Hi Everyone,
So you all know, we do have issues from time to time with seats. They are always warranteed, just call and we send you a new one. The seats are a continuing small headache and evolution. RF prayer seam welds are always problematic with pressure against them, especially when the “pressure” is the full weight of a body. Trying to keep the darn things light wt yet tough is an incredibly frustrating problem. Even fabric being heavy in weight does not eliminate the problem of a prayer seam which is inherently weak. Don’t ever believe a company that sings the praises of prayer seams done on RF welders!! Unfortunately the seats cannot be built like the boats themselves, using all shear seams. I wish they could.
A new problem that has shown up is a mistake that I inadvertently made. Fortunately it isn’t happening often, but I still want to give everyone a heads up. There have been a few seats that have ripped up the middle. I have discovered that I caused this problem by the cutting method that I used. Instead of making the cut on the inside curve of the seat in one single move I chose to come at it from each side and have the cutter come up each side and meet in the center. This made a much nicer looking cut. The problem that has evolved with this method is that in doing that I unknowingly created a tiny 'V" or notch where the two cut lines touch and that notch makes the fabric much more susceptable to tearing. Any of you with boats purchased in the past 4 months who read this I recommend you taking a pair of scissors and trimming that inside curve so it is a smooth curve line. It will make a big difference because it takes away that “point” where pressure can get that tear line going. Just don’t cut into the welding line!!! Just barely trim it so the edge is smooth, without any notches in it. We never had this tear problem before so I knew it was something I was doing different from the past. I sat and scratched my head for a few days before the answer emerged. I knew I had changed the way I cut them but it wasn’t registering why that made a difference. I took an old seat and a new seat and jerked them apart. That little notch that I created became apparent when I did that. We never quit learning here at Alpacka.
Bottom line everyone, if you have a seat problem just call us or email us. We will replace it immediately.
Cheers, Sheri