pz1983

Hey everyone, Im in the middle of purchasing a 1996 50 viking, and the moisture meter is picking up 30 percent moisture on the bottom paint, about 4 inches below the factory pin strip, then after the 4 inches goes back down to 6 percent, and above the pin strip is only 10 percent half to 3/4 way down each side od he boat, the rest of the boat is 10 percent or less. Has anyone had these or known of these issues?

motoryacht lover

I have a 95 54 Viking that I bought in 2007. I am far from an expert but I thought I heard that bottom paint could affect the reading on a moisture meter. Also it is my understanding that moisture meters require some experience to interpret the results. If a legit surveyor is using the meter that would be a yellow light for me. How about an infrared or thermal imager to confirm what the moisture meter is saying? My bottom is not cored but can’t speak to the one you are looking at, though I doubt it. Good luck

Fiberglass1 Inc

Bottom paint, electrical wiring, plumbing runs and copper bonding straps will all affect the meter. If the surveyor was reading moisture in bottom paint while the boat was hanging in the straps you might need a new surveyor.

pz1983

The boat was in heated storage, about to come out for the summer.

Fiberglass1 Inc

Was the high reading below the engine room vents?

pz1983

Yes, but under the vents, and side of the boat was all 10. Only when u hit the paint it spiked

hottoddie

Can the reading be taken from the inside of the hull if accessible?

pz1983

Some areas yes and they were dry and a little spike nothing crazy

Fiberglass1 Inc

Oh boy...... so many questions, so few answers. We've seen water ingress below the vents where the water traces down the kerf cuts in the core and ends up at the bottom of the core (called the close-out) where the inner skin and the outer skin come together. But it's hard to say without destructive testing, i.e. core samples which a seller is not going to allow. Of course the argument can be made that it's the copper in the bottom paint causing the high reading. I've been asked to give an opinion many times ( did Viking warranty work for many years) and i usually just say "hang on, let me get my drill and hole saw". You'd be surprised how quickly I'm told to disappear! (which is exactly what I was hoping for)

pz1983

Did it go almost around the whole boat? And did it show moisture in the side of the boat under the vent?

Fiberglass1 Inc

If you can get reliable readings from the inside (tough to get to on that boat) and they are low then you're probably OK. The ingress pooling accumulation is usually just above the secondary chine.

fireisland1

simply remove the 1 sq/ ft of bottom paint . no big deal to sell a boat

motoryacht lover

Fiberglass 1 what do you think about a thermal imager for detecting water in the core? I am assuming (maybe incorrectly) that the water would be a different temp than the dry core.

Corndog38

If the moisture content changes right at the paint line, hard to imagine that actual laminate or core moisture content would change that much right at the paint line.