SHOP Talk: How to Repair ABS Kayaks - Eddyline, Hurricane, Delta, Riot, etc.
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- Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024
- How do you repair a crack or whole in an ABS thermoformed kayak? It's easier than you think! Common brands of thermoformed boats include Eddyline Kayaks, Hurricane Kayak, Delta Kayaks, and Riot Kayaks.
www.aldercreek.com
#howto #repair #fixit #diy #kayak #abs #thermoforming #carbonlite #eddyline #broken #crack #hole #bullseye
![How To Fix A Crack in a Kayak [Plastic Welding]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/K1CAdLAYQ7c/mqdefault.jpg)
Devcon is expensive. Are JB weld platic bonder, which claims to bond thermorplastics, okay? It's a lot cheaper. Also, FWIW, in youtube videos and blogs, jb weld original matches or exceeds the plastic bonders. Also, in one test, JB weld original was only slightly less effective than Devcon. Thanks!
That's a very good question! They are two very different adhesives, and we haven't used the JB PlasticBonder. The Devcon Plastic Welder is actually a little cheaper than the JB (at least where we get it from locally) and within 300 psi of bonding strength (3500 vs 3770). We use the Devcon because it is what Eddyline glues their boats together with. That methyl methacrylate (MMA) fuses with the acrylic caps on ABS sheets, so really welds cracks back together. I may have to try the JB on a crack and see how it holds up since it's a urethane based adhesive. I bet it is bomber for glueing the faces of materials together, but I wonder how it would hold up otherwise. If you try it, let us know! Thanks again for the really good questions!
@@AlderCreekKayakCanoe Thanks. JB Weld Plastic Bonder is a lot cheaper than Devcon around here (Richmond, VA), at least in smaller amounts (single use, dual plunger). Plus, I would have had to wait a week for it to be shipped to any of my usual local stores (Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart) and I wanted to use it this weekend. I tried it yesterday, it cured fast in the sun, self levelled pretty well too. It is a little less flexible per the specs than Devcon, so I would have preferred Devcon. I will reply in a week or two after a week or two of trying it out. If I see Devcon for a similar price, I will grab some and wait until I need it. Thanks again for the great video and your reply.
@@mikem6213 Yeah, you bet. And thanks for the update on your repair! Good to know what the options are. My local source only stocks the Cream color these days, and it only ships via ground, but here's the 25ml kit. I am definitely spoiled by the 50ml with gun and mixing nozzles now. www.tapplastics.com/product/repair_products/adhesives_glues_sealants/plastic_welder/278
I have a Hurricane Santee 126 that just has a crack in it. I can't get to the interior of the hull because the bow section is sealed from the passenger area. If I just use the MMA, would that be ok? It's not missing pieces like the one in the video is.
Also, I've seen ABS pellets for sale online. @bethwright8595 mentioned making a slurry with acetone and scrap ABS but the pellets might work well also. Thank you!
Just MMA is probably fine! Just fixed a Santee with a ~26" crack from the back hatch to/around the handle. After prepping the area, I ran a bead along the damage and then two more, along either side of the first to increase adhesion. Before putting a patch on the backside I tried to get the repair to fail (better in the shop than on the water), and it held tough! I still patched the inside, but was pleasantly surprised at how beefy the MMA was on that large damage!
Nice job!
Can you post links to the flashlight, patches, etc?
Well done, Andrew!
I have friends who use a soldering iron to repair their rotomolded poly kayaks, and I'm wondering if I can do that on my ABS plastic Hurricane kayak. Their customer service rep with whom I've been communicating doesn't know the answer to that question. Do you?
I have fixed some short narrow cracks on the undersides of my bow and stern - which clearly resulted from 6+ years of repeated abrasion from launching and landing on oyster shells and other shells, and occasionally on gravel or concrete boat ramps - using Gator Patches from Gator Guards. But I also have a long crack just beneath the bottom of the cowling which I don't think I can fix with those patches, and it would be a real pain to repair with fiberglass mesh and two-part epoxy, as recommended by the manufacturer if the damage is too big for the UV- or heat-activated patches they recommend. I think my best solution may be melting the crack back together as friends of mine do using a soldering iron to repair cracks on their rotomolded poly kayaks. But I have no idea how well that would work on ABS plastic. I am seeking some scrap plastic from Hurricane Kayak which which to experiment, and I'm also interested in trying something I saw on a video which I can't find again, in which someone cut up some of that plastic in small pieces and put it in a glass jar half-full of acetone. He then checked on it periodically, stirring and poking at the mixture until it became a sort of slurry of partially dissolved plastic. He then used a small paintbrush to fill in the cracks on the kayak he was repairing with that thick liquid plastic and it seemed to work great. I am unable to find his video again because I first found a link to it in the comments section of another kayak repair video.
I'm still looking because I promised to send the video to my contact at Hurricane? But in the meantime, have you any thoughts about how either of those methods might work based on your experience repairing ABS plastic kayaks? I'm hoping to find something I can do myself without having to have someone else to hold the cracked area in place because it's kind of collapsing on one side of my kayak.
The Hurricane customer service rep also suggested that a bumper repair business could weld the plastic back together, although it might be expensive. I have contacted a body shop I really like by email to see if they might be able to do that. It would obviously be more expensive but I don't know how much more, and it might be worth it because even though we have multiple boat dealers in my coastal area none of them will work on my kayak or any other plastic boat. It's all about fiberglass! And we don't even have a kayak dealer here in Apalachicola anymore, as the company that used to do that is now strictly involved in leading kayak tours and other boat trips to our barrier islands for tourists. I guess that must be more profitable, and that seems to be all that matters nowadays. 👎
I will fix this myself if I can but I might rather someone with expertise to it if it doesn't cost me a fortune as the repair I am facing may well affect the structural integrity of my kayak. It's too far above the waterline to leak, but that doesn't mean it's not a problem.
Hey Beth, sorry I missed your comment (ages ago)! I'd love to help offer some insight on your issue. I suppose there's a fair chance you've fixed the crack by now, but let's get into it anyway. First, I would not recommend the soldering iron like your friends with the poly boats. That's a very clever solution though - I'll have to try that sometime! For your boat, I would still consider something like the GatorPatch or a Bullseye Quick Patch. Even ambient UV will help those cure. I suppose you could get a UV flashlight like we did, but it has very limited uses otherwise. Gooping some Devcon Plastic Welder from the outside of the damage would work, but that'll be a tricky spot to apply neatly (if that is a concern). Any MMA300 (aka Devcon) product won't work as well under the deck of Hurricane boats because their decks only have an acrylic cap on the top, and it's the acrylic cap that the MMA bonds with. You can also feel free to send pictures of the damage to programs@aldercreek.com if you'd like some more specific advice!