Bunks rubbing the gel coat off boat talk chaparral. Gelcoat is a fiberglass resin that has had a pigment added to it. If the surface of your boat looks like a cracked eggshell, the gelcoat is suffering from crazing sometimes called alligatoring. The cracks are about 18 inch and can only be seen when u are close up to the rv. Cracks occur when there are pockets of gelcoat that accumulate and end up being too thick. If you have used a gelcoat coating in the past, you will need to remove it completely with an acetone solution. However, as it dried and hardened, it was a darker shade and i now have a dark spot on my boat that im going to have to recover to match. I repaire a chip in my gelcoat and the following cracks using this kit. Crazing in gelcoat, also known as spider cracks or stress cracks, plagues countless boaters. Cracks in the gel coatfiberglass grady white boat owner. Cracks in the gel coatfiberglass grady white boat owners. Bow repair fiberglass grp damage part 1 pete vincents. Foremost is that gelcoat doesnt level out and cure the same way that paint does. Since 1968, west marine has grown to over 250 local stores, with knowledgeable associates happy to assist.
Filler gel coat bow repair fiberglass grp damage part 2 pete vincents boat repair workshop duration. This movement can cause the gelcoat to crack if there is a stress riser in the. Spider cracks in hull boat talk chaparral boats owners. Then, attach the cord on the gun to an air supply source, like an air compressor. Surface gelcoat scratches can be buffed with polishing compound, and deeper scratches can be filled. Tint the batch of gelcoat to match the color of the boat.
Worse yet, there was a matching crack under the hull flange. How to repair a gelcoat scratch bottom paint store. Sep 05, 2012 the cracking has stemmed from a crack below the gelcoat and in the fiberglass. Fill the crack with a fair amount of fiberglass epoxy resin, using a plastic applicator. I was at the boat the other day and while looking over the boat i notic. As with all wooden bows, stress can cause fractures in the wood. How to repair fiberglass on a boat the family handyman.
Even with additives to thin the viscosity, a certain degree of texture, orange peel, will be present after cure and has to be sanded, sealed, and polished. It incorporates pigments for desired color and contains additives for controlling flowout, gel and cure times. I have a 79 11ft whaler and it is covered in cracks in the gel coat, but none seem to be wide enough to tell me there is a problem. You can successfully complete basic fiberglass boat repair by following these steps. Cracks in gel coatstern tow hook jet boaters community forum. Make sure that you give your boat a thick layer as a thin layer may not give a complete seal.
Creating sharp corners when shaping the area to be repaired. Choose from white, clear, neutral, and tooling gel coatsall available in quarts, gals and 5gal pails to suit your project needs. In this article, tom clark and i demonstrate the factoryrecommend method to repair damage to a boston whaler. The stress riser can be as simple as a imperfection on a hole drilled thru the hull, hence the reason that the hole must be chamfered before anything is bolted thru it. You may want to apply colored gelcoat enamel over the repaired area, so the repair wont be so noticeable.
This movement can cause the gelcoat to crack if there is a stress riser in the general vacinity of the flexing fiberglass underneath. If there are many cracks in one area, i grind off all the gelcoat and spray on new to a tapered blend line. This thicker gelcoat cannot stand any flexing without showing cracks. A recurve bow is a technological advancement of the longbow design, imparting more kinetic energy on the arrow through the curved limbs than that of a longbow. Bow eye repair advanced moderated discussion areas. The highest quality iso npg marine finish gel coat to permanently repair or replace original, highglass finish. Then carefully redrill new holes for the bow eye, and reinstall. To use a gelcoat spray gun, fill the plastic container on the gun with your gelcoat. If an owner calls cracks, stress crack, he is letting you know there is a problem.
How to repair a fiberglass shower pan in an existing. Grind out a shallow depression behind the hole to a ratio of about 12. Repairing minor cracks and pits in a fiberglass shower pan can restore the pan to a uniform finish. If it is gelcoat crack only common in older boats with thick gelcoat, i sand the crack out, making sure the surrounding gelcoat has a good bond, fill with thickened epoxy, fair, prime and paint.
