New platform .... I would rather not spend that much considering ours is fine besides the pad issue

2. Coat the current rubber pad with Plasti-dip / bedliner ..... not sure how will plastidip will hold up, my guess is poorly.... bedliner maybe better

3. Clear coat or sealer of some UV resistant paint to seal in the rubber ..... risk is this maybe slippery.

4. New pad, and hope the problem doesn't persist with a new one - http://www.ebay.com/itm/MALIBU-SPORTSTER-BLK-ADHESIVE-RUBBER-BOAT-SWIM-PLATFORM-STEP-PAD-MATS-SET-OF-2-/141092076947?hash=item20d9be3d93&vxp=mtr --- would this work?

Any other ideas ?!

Edited by sidekicknicholas
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Can you buy me one too, you'd still have $500 left for that $30 ballast pump :biggrin:

Haha, I'm thinking the pump is a fuse... fill and drain pumps aren't making noise... so my guess is its in the switch / fuse. So maybe a $.30 ballast pump fix

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I used 303 on mine and it doesnt transfer nearly as bad as before. I still plan to upgrade to seadeck at some point, but that might be a quick fix for you

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I used 303 on mine and it doesnt transfer nearly as bad as before. I still plan to upgrade to seadeck at some point, but that might be a quick fix for you

Planned on picking up some 303 and Magic Erasers tonight for the interior, I'll save some for back there.

Thanks!

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Haha, I'm thinking the pump is a fuse... fill and drain pumps aren't making noise... so my guess is its in the switch / fuse. So maybe a $.30 ballast pump fix

I just did this last week. Breaker was popped out, pushed it in, flipped switch, breaker popped again. Pulled pump cartridge and found a piece of plastic stuck in the pump housing. 10 minute fix.

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Magic Erasers are the Devil!! Run a search for more info.

Yeah, those things will torch your interior.

Edited by 05hammerhead
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  • Magic Erasers are the Devil!! Run a search for more info.

    Yeah, those things will torch your interior.

    That seemed to be the agreed "great cleaner" on wakeworld.... it appears you do not agree.

I can search too, but is there a commonly sold product that every here agrees is the go-to product?

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  • That seemed to be the agreed "great cleaner" on wakeworld.... it appears you do not agree.

I can search too, but is there a commonly sold product that every here agrees is the go-to product?

Magic eraser is sand paper - do not ever use it on vinyl

I use the 303 cleaner

There is a review here of the Boat Bling product that shows it working some magic on some really dirty seats

http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index.php?/topic/54598-detailing-product-review-boat-bling-vinyl-sauce-vinyl-cleaner/

Edited by oldjeep
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Just stick with 303 for the short term then? .... I'll be ordering up some boat bling, but to get it cleaned up this weekend I was going to rely on what Wal-Mart had to offer for cleaning products.

Am I good as long as I avoid the eraser and bleach.

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Just stick with 303 for the short term then? .... I'll be ordering up some boat bling, but to get it cleaned up this weekend I was going to rely on what Wal-Mart had to offer for cleaning products.

Am I good as long as I avoid the eraser and bleach.

303 Cleaner if you are trying to clean the seats

303 Protectant once you have them clean

Main thing is to not use anything that will damage the vinyl or stitching - magic eraser, bleach, green scrubby sponges - or anything else that is very abrasive/caustic

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I just did this last week. Breaker was popped out, pushed it in, flipped switch, breaker popped again. Pulled pump cartridge and found a piece of plastic stuck in the pump housing. 10 minute fix.

I have had the exact thing happen to me on at least two occasions. These Piranha pumps just keep on plugging along.....now I just jinxed myself.

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303 Cleaner if you are trying to clean the seats

303 Protectant once you have them clean

Main thing is to not use anything that will damage the vinyl or stitching - magic eraser, bleach, green scrubby sponges - or anything else that is very abrasive/caustic

:plus1: Think about all the pics we see of damaged vinyl. 99% of the time it pulls apart at the seams or along the piping. The thread is like really thin fishing wire with some type of cloth coating. You need to keep that coating intact and coated with a UV protector like 303. Scrubbing the seams real hard with anything, let alone a magic eraser, is a bad idea.

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Not to high jack this post but do you guys know if you can put a pad over the honey comb textured style swim deck? My thinking is water would get underneath in the groves and cause it to lift.

