Lucia 40: Crazing of perspex windows

[Tamvong]

There are numerous reports in other forums of crazing of perspex salon windows and the fact FP is aware of the problem and refuses to address it. Do you, like me, have this problem and have you had any luck with FP?

[SailFastTri]

Avoid any cleaner containing ammonia. That is often the cause.
(Read labels).

[Chotu]

As a matter of fact, mild soap and water with a soft sponge is all you’re supposed to use on plastic windows.

[Tin Tin]

How old is the boat?

[Rapanui]

Like sails and most items on the boat, perspex wndows have a finite life and will eventually need to be replaced. Sunlight (UV) is the single biggest cause, but knocks from the day to day use of a boat will cause local crazing. Built in stresses from overtightening of fastners or cold bending will also accelerate crazing. As will flexure of the hull and superstructure in rough weather.

Our FP Maldives front moulded windows had to be replaced at about 15 years after 10 years in Med an 5 in UK. Our FP Athena still has original saloon front wrap around windows at 20 years in very sunny Adriatic, but she has been berthed with the boat Facing north for a long time and has decent sized eyebrows that provide shade. They are slightly crazed but not too bad. All the deck hatches acrylics were replaced after 18 years, they were very crazed but then they get full sun and get walked on etc.
So if your Lucia is in a sunny clime and hard used, it could well have crazed acrylics after only 5 years. Regular use of sun covers could extend life beyond 20 years

[Rapanui]

I should add that unless you able to prove that the crazing is the fault of FP's construction rather than wear and tear, you have zero chance of a claim against them. FP have stood by their boats with problems from vacuum infusion way after delivery.

[bgallinger]

Who or what is "FP"?

[bil56]

FP =
https://www.fountaine-pajot.com/

[Tamvong]

My boat is 5 years old and the windows are protected by mesh sunscreens. No "harsh chemicals" have been used. I am compiling a list of the dozens of FP boats that have this problem, most in the 2016/17 range and mostly Lucias.

[bil56]

the hot bending of the windows and the stresses caused by the hull movements can cause micro cracks in the thickness of the plexi, and is it really cast PPMA that was used by the shipyard???

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Tamvong

My boat is 5 years old and the windows are protected by mesh sunscreens. No "harsh chemicals" have been used. I am compiling a list of the dozens of FP boats that have this problem, most in the 2016/17 range and mostly Lucias.

They may have got a bad batch or got ripped off themselves.

This kept happening to me with eyeglasses. I went to Pearle vision in New Jersey and I got the works on the glasses. Very expensive. They use polycarbonate lenses.

The glasses started developing cracks. Slowly. About a month after I got them. And over the next few months they became completely crazed. Difficult to see out of. And imagine driving at night with that.

They tried to convince me it was Florida Sunshine that was ruining them but people in Florida wear glasses.

They gave me a new pair. And they did the exact same thing!

I finally went to a different optometrist and had a new prescription a new glasses made. When they saw the crazed lenses of the old glasses they knew exactly what it was. It was inferior quality polycarbonate.

I got a new pair from the new optometrist and they are fine to this day.

So it’s quite possible that they got a bad or cheap or shoddy batch of acrylic for your boat. Or for several of the boats. They buy in bulk.


When it comes to something like this, all the energy you put into fighting it would be best put into just getting new windows. Total waste of time to do all of the fighting. And imagine how long it would take to bring your boat in and not be able to use it while they are servicing the windows. Not worth the battle. You should just get new windows.

[MKB53]

Originally Posted by Tamvong

My boat is 5 years old and the windows are protected by mesh sunscreens. No "harsh chemicals" have been used. I am compiling a list of the dozens of FP boats that have this problem, most in the 2016/17 range and mostly Lucias.

Hi
I picked up this thread late obviously. We are hull 42, June 2016. The windows were fine up through 2019 but when we returned in May 2022 after Covid they were very "sparkly". My previous boat, a Mahe did not have this issue when I sold her after 8 years.

Did you make any progress on the issue?

[danstanford]

Windex or other ammonia based products are the likely villain here.

[CaptainRivet]

Originally Posted by danstanford

Windex or other ammonia based products are the likely villain here.

Yes and even mild soap containing ispropanol or similar.
Best is you simply use water and protective mesh to protect it from UV. No microfiber or alike simply water.
If they have residuals on them highly suggest to buy cleaning products for Plexiglas convertible car windows. Eg BMW has an excellent one for old e30 till e46 convertibles rear plexiglas window and cleans and put an UV protective layer on.
If the top layer gets hazing that means UV protection is destroyed. You can get another 3 till 5 years out of them if you polish them with the BMW polish kit for e30-46 convertible rear window when they start to get milky/hazy again and then regular wash with the bmw cleaner.

[SailingHarmonie]

There are things you can do to make it worse, but, really it is a function of time and sun exposure. It is INEVITABLE with these plastics that they WILL fail eventually from UV exposure. Our boat is 27 years old, and is coming up on its second replacement of the hard plastic windows. How fast they fail varies on sun exposure, which can vary with your latitude, what kind of covers you routinely use, or even which way the boat faces at her home dock.

Minor surface scratches can be polished out, but real UV crazing is not on the surface, and can not be fixed--not even by BMW.

This should really be a significant factor when people are looking at aging boats with those beautiful curved acrylic windows that looked so sexy at the boat show. When (NOT if) they craze and become impossible to see through under some light conditions, will you be able to replace them at a cost that is less then insane?

It might be harder to make a boat look elegant using only flat plates of glazing, but it is SOOOO much easier to maintain. Those great curved pieces of glazing are one of the "features" that will never exist on a boat I own.