Suggestions for repairing my hole...

[ianletton]

Hi all

At the MRR this weekend, I somehow managed to put a hole in my almost new Solo.

It's in a low stress place so if I can repair it I think it should be ok to use in the future.

Suggestions on the best way to repair my hole would be appreciated.

Access from the inside is limited due to the length of my arm so mainly outside on.

The grey stuff in the photo is temporary putty stuff that I used to plug it for my second run.

Cheers

Ian

[Tom_Laws]

Sell it/burn it/scrap it and buy a decent boat like a Nomad.

Failing that, take the seat out, and the back pillar so you can get in the stern head first. Welding with your head in the boat is gonna be crap, you may well poison yourself. Weld the inside, then the outside, then check the inside and cover it with flash banding (tar backed aluminium) on the inside. Hope for the best.

Use plastic from the cockpit rim for the welding.

[biketastik]

Hot water plus broom handle to return the shape of the hull to how its supposed to be, it should make it easier to weld.

[Mark Mulrain]

I'd probably weld it carefully and then melt a piece of wire mesh into the surface of the plastic to give it a little more of a structure to it (think along the lines of the cloth in duct tape).

Sucks you had such bad luck in the race, never good to see a broken boat. Hope she floats again soon.

[morsey]

I'd try and find a donor boat for some similar plastic. Remove the internal gubbins. I'd treat the two lower corners of the tear as a split and drill them out. Clean up the edges of the tear, create a nice clean bevelled profile to weld into. I'd gently heat the area first then weld from the drill point on the longer extension up to the top corner. Then Weld from the other drill hole to the top corner, looks like the top corner will take a bit of filling, this way you'll get two shots at filling the hole with less chance of over heating the area. If you rotate the plastic rods into the weld as you fill you should get good adhesion. Roller/press the weld in and smooth. A quick look inside should see confirm if the weld has been filled. Get a sheet of sticky back foam and cover the inside of the weld. Paddle forwards. :-)

[rafiki]

It should still be under warranty (if it's less than three years old), drop them an email with a photo (ideally before "repairing"!).

[Adrian Cooper]

Ha ha ha!

[Tom_Laws]

More importantly - how did you hole it, and where are the videos?!

[sprintpaddler]

Toms dead mean about your boat choice, but he`s right about the video, love to see that:)

[ianletton]

Have emailed Fluid. Waiting for their response.

It was 2 months old and was only it's second time on the water! Hopefully I will get something on warranty but we shall see.

How it happened?

Top drop on the Moriston. After watching a number of people run different lines with different results, it seemed that the quickest was to boof off the middle and hope for the best. Left and right lines were slower and usually ended up against the wall!

So, I gave it a shot. Got some down time. Deck popped. Even more downtime. Bumped off the bottom and when I surfaced there was a nice little surprise waiting for me!

I don't have any video but there was lots of cameras around so maybe something will turn up.

A little gutted but I will wait and see what Fluid come back with. Otherwise I will try and do a repair myself.

As for the choice of boat, I appreciate that others may not like the boat in particular however I really like it. It's a little slow in a straight line but from the little time I spent in it, I like it.

Cheers

Ian

[ianletton]

Steve at Fire It Up has posted a photo taken very shortly after the boat was holed.



More of Steve's photos here: http://fiuuk.wordpress.com/2012/05/08/moriston-river-race-2012/

Ian

[Jim]

Seems like an odd place to be trying to cartwheel?

Steve at Fire It Up has posted a photo taken very shortly after the boat was holed.



More of Steve's photos here: http://fiuuk.wordpress.com/2012/05/08/moriston-river-race-2012/

Ian

[SwamP]

Dude, I cannot recommend anything to plug your hole. However I do hear that prior to filling the cavity it can help to first smooth it and remove any intrusive, foreign objects.

Therefore I would STRONGLY recommend that you read the following link, specifically the user reviews!!!! They are a wealth of experienced knowledge and feedback!!!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews ... Descending

As for your boat choice, the same kind of people slagged off the CFS as they swam out of their newer designs.

[clarky999]

Sand down the edges to neaten then up and clean them, then weld it shut. I found just a tupperware lid was the best for fixing my nomad - it melts a little quicker than the boat plastic, so it's easier to get them to mix and bond without causing further damage by overheating/melting too much of the boat.

Not quite the same sort of damage, but there were two cracks right the way through:



to



to



I've now moved onto a Raptor, but the Nomad has held up to some pretty chunky stuff since that, including even more hefty hits on the nose, without the repair failing.

[Colin C]

Ian
Tech Sure in Livingston do a great wielding job, I left my boat there at 8.00am and picked it up at 10.00am. They take £35 and if it breaks again are normally happy to repair it at no cost. You need to phone them to check if they are busy, and if not, they are happy to do it.

Colin

[davidmaltby]

as its on a low stress place where its unlikly to get much of a hit again. Id suggest heat it and straighten it out then seal it with SUGRU. Its surprisingly sticky, tough, felxible and is waterproof. It would never hold a split underneath or a big nose dent but I think to plug that hole neatly and permenantly it may do the trick and will take small impacts no bother. and you can match the colour exactly.
http://sugru.com/

david

[ianletton]

Finally got a response from Fluid:

Hi Ian,

I apologize for the delay in our response.

Celliers did the drop test on your kayak (we keep cut-out pieces of each and every boat) to determine if the plastic was cooked properly. The outcome revealed that your kayak was not overcooked and the break on your kayak does not fall under warranty.

I know this is not the news you wanted to hear but you were very unlucky in that your Solo hit a very scarp rock at a very bad angle.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Kind regards,


Magda Roscherr
Office Manager
E-mail: magda@fluidkayaks.co.za
Fluid Kayaks
Have the best day ever!

Not the news I was hoping for and the added bit of sarcasm at the end was a bit harsh

Have the best day ever!

Repair has been attempted but yet to be tested.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Ian

[Tom_Laws]

Have the best day ever!

Not the news I was hoping for and the added bit of sarcasm at the end was a bit harsh

Have the best day ever!

[/quote]

Looks like it is part of her signature and given it is the company tag line, I doubt she stuck it there sarcastically!

Hope your back end is watertight now!!

[Andy H]

Hi Ian

Pop the Dent first so the boat has its shape again.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwfPwF1i ... el&list=UL

Then go fo a weld and then I would go for a weld patch over the top of it as well get a piece of PP plastic that well covers the hole and weld the whole patch over the top. Flashband patch on the inside as Tom suggested will be a good idea as well.

Cheers Andy

[Biscuit65]

Repairs to date - LL Stomper, Pyranha Burn, Pyranha Karnali, Bliss Stick Huka - http://www.unsponsored.co.uk/press/?cat=121

[Joe L]

Welding with mesh, normally from a fat catcher seems to work really well. We welded a boat last year with this method and all the repairs have held up to extensive use and abuse all over Europe and Norway.

[DaveSt]

I don't have any video but there was lots of cameras around so maybe something will turn up.

Apologies for not posting these earlier. I'd thought that it was just your spraydeck that had "popped". Only realised the boat was holed upon editing the last of this sequence:











Welded up a cracked stern of an ancient Dagger Freefall a few years ago. Just used an electronics soldering iron with a large bit. The plastic was really thick around that area, which made it easier. Must have been a helluva knock to split it.

Good luck with your repair.

...Dave St...

[Biscuit65]

The repair on that area will be pretty easy to do and will be tough. I have some yellow HDPE rods if you would like a couple to weld your boat. Or if you get down to the Tees Barrage give me a shout. Probably an hour will get that hole fully sorted.

http://www.unsponsored.co.uk