Fixing a hole in your kayak.

I had some material laying around and some welding rod sent to me from Ocean Kayak. I decided to hone up on a hole repair. I used this little butane torch. The orifice in the torch is small. Perfect for concentrating the heat in a small area and then focusing it on the rod itself. If I can do it anyone can. Heat the area up around the hole until the edge of the top of the hole starts to get glossy and soft. Then start feeding the rod into the hole while twirling the rod in your hand slowly.  Making sure that the heat stays on the rod and not the kayak too much. When the hole is overfilled twirl the rod with the heat up above the repair area and twist it off. I used a flat knife to tool the soft plastic smooth and waited for it to cool. Then I took a sharp razor blade and filleted off the excess down to the plane of the kayak piece I was working with. A little sanding if you want, then done.

If you have some holes that need to be filled, I will bring the torch and the rod to the Berryessa Salmon Slam/ AOTY party. Do a little clinic or just fix. Brent, got a hole that needs to be filled still?

Craig, This is a great write up, super happy to see this. Yes, i do have a hole that still needs to be repaired. Im hoping I can make Berryessa, but it will depend on my wifes work schedule. If I can not make it, maybe I could meet up with you next time your out this way?

Thanks for the detailed post. So there's no need to heat the hole internally? Will the rod material flow into the hole and bond throughout the length of the hole?

A little sanding if you want, then done.

Hit it with the open flame torch after the sand paper and the plastic will retain its original factory finish.


Harbor Freight has a plastic welder which is especially great for welding and smoothing the plastic.I have use this one on jobs from small pin holes to tennis ball size hole reconstruction.

http://www.harborfreight.com/welding/plastic-welders/plastic-welding-kit-80-watt-iron-67102.html

Hobie sells a kit with that same plastic welder plus several rods in different colors. I used it to repair the rear keel area on my Quest, which was badly cracked & leaking like hell at one point. Totally worked great & was really easy to do.

http://www.paddlerscove.com/kc-plastic-welding-kit.aspx

Craig, This is a great write up, super happy to see this. Yes, i do have a hole that still needs to be repaired. Im hoping I can make Berryessa, but it will depend on my wifes work schedule. If I can not make it, maybe I could meet up with you next time your out this way?

Thanks for the detailed post. So there's no need to heat the hole internally? Will the rod material flow into the hole and bond throughout the length of the hole?

Yes Brent it does heat up all the way through. Its great to use a piece of plasticthats scrap tp really see whats going on. We have plastic welders for the repair of auto bumpers but I like the small torch instead.

In the past I have used a regular sized torch on the plastic rod and a heat gun on the kayak to warm it up.
It worked just fine.
What I like about your torch Craig is that it is totally portable and can be use on both the kayak and plastic rod.
Let's not forget about dripping a black plastic hefty garbage bag in a pinch.

Soda straws and  a butane cig lighter  work in an emergency . Really like that torch of yours Craig


Sent from my iPod touch because my computer is crap

Dude, you're pretty handy with your POWER PROBE.  I bet you handle it a lot. 

Nice job!

Thanks for the info.  How big of a job can this method patch? 

Brent, you got a hole in your kayak?

How'd that happen?

 

 

Great write up Craig, thanks for sharing!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

I picked up this one @ Home Depot and it also works great. Save all drill shavings and hole cutouts to use for repairs ( thanks MattS )

Dude, you're pretty handy with your POWER PROBE.  I bet you handle it a lot. 

Nice job!

  DaveW was quicker on the draw than I. Gotta love the name.

 "hon, I'll be in the garage with my kayak and the power probe".

Save all drill shavings and hole cutouts to use for repairs ( thanks MattS )

excellent advice. I have a few pieces from my flush mount installs, just in case.....

How about a crack vs a hole?  Same deal, or do you need to make it into a hole to fill it?

How about a crack vs a hole?  Same deal, or do you need to make it into a hole to fill it?

Cracks are easier to repair. Here is a link to one of the repair jobs I did on a scupper crack.

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,24584.15.html

The trick is to weld with a stitch( an X pattern melt and fill) if that makes sense with the standard iron. Once the material is blended together with the stitch I come back with the plastic welder and melt the general area to confirm uniformity. I usually apply more material that is needed so I can come back and file to a smooth finish just like you would for body work. Then once generally smooth I take the propane torch with a couple of quick passes to smooth and restore to factory finish.

A crack would need to be V ed out down to the inner part of the crack. This will allow the material to flow under heat into the area with good fusion. When welding metal its almost the same when doing a butt weld. Its called root gap. There has to be at least the thckness of the metal for a space between the two pieces that are to be welded together for maximum strength. Theres a great video by wilderness systems on the repair of a cracked hull. Cant find it right now.