> very top of the deck, just above where one would attach a rudder. The hole > is about one inch in diameter. We duct-taped her well and were relieved > that in moderate seas she did not take water anywhere near the damage. > Nevertheless I am curious about how we'd go about repairing the damage. I > seem to recall a recent thread on fixing holes in plastic, but am not sure > it entailed a hole bored the entire way through the deck. > > Could we bond a piece of plastic over the hole? Rivet a piece of aluminum, > then seal it with ptex? Otherwise plug it? Will our local boat builders > (Walden Kayak or Old Towne) do better work for moderate fees? Is the job > too tricky for amateurs? You may try such methods (I didn't try them): 1) weld in a patch with a heat-gun, 2) if #1 doesn't work, then epoxy a fiberglass patch (adding color pigment if you find such), overlapping the hole and rivet it (probably while epoxy is still wet?). My poly Prijon manual recommends fixing *small* holes with a hot-glue gun (yes, hot-glue gun - not heat-gun) and manufacturer's polyethilene sticks of the same material. This is important - welded patch or insert material should be the same as the hull Hot-glue gun has lower power than a heat-gun and is not intended for welding of plastics, but if it's not a typo, than Germans know what they are doing. On the other hand, heat-gun provides so much heat even on the low setting, and on so much wider area (due to air blower) that you should be careful to avoid melting the hole wider than the patch or doing other damage on the hull. Yes, I think, heat-gun might be a tool tricky enough for an amateur (not to mention its cost from $25). I doubt that polyethilene can be glued; epoxy may work after sand-papering the surface (grate 120), - again I didn't try that and don't know how epoxy would stick to polyethylene + water exposure. Riveting aluminum + sealing would be the safest way meaning skills and achieved results, though not esthetically pleasing. Btw, did anybody try epoxing poly-kayaks? *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Apr 30 2003 - 11:38:06 PDT
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