Where is the stress crack is important, but unless you are 1 a skilled boat surveyor or 2 the boat is cheap and you are not going to cause more stress, stay away. This damage is often caused by slight flexing of the hull. Gelcoat paste will shrink more than liquid gelcoat because the filler to make paste and will eventually crack around the repair due to excess shrinking and may have pin holes that will show up after polishing, also getting your repair 100% flat without a wave or ripple is nearly impossible and in most cases your paste will not match even with. Used this product to make a repair to boat gel coat after fixing some minor fiber glass damage. White gel coat, precolored gel coat, clear gel coat, neutral tintable gelcoats. Aug 02, 2017 professional applicators know that the preparation and priming stages of any paint job covered in last months issue are the most important and will take 80 percent of the time spent on a paint job. This colored filler comes in 11 popular boat colors and is readytouse straight from the tube. Gel coat has the normal triton cracks but are just cosmetic. Gelcoat blisters wouldnt be more than a cosmetic concern, if theyre treated and not ignored. Before and after pictures of boat repairs landcraft marine. Basic information gel coat is a polyester resin specially formulated with thixotropic ingredients for increased viscosity and nonsag properties.
Gelcoat is not recommended over epoxy patches but it is fine for putting over another polyester resin. How to repair gelcoat, fiberglass boat repair boating magazine. A gelcoat spray gun will make it easier to get an even coverage on a large fiberglass surface. This can range from small defects that need a little patching up to.
Bear archery produces a variety of bows, most notably traditional wooden recurve bows. Mar 26, 2019 if you dont open the crack, you wont be able to force the gelcoat into the repair area or expose enough surface area for the repair to adhere. How to repair gelcoat, fiberglass boat repair boating. I just figured they were from a few times when the previous owner didnt have the trailer in all the way and powered on. This requires identifying and removing all damaged material.
After sanding, thoroughly clean the area with acetone to remove the sanding residue and any waxes or other contaminants that might interfere with the. Translate the downward load to a pull force on the top of the bow eye and you can begin to see why you are getting a stress crack at the top of the eye. They can occur in any form of fiberglass, including cars, boats and swimming pools. West system, 105 epoxy resin, 205 fast hardener, 206 slow hardener, g5. To ensure good adhesion it is critical that the repair patch is adhered to undamaged laminate.
If the boat is fairly new and the manufacturer is still in business, you may be able to. These fiberglass cracks can be purely cosmetic, or can severely degrade the boats ability to stay afloat. With time, it is possible that gelcoat can become cracked, simply through wear and tear or a specific incidence of damage. This method is much easier and faster to apply to the base of. The stand is too high and causes the boat to be cranked up onto the post, which causes rubbing of the gelcoat above the eye hook, and also causes too much weight to be put onto the stand which as caused some cracking over the years. Jan 21, 2020 apply the gelcoat with a gelcoat spray gun if its a large fiberglass surface.
Using a dremel tool, remove the gelcoat on either edge of the crack, all the way down its length. After sanding, thoroughly clean the area with acetone to remove the sanding residue and any waxes or other contaminants that might interfere with the bond. We are also offering a new curbside pickup program at our locations for your convenience. Use to fill gouges, chips, scrapes and deep scratches in the fiberglass gel coat. They had the same opinion i had that if the deck was completely tabbed in along the the bow it would have stopped the stress cracks in the gelcoat.
Gelcoat finishes on boats often sustain impact damage. There were of the nature of bubbles or clumps of fiberglass and gelcoat. An angle grinder with a coarse 40grit disc will make short work of this. There is one 00 2300v limited that im particularly interested in, but it has the same problem. Cracks in gel coatstern tow hook jet boaters community. Replacing trailer winch post walleye message central. This premium marine grade gel coat may be as gecloat for boats, gelcoat for pools or many other applications.
