Polyehtylene repair??

[imp...@doitnow.com]

I am trying to find out how to repair my polyethylene winsurfing board.
I was told by someone that no type of glue or anything will work on
polyethylene but I am sure there is someway to fix this thing. Any help
would be greatly appreciated.

Please e-mail any suggestions to imp...@doitnow.com

Thank you very much

[Anthony Boesen]

If you are talking about the older plastic boards here is a repair article.

http://www.viser.net/~anthwind/Repair/One_Design_Fix/one_design_fix.html
--
Anthony
Board Building Links Page
http://www.viser.net/~anthwind/

[Kirk Robertson]

I heard hot glue guns work on poly, haven't tried it myself though.

[Don]

I had this same question a few months ago and still don't have a
straight answer.
I'll give you the info I found, mostly marketing and word of mouth.

- Lots of people say West Systems Epoxy, but if you read the info at G.
Bros., it certainly doesn't claim to work. If you put some hardware
into whatever you are fixing, it will stick to the hardware very well.

- Hot glue sticks to Poly, but the strength of Hot glue is slightly
better than cornstarch, but not much. If you are sealing up a hole or
just patching non-structural it is probably OK I wouldn't recommend it
for a fin box.

- Hi-Tech. If you really have to have something stick to Poly, 3M has
an adhesive called DP-8005 (not to be confused with DP-805). You won't
find it on their website or in many of the distributors catalogs, but
they just released it this year. It is supposed to be for industrial
use only, but if you are creative, you can probably get your hands on
some. The down sides, it requires an EPX application tool, the working
time is 2.5 minutes (so be very prepared), and the MSDS on this stuff is
about 4 pages, READ IT!!!!! I patched up my Finbox on my Aitken (ooooh
Vintage :0) for the third, and I believe final time with this stuff.

- There are probably some other Urethane based 2-part adhesives
available, but probably suffer from most of the disadvantages of the
above material. Check McMaster Carr (www.McMaster.com for full
catalog).

- Of course everyone I talked to told me to Bin It after I described
what I wanted to do, probably not bad advice. In these days of early to
mid 90s boards going for $200 probably a marginal call on fixing.

Good Luck

Don

(rude oode dude)

[Speed44020]

>I am trying to find out how to repair my polyethylene winsurfing board.
>I was told by someone that no type of glue or anything will work on
>polyethylene but I am sure there is someway to fix this thing. Any help
>would be greatly appreciated.
>
>Please e-mail any suggestions to imp...@doitnow.com
>

Just out of curiousity what did you break, and how? I thought poly was
supposed to be amost indestructable.

[Peter Burnham]

The correct way to repair polyethylene is using a heat gun and a rod of PE,
much the same as welding steel. This requires a degree of skill.
Contrary to popular myth PE boards do break. I put 2 cracks in the back of
my Tiga 260 many years back, most probably caused by the boom hitting. My
local windsurf shop repaired the board in front of me while I waited using
the method described. It wasn't pretty but it worked.
Regards, Pete.

[Nathaniel Siddall]

Any idea where to get the PE repair material?

[LUK4WIND]

>Any idea where to get the PE repair material?
>
>

Try a kayak store. They use the same method to repair plastic sit on top
kayaks.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------

LUK4WIND & CHASE IT
PLEASE NO SPAM

[Peter Burnham]

I don't know what happened to the foam, but the board gave many more years
of service and was still sound when I sold it. Ignorance is bliss!
I do know PE boards are injected with polyurethane foam after they are blow
moulded or many years back rotomoulded. This differs from the old ASA and
modern composite boards which have a pre-shaped EPS foam core. Some of the
old ASA boards suffered delamination from this core.
I've told you all I know and now you know nothing.
Best regards and good sailing, Pete.

[Bruce Spedding]

what does this do to the underlying foam?
I would have thought you'd end up with a mended skip but no foam beneath it

I've got 2 Tigas, both still going strong (touch plastic) but I've heard of
them "breaking" too, they don't snap the way composite skins do but the
plastic fatigues just the way it does on plastic containers which have
plastic (ie thin) hinged lids.

Peter Burnham wrote in message <7lj66g$ui$1...@epos.tesco.net>...

[Marty]

I have heard that you repair them by a sort of fusion welding process
using the P-Tex sticks used to repair ski bottoms. Be careful some hot air
guns get very hot, very quick. I would do a lot of practice on something
other than the board first.

imp...@doitnow.com wrote:

> I am trying to find out how to repair my polyethylene winsurfing board.
> I was told by someone that no type of glue or anything will work on
> polyethylene but I am sure there is someway to fix this thing. Any help
> would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Please e-mail any suggestions to imp...@doitnow.com
>

> Thank you very much

[Ken Nelson]

I repaired two small holes on one board with hot-melt glue (a "glue gun")
about 10 years ago, and the repair has held up, no water entry. I just fired
the glue into and around the hole, smushed it around with a putty knife,
then trimmed excess and smoothed it with a sharp knife when it cooled.

Get a white coloured glue stick if you can, the amber is a tad unsightly...

The glue melts at a lower point than the board, so the hot-melt glue repair
is probably easier and less risky for the average person than melting a
P-Tex stick.

Kirk Robertson wrote:

> I heard hot glue guns work on poly, haven't tried it myself though.
>

[RMoore 41]

>> I heard hot glue guns work on poly, haven't tried it myself though.
>>
>> In article <377BF7EF...@doitnow.com>, imp...@doitnow.com wrote:
>> >I am trying to find out how to repair my polyethylene winsurfing board.
>> >I was told by someone that no type of glue or anything will work on
>> >polyethylene but I am sure there is someway to fix this thing. Any help
>> >would be greatly appreciated.
>> >
>> >Please e-mail any suggestions to imp...@doitnow.com
>> >
>> >Thank you very much

I've repaired a lot of poly boards and I think using a glue gun is a poor
choice for gluing or filling holes. I have had good success by beveling out the
hole or crack, then mash down the foam around the damage and under the skin.
Saturate some fiberglas mat with west epoxy and put into the damage and under
the skin. let dry and fill whatever void is left with west epoxy and
microbaloons, sand smooth and you are ready for sailing.

[Barry Ritchey]

As previous posters have already said, you will need to use
a plastic welder to fix cracked areas of your board. The
kits sold for poly kayaks is a good start. Welders to fix
ski bases would be a good source too.

However, ... If your "repair" is just to fill/seal small
punctures, then you can just use "P-tex" the hole. P-tex is
low molecular weight polyethylene in sticks that are started
on fire and allowed to drip onto scratches in the bases of
snow skis. Sounds low tech, but it works. You should be able
to seal holes up to about 1/4" diameter. Visit a ski shop
and get a couple of the translucent sticks for only a couple
of bucks. This technique will have to be done in stages -
allowing the puddles of PE to cool and solidify. I know this
works for polyethylene (PE) boards and I suspect it would
also work for boards constructed from copolymers
(polypropylene (PP) or blended PP and PE).

Good luck with the repair...

-Barry