Faded Clear Coat on Deck Railings

[Benny&theJets]

Hello everyone,

Please take a look at how badly the railings have faded on our new Bennington after only one season.  It looks like the clear coat has come right off.  This had only occurred on the front and the back of the boat. The railings along the sides are unaffected, which is very strange. 

There is no correlation between rail segments that have experienced prolonged sun exposure vs. those segments that have remained mostly shaded.

At first I thought this must be the result of some overly enthusiastic scrubbing, but we didn’t even notice the problem until we brought the boat inside for fall cleaning.  Moreover, I have not been able to scrub off any additional clear coat, even if I try.

What is causing this, and how can I repair the damage?

Comments and suggestions PLEASE!

 

 

[cwag911]

That's not clear coat, it is anodized.

 

[Benny&theJets]

Well that's even worse!

 

[TomS]

My guess is that was a prep issue before the anodizing was done. Anodizing is difficult to "accidentally" strip after the fact, no matter how hard you try. The dealer should handle that with Bennington for you.

 

[BigKahuna]

Yup what Carl said.......anodized aluminum. I have a similar issue w/some of my rails and bimini top struts. It is just showing wear/fading from years in the sun. Then again my boat is 12 yrs. old now and yours is still new. Show your dealer. It will be covered under your warranty......

 

[Benny&theJets]

Thanks, guys.  Talked to my dealer at the Milwaukee boat show.  They said they've never seen this before, and the warranty should cover it.  So let the paperwork begin...

 

[2375GCW]

When I polished my toons I started with a acid wash. When I was polishing the toons sometimes I would hit the anodized aluminum with the polisher over the tape. To bring it back to the anodized look I would just put a little acid on a rag and touch up the blemish. Looked brand new. You may want to try that the next time you clean your toons.

For polishing, I like it but unsure I would go at that again....

 

[Benny&theJets]

Thanks, 2375GCW.   It would appear that in my case the anodized coating is actually GONE... nothing left to work with but bare aluminum. 

With regard to pontoon polishing,  I had pretty good results with Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom cleaner and a textured dish towel, followed by a warm water rinse.  The acid wash had a nasty habit of streaking if I wasn't super careful, so I stopped using that.  Those streaks were really hard to polish out ( my elbow STILL hurts)   The scrubbing bubbles puts down a foam and doesn't run as much, and is much less caustic.  I'm still in the experimenting phase.