Make the repair and refair it to just below the existing gelcoat. As the bow rises, your already tight winch strap gets even tighter and puts a downward load on the bow eye. While large cracks often indicate problems that patching may not correct, minor repairs are. I hate the fact that the bow hook is so far underneath, makes it hard to connect the. Made up of two layers of 50mm chopped strands of glass held together in a styrene binder, csm is designed to spread loads in all directions, and once the polyester resin soaks in, the binder is dissolved by the styrene. This resin can be used as a protective surface over the top of fiberglass, or simply as a finish, much like you might varnish a piece of outdoor furniture. When the area is dry, smooth the surface with sandpaper. It had the look of damage that might have been caused by a hard port landing. How to fix a hole on a fiberglass boat complete diy guide. Step 4 as soon as the crack has been channeled out, wipe it clean with a solvent like acetone and, using a plastic putty knife, flushfill it with gelcoat matched to the color of the surrounding area if the channel isnt too deep. How to repair gelcoat, chips, scrapes and gouges yourself. Hi, i went to a tige dealership, and notices that their used 20002001 models have gel coat cracks from one end to another on the bottom of the hull. Tv wake, cobra venom ultimates removed, keel guard, bow roller upgrade, aluminum trailer wheels, good year endurance radials, wake wedge, seadek throughout, box anchor in anchor locker, garmin gps map 640.
That being said, for the home repair job of a gelcoat only crack, using the stock color gelcoat would be easier, filling the sanded out area. Gelcoat will need to be heavier in thickness for a couple of reasons. Gelcoat crack and crazing repair moderated discussion areas. Vertical cracks are cracks that go straight up and down, or maybe on a slight diagonal of within 30 degrees of vertical, and are a common occurrence in many houses. Since the hull of a boston whaler is constructed in a unique and patented way, the factory has provided special instructions for making repairs to this structure. Aug 27, 2016 as for pulling tubes from the tower, mine specifically says not e the stern hook instead. Any heavier than 25 mils and youll run the risk of spider cracks in a few years.
I matched my teal striping on my boat to a tee when it was wet and mixing. Feb 05, 2015 filler gel coat bow repair fiberglass grp damage part 2 pete vincents boat repair workshop duration. I look at it as not filling the crack, but rather removing the gelcoat crack entirely by grinding out a vgroove with a generous taper and then replacing gelcoat with gelcoat. Aug 27, 2012 i have lots of hair line cracks in the gelcoat. Jan 24, 2016 join us on the sv hideaway as we explore floridas west coast seeking enlightenment on the course towards wisdom aboard a 23 com pac sail boat. The easiest repair method is to sand the surface heavily and roll on two coats of epoxy primer followed by two coats of twopart linear. Sunfish pickin pensacola merci beaucoup bought a sail, mast and spars last year off craigslist, seller had a hull that needed a lot of work, we passed on it at the time. Instead of hooking on a repair this layer might save it. And while an aircraft isnt subjected to the same type of forces as a boat hull, the fuselage is the hull and must be strong in different ways. Get a can of white gelcoat to use for the exterior of the patch. Did you inspect the winch hook for a sharp barb that could have caused a scratch. Any crack that goes deeper than the gelcoat definitely needs attention.
He has a 11 yer old class a, good brandi dont want to talk bad about the brand who is still in business, and he has these small cracks in the gelcoat, mostly where the darker colors are located. Making sure that your gelcoat is applied evenly on the paintbrush, go over the base of the boat, beginning on one side and working your way over. There were some anomalies and imperfections in the fiberglass on the deck side flange. Gelcoat continues to cure and shrink through out its life span. The stress cracks they said were in the gelcoat layer so good to go. These quality marine laminating gelcoat products are designed to permanently repair or to replace the original, highgloss finish on your.
Then hollow grind down the marinetex from the boat surface, so you can cover with gelcoat paste, at least on the outside. Spider cracks are nonstructural damage to the gelcoat of a boat. Crazing is an incredibly common issue on modern fiberglass boats, and although it usually starts off as a matter of cosmetics, in severe cases these surface cracks can grow, deepen, and eventually threaten your boats. Wholesale marine stocks a large inventory of gelcoat repair kits from hibond and fiberglass evercoat. If you dont open the crack, you wont be able to force the gelcoat into the repair area or expose enough surface area for the repair to adhere. For instance ferro gelcoats produced in spain, i believe you should get the gh range for brush application, or gm for spray or nord composites produced in france. Okay, while getting the boat 2007 257 advance cc out of the water yesterday, i noticed a few cracks in the gelcoat where you hook the strap into the eyelet on the bow to the trailer.
