Severely Corroded captain's chairs

[Bennie]

This should transcend to all makes and models of Yamaha boats ( I believe).

We keep our vessel in immaculate condition, washing/detailing her after EVERY outing. My wife owns her own very successful cleaning business and has taken over the maintenance of the interior of our floating baby, keeping her in tip top shape. All that being said the supporting springs on both of my captain's chairs are showing SERIOUS signs of heavy corrosion.

The support springs that are under the chairs appear to made of steel with only a thin layer of black paint on them as a protective measure. The pics below show some of the corrosion (much more than just surface rust) of these springs. Our boat is just starting its's 4th season and the springs by no means match the wear that is found anywhere else on our vessel. It has gotten to the point that as soon as anyone gets into the chair and it moves the springs begin to 'rain' down a shower of small rust particles. Which in turn is starting to stain my decking under the seat.

Is anyone else having this same problem?
Any insight as to why these would not be made of stainless steel?

 

[Mainah]

Sorry to see that. Looks like the base frame the springs connect to is in similar condition. I will have to check mine next time I am at the boat. I still have some YES warranty left so if mine is anything like that I will certainly see what can be done.

 

[Westbeach Bum]

Welcome to the club, I have to clean the rust stains from the floor before every trip. Now the stains are permanent and I don't know what to do about the seats. I figure I have another year or two before they break.

 

[ClemsonTiger]

This should transcend to all makes and models of Yamaha boats ( I believe).

We keep our vessel in immaculate condition, washing/detailing her after EVERY outing. My wife owns her own very successful cleaning business and has taken over the maintenance of the interior of our floating baby, keeping her in tip top shape. All that being said the supporting springs on both of my captain's chairs are showing SERIOUS signs of heavy corrosion.

The support springs that are under the chairs appear to made of steel with only a thin layer of black paint on them as a protective measure. The pics below show some of the corrosion (much more than just surface rust) of these springs. Our boat is just starting its's 4th season and the springs by no means match the wear that is found anywhere else on our vessel. It has gotten to the point that as soon as anyone gets into the chair and it moves the springs begin to 'rain' down a shower of small rust particles. Which in turn is starting to stain my decking under the seat.

Is anyone else having this same problem?
Any insight as to why these would not be made of stainless steel?

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Even if they were made from stainless steel they would still corrode as it appears you have multiple different metal types as part of the seat and pedestal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanic_corrosion

 

[Bennie]

@ClemsonTiger - I completely agree. However if you will look at the 'touching surfaces' there is little to no corrosion at those points. There appears to be a buffer between the aluminum slide and the steel seat frame.

The majority of the severe rusting is in the middle of the steel springs. Or at the steel ends and steel springs. Either way, these are items that the YAMAHA engineers should have addressed.

 

[Neutron]

I would doubt a yes warranty would cover this. But i do hope they help you out

 

[Bennie]

Thank you @Neutron . I have already brought this to the attention of my local Yamaha dealership (that I purchased the boat from) and will keep this thread updated with any new developments.

My intention was to reach out and and find if any other owners were experiencing the same corrosion; Hence showing an engineered flaw and not just a single occurrence.

 

[Neutron]

I will look at mine as soon as i can and let you know

 

[MrMoose]

Same problem here. Problem showed up at about the 1 year mark when I did my first end-to-end maintenance and clean-up on my boat. Strangely enough, mine were fine (i.e. nothing falling on the floor) until I sprayed the underside of the seats with protectant (the stuff that @Bruce uses), then within a couple of days chunks of rust started dropping off.

 

[Benny Sibbitt]

I noticed the other day I have the same problem

 

[Murf'n'surf]

That’s just not right. Maybe shoot them up with some spray foam to keep the rust from dropping on your floor.

 

[Bruce]

Any insight as to why these would not be made of stainless steel?

Stainless is brittle.

 

[Bruce]

I would clean off the rust as much as possible with a wire brush then spray the springs with fluid film. But you will have to be careful as I doubt you want fluid film on the boat floor.

 

[haknslash]

Dang that is not good. Kind of makes me not feel as bad about the 19' boats having a plastic base/tray underneath. Hopefully Yamaha dealers will help you out. Not sure if they will consider this "wear and tear" even though I agree these should not be rusting away, especially so soon.

That being said if your dealer replaces them and you somehow get to keep the rusty ones (wishful thinking I know lol) please let me know as I'd like to see if I could fit one in my 19' boat.

 

[Bennie]

That’s just not right. Maybe shoot them up with some spray foam to keep the rust from dropping on your floor.

Thank you. If I can't get a satisfactory answer from Yamaha that will be my next move. I would have appreciated if the springs had been sprayed with more than just a light dusting of primer from the factory.

The "protective" layer of paint is noticeably thin. Hope to get some more answers from my local Yamaha dealership today.

 

[Bennie]

will do @haknslash !!

 

[Mainah]

I think they are just normal zig zag upholstery springs which have a high carbon content and are oil tempered. The seats pull off the bases easy enough and I think upholstery comes off easy enough without removing staples. That would allow for wire brushing the rust off and coating with something. None of that should have to be done to a 3 year old boat though. If you do go through that you might as well add heated seat kits while you are at it. That has been on my mod list for a while but I still have not gotten to it.

 

[haknslash]

Heated seat kits...in the south????? You cray-cray!!!!

Now if you can plumb in some ram-air with perforated holes in the seat cushion bottom and back now we're talking!

 

[Mainah]

Heated seat kits...in the south????? You cray-cray!!!!

Now if you can plumb in some ram-air with perforated holes in the seat cushion bottom and back now we're talking!

As many have likely figured out I am a bit cray-cray. The heated seats would be for extending the season a bit (it was 32f here this am) and for dinner outings with my wife. I don't have any practical ideas for cooling the cabin seats. First things first though I need to check my seat springs because none of it matters if my a** is on the floor.

 

[haknslash]

First things first though I need to check my seat springs because none of it matters if my a** is on the floor.

This brought back memories of one year I rented a pontoon boat in Gulf Shores. It wasn't bad enough that the prop cavitation so bad that all my wife and I could do was 5 mph all day but at the end of the day I was just chilling in the captains chair when all the sudden it broke and my ass feel straight back slamming on the floor and scraping my back in the process. I look at the bottom of the chair and it only had a single lag bolt holding the base on!