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Mine had the same problem and I almost replaced it. But I'm glad I didn't... and here's why:

While I hated the black grime that got on everything and was sick of the dusty faded rubber look, the design was't bad and it wasn't cracking and was still glued on well, and most importantly I didn't want to spend several hundred bucks on a slippery expensive replacement for something that should never have worn out.

So this is what I did:

The Walmart in my area had a rattle can of gloss black paint in their automotive corner that stood out to me. I don't remember the exact industrial brand name at the moment but it was specifically for plastics, one of its ingredients was xylene, and I think it recommended waiting 3-4 days for full cure. With nothing more than about $10 to loose I tried it. At home I rinsed the deck using water from a hose and a small brush to clean out the grooves. I had tried to clean that impossible crap off several times before so I just used water to get rid of any loose dirt really, no special effort invested. After letting it fully dry I removed it from the boat and carefully masked the gel and bracket areas and laid it flat before applying a couple of light dist coats of this black paint. I let each application dry for about 20 minutes before giving it one heavier coat. At this point it was so glossy I worried it would end up slippier than new oil on teak, so I sprinkled a light even dusting of Shark Grip silica while it was still wet, I then immediately applied the final light coat to even everything out. I let it sit undisturbed for about hour before leaning against the garage wall for about a week.

Our next trip out I put the swim deck back on the boat and it looked better than it ever did new, keeping it clean has been effortless and there has been no more black smudgy grime anywhere! The Shark Grip added the perfect amount of top grip for solid footing without being noticeable grainy. Even the kids comment they love it. This will be my third season and it still looks perfect.

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Just stick with 303 for the short term then? .... I'll be ordering up some boat bling, but to get it cleaned up this weekend I was going to rely on what Wal-Mart had to offer for cleaning products.

Am I good as long as I avoid the eraser and bleach.

Just about any cleanser, & scrub the black rubber with a brush. Then apply the 303. It should stop bleeding black. Keep doing the 303 periodically & it should stay that way.

All that said, I have a neoprene pad on mine, similar to the deck pad on a paddleboard. It's been about 5 yrs & it still looks great & doesn't bleed at all.

Edited by Bill_AirJunky
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Mine had the same problem and I almost replaced it. But I'm glad I didn't... and here's why:

While I hated the black grime that got on everything and was sick of the dusty faded rubber look, the design was't bad and it wasn't cracking and was still glued on well, and most importantly I didn't want to spend several hundred bucks on a slippery expensive replacement for something that should never have worn out.

So this is what I did:

The Walmart in my area had a rattle can of gloss black paint in their automotive corner that stood out to me. I don't remember the exact industrial brand name at the moment but it was specifically for plastics, one of its ingredients was xylene, and I think it recommended waiting 3-4 days for full cure. With nothing more than about $10 to loose I tried it. At home I rinsed the deck using water from a hose and a small brush to clean out the grooves. I had tried to clean that impossible crap off several times before so I just used water to get rid of any loose dirt really, no special effort invested. After letting it fully dry I removed it from the boat and carefully masked the gel and bracket areas and laid it flat before applying a couple of light dist coats of this black paint. I let each application dry for about 20 minutes before giving it one heavier coat. At this point it was so glossy I worried it would end up slippier than new oil on teak, so I sprinkled a light even dusting of Shark Grip silica while it was still wet, I then immediately applied the final light coat to even everything out. I let it sit undisturbed for about hour before leaning against the garage wall for about a week.

Our next trip out I put the swim deck back on the boat and it looked better than it ever did new, keeping it clean has been effortless and there has been no more black smudgy grime anywhere! The Shark Grip added the perfect amount of top grip for solid footing without being noticeable grainy. Even the kids comment they love it. This will be my third season and it still looks perfect.

I've never been a bigger fan of the cliche, "pics or it didn't happen" :biggrin: ....

After I traveled 1100 miles to pick up my boat one of my first thoughts was, "its in great shape but I'm gonna need to replace the swim platform pad this winter". Granted I didm't give it time to see if it transfered material but it was weathered, brittle, and also there was a corner pealed up. I glued the corner down and literally massaged a liberal amount of 303 into the whole pad. Going into my 3rd season and I have no plans of needing to replace it at this point. Moral of my lame story is that it's possible to breath life back into that pad and get several more years of use out of it.

I would:

1) clean it and massage a couple good of 303 into it and see if it still transfers...

2) Take a stiff bristle brush and clean it until it looks like the material stops breaking loose (transfer) and coat with liberal amount of 303.

3) Buy a semi-custom pad from Sea-dek

  • Like 2
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