Hi guys,
I cracked the glass and resin near the fin box.
https://i.imgur.com/WhNlXwE.jpg
Does this need to be fixed? It doesn’t look like there is foam to be concerned with since it is on top of the fin box. But i’m not 100% sure.
Should i just plug the holes/fin and drip some resin over the cracked glass and sand down?
Or some sun cure epoxy?
It is a PU board.
Thanks
Looks like the glass lifted off when removing a fin. It was likely not bevelled away from the opening. or removed with a lot of sideways torque, or both.
If that were my board, and if the finbox was still tight/ did not appear to lift outwards when removing the fin, or compress inwards when inserting one, I’d probably remove the grub screw, and run a somewhat de cottoned q tip saturated with car wax into the threads and the tab’s receptacle to prevent any resin from sticking where you do not want it to stick.
I’d likely use superglue, inject it with gravity assist into the crack work it deep, wipe off excess, cover it with zip lock bag plastic and and weight it.
If I suspected it was sucking water I would sand and recap the finbox.
Perhaps take a razor blade and make sure your other receptacles are bevelled so removing the fin the tab does not catch, and lift the glass…
Looks like a crap sand job at the fin box (bun through)
seems to be off on the board as well.
I’m no expert, but my best guess is that water will get in and ruin the foam around the fin plug over time. I would sand it down a bit, and glass a new diamond or football shaped patch of glass over that fin plug. But thats just me.
I’m with Huck. I’d resand, tape off the openings, and recap it. It looks like the foam has some discoloration already. It looks like someone already tried to recap the rear part of the box and sanded into the weave.The front part of the box appears to have no glass cap. I’d probably take a brush and see if I could push some resin into the crack, too, in case the bond between box and foam has been breached. Maybe the super glue idea would be better for this purpose,but I have no experience with super glue on board repairs. Mike
I’d definitely go the full repair route - feather any damaged/loose glass and ‘cap’ the entire thing with a patch of light glass. There is fairly obvious old damage to foam at the end of the box. Either it was a very rough install or it’s been in a wreck and repaired. Also check the crack along the ‘hourglass’ area… more crackage that needs to be sealed up.
You can use either epoxy or polyester resin.
If you need some light weight glass, send me a PM and I’ll mail you some. I have some 2 oz and 4 oz around here someplace…
When installing a fin into the box as it is in the photo, does the back of the box depress, and lift slightly when removing the fin? Might have to have a separate set of eyes or hands available to discern whether this is occurring.
The back of the box gets pushed into the foam when the fin runs up and over something solid with enough force, and simply capping it does little to nothing for the strength of the repair, due to the compressed foam underneath and the cured resin having lost a tight bond with the surrounding foam along the sides.
If the plug lifts out slightly when removing a fin, and depresses when installing it, then any repair is doomed to soon look like it does now, and a proper reliable durable repair is much more involved.
Superglue wets out cloth and roving quickly and can be sanded relalatively quickly depending on its thickness, though I do not know how impermeable it ultimately is. I brought it up for this potential repair as the applicator tip of superglue, and its low viscosity could likely penetrate deeper under the lifted cloth, with less risk if it getting in thread or receptacle. Initial viewing of photo, I thought perhaps this was not already repaired once but just a less than quality original installation.
Capping boxes so there is cloth close to the edge of the receptacles and grub screws is difficult, and difficult to achieve a good bond even if one thoroughly degreases the area, is skilled with tape and a razor blade, and times the tape and fiberglass removal well, and then does not overheat and over sand the cap.
Thanks all,
I ended up sanding it down and hitting it with some glass and resin and it looks a lot better now
Hi Wideawake, that is not burn through or bad glass work; that is due to the impact; so the glass is shattered and the box just slightly moves hence that result.
Happens less with the normal fusion boxes due to the mini channels on the top.