When the gelcoat surrounding a scratch is in good condition, the filler of choice is gelcoat paste, which provides both filler and finish in a single application but not a single step. I noticed a few large gel coat cracks, all in either the bow area or transom area. These hairline fractures also occur in boats of the mid 1970s vintage which often had thicker gelcoat layers than newer boats. Repairing hull damage the whaler way continuouswave. How to fix spider cracks in fiberglass it still runs. Sand the repairs with 600grit and then 800grit sandpaper.
I would really like to get this fixed, so i would greatly appreciate any suggestions on how any of you would. He has talked to 2 repair places in ca and one said that the fiberglass was not fully cured whaen the paint was applied and out gassing occured as it cured and this caused the paint to crack which caused the gelcoat to crack. How to prepare your boat for painting a gelcoat part ii. For the perfect finish, sand with 1,200grit wet dry paper then buff photo 8. Of the foundation cracks you are likely to encounter, vertical cracks are generally the most common and least severe type of crack you will come across. Gelcoat used to patch existing gelcoat, fiberglass repairs, and for new construction and projects. Feb 11, 2011 i think for your product a good isonpg polyester gelcoat is a good performance cost ratio product. Small cracks form in the outer surface of the fiberglass, spreading out from a central point like a spiderweb.
Gel coat is easy to use and looks great when finished. Fast forward to 20 and we had all the parts needed for a boat except the hull, so we decided to give this hull a chance. Repairing hull damage the whaler way by taylor clark. Spider cracks are a form of fiberglass damage that occurs from minor flexing or impacts. Premium polyester gel coats deliver top cosmetics and lasting durability for parts and molds. Once you have completed the preparation and priming stages, the next step is the application of the paint itself. How do i repair this bow damage sailboat owners forums. Anyone who has ever seen airframe construction, particularly jet aircraft, understands why aircraft can be built with skins that are extremely thin. This is hopefully not something every boat owner will need to worry about, but it is a good idea to know how to fix a hole on a boat just in case the unthinkable ever happens to you.
Marinetex hardens like steel, and should handle the bow eye stresses. Small dings, or scratches, however, do not necessarily require an expensive repair. I purchased the boat with the scrape on the bottom. Determine the gelcoat batch size for the size of the repairapproximately 80 square feet per gallon of gelcoat 20 sq. There were also some voids through the gelcoat but none were much bigger than the size of a pencil. How to repair spider cracks on your fiberglass boat. Application is easy and in a few seconds, even a novice handyman can. How to repair hairline fractures in a bear recurve bow. But they also know that what they get paid for is the finish. How to fix a hole on a fiberglass boat complete diy guide nothing can sink a boat faster than a hole, and even the smallest hole could sink a ship. Whether it was the previous owner or a charterer, we had found the port side leak.
Surface scratches can be buffed out of gelcoat with polishing compound, but deep scratches must be filled. Online article on hull design defects by david pascoe, marine surveyor, namscms. I saved for a new one but like the boat so much i can not bring myself to part with it. These premium quality isophthalic npg gel coats are. If it is a precut hole, you may still need to trim it up with a dremel to remove any cracked or flaked gel coat. Also there is a hole in front where it looks like it hit or rubbed something for a long time. Basically this widens the gap and reveals the fiberglass layer beneath. Adhesion failure in the repair laminate is the most common failure mode for fiberglass repairs. As the substrate flexes as it is designed to do, the gel just cant deflect the same amount and will develop these small cracks. When i asked the vendor about that issue, he told me that it is only cosmetic and that most tige from those years have the same trouble. Stress cracks are cracks in the gel coat of a boat that let you know there is undue stress on a particular area or a problem under the gel coat. So, i bought the boat with rub marks, or whatever you want to call them, in the gel coat from the bunks.
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