My new 9’2" has developed a delam bubble about 4" by 2" right next to the stringer where I sit. Appears something did not adhere and pressure is building. I am bummed out but it probably isn’t fair to bring it back to my shaper who gave me a fair price under any implied warranty after 8 months. I figure the only way to repair this is to dig it out and fill it and that is all he would do other than to give me a discount if I want a replacement. I’m not sure I would be happy with that solution.
What I was going to do was to drill a very small hole, put on some heat to get any gas out then hope when it cools it will shrink back. I will plug the hole with suncure and monitor this in case I have to do it again. If I do nothing it will only spread and get bigger particularly because it is in an area that always gets pressure. These things have a tendency to spread and the board is too new to have to start thinking about getting a replacement already. I usually go 4 years between boards.
Too bad you can’t get custom boards at Costco as they take anything back at any time but your stuck with their product selection.
Clark foam. Don’t leave the board at the beach or in the car so excess heat shouldn’t be the problem. Expected this to last a long time.
Prolly someone more qualified will answer more thoroughly, but what you wanna do is stick the glass back to the foam. If you leave it delammed, it is a weak spot, and will spread, even if you relieve the pressure.
Drill two holes, one on either side of the delam, and use a syringe to squirt resin in there until it comes out the other hole. Work it around with your fingers so that it spreads all around the delam, and place a weight there to hold the glass down against the foam until it sets. Then glass over the holes.
im about to go and attemt to fix the same problem, i think i tried to fix one like this before with the drilling and syringe thing,i dont think it worked too well,so this time i think ill try cutting off all the loose glass anp patch it…might not look very nice but in my opinion, i think it’ll work better…than trying to stick the old stuff back.
Let’s see- delams are a beeyotch, no doubt about it.
Okay - the bubble is where the glass stopped sticking, for any of several reasons. Sometimes it just happens.
Forget the suncure and forget plugging it. And don’t heat it up any more, that’ll just make it worse. It works for some pressure dings but not delams.
Instead, make a slit in the glass right by the stringer,lay the board on the rail, wedge the slit open with a popsicle stick or something, pour it full of cabosil/resin mix quite wet ( about like whipping cream before whipping) and catalysed light for a slow cure while tapping it lightly to get the air bubbles out, remove the popsilcle stick and then weight it lightly, ideally with a layer of wax paper under something like thin ply or formica that’ll bend some, then the weights, so that it’ll harden in a lightly curved shape, like the rest of the deck and not a flat or lumpy spot. Sand and patch with reasonably heavy cloth over the whole delam plus about 1-2 inches on the other side of the slit. It will gain some weight, if you can find glass microbubbles to do your filler mix with then that’ll be lighter. Hotcoat your lamination and sand it some and there you are.
A suggestion - use some deck pads. They may look kinda silly, but they will go a long way towards soaking up the little bumps and such that cause and exacerbate delams. I generally reccommend that to anybody with a newer longboard, especially in the tail-middle, where it tends to get beat on when turning.
hey yeah,that sounds like a good idea,but i just ripped off plenty of glass like i said i was going to try…i was right its gonna be plenty ugly , i hoppe its at least ridable for a while longer…maybe next time ill try your idea…yes its a fact delams suck,they only get worse, and there very tricky to fix,its just you gotta at least try to save a board ,i guess
you did the best thing by cutting away the glass. Relaminate the area by laying up one piece of cloth then wet it out and do the same thing with a second piece. After that is dry, Set up some really hot sanding resin. Wait an hour or 2 then said it with 80 grit 220grit then 400 grit. After that buff it and it will look good.
Yeah, it’s worked for me before. The thing is getting all the air bubbles out, which can take considerable tapping and massaging the delammed area. Bestto pick a cool day to do it, and go light on the catalyst. I often leave the wax on the deck when I do these, as that way the excess cabosil mix that makes its way out doesn’t stick to the deck and then you clean off the wax, sand it and glass.
If you’re really feeling ambitious, putting on a large deck patch of 8 oz is a good idea after you get the filler in and everything sanded smooth. Tends to prevent other delams down the line by stiffening up the deck where heels and everything else hit it.
I hate doing delams. You fix one, another one pops up a few months later someplace else, it’s like cancer or something. And like cancer, often it’s a predisposition to getting the problem: glass too light or squeegeed a bit too hard, heavy heels, rack pressure in the same place all the time and such. Especially if it’s a board long enough that it gets stomped to turn it. The additional pound or two that it would involve, beefing up wih another layer or two of cloth where neccessary - it’s nothing but industry ‘gotta have a super light board’ hype that has people skipping it. Better off having that extra couple of pounds than having to get another board in a year.
I use the same procedure as Doc for delams that big. My opinion is that delam repairs are temporary. Once one appears, more are usually on the way; often right next to the one you just fixed. I’ve removed entire decks for restorations and once you’ve seen the foam under major delams you’ll know what I mean. The unbonded foam under compression starts to stratify or form layers. The layers eventually separate and disintegrate into thin little pieces. This has a cascading effect from the original delam and I think that’s how they spread. When they pop up all over the deck, it’s more likely the lamination was pulled too dry. If it’s a so-called performance LB with real light glassing, well delams are pretty much part of the package. My advise is to fix it per Doc’s instructions, put a traction patch over the repair and put in on consignment at a shop. Make sure the next one has a deck patch and quality glassing. The pressure dings that wind up as delams can come from a lot of things besides just walking on the deck. Your knees when paddling (prone) on takeoff, kicking thru waves, etc. Learn to recognize where you need to reinforce the deck according to your habits.
I injected the delam using two holes and weights. Didn’t let it dry out enough as it looked like some water came out. I can expect a big brown spot. I had already put the heat on before waiting for posts and the bubble went away but now I am thinking that is because what may have happened was when I wiped out in shallow water the nose hit bottom and the board flexed and almost broke in half. There was a rail ding almost in line and I don’t remember hitting anything. I think I was lucky not to break the board in half.
I have had two other boards with the same location problem and did ask for a deck patch so I know the area I want to reinforce, and didn’t want just a small rear patch by the fins. With a longboard the problem area for me is up further. Also told him to call me before the board was glassed so I could talk to the glasser figuring I would give him an extra $20 to do it right. They never call. In the past I have requested two leash plugs on either side of the stringer like they used to do for big wave boards and put a note telling me to call before glassing thinking that would clue them in to do my board differently. They didn’t call and got the board without two leash plugs.
Good advice to ask for deck patch but can be hard to do in reality . You can bet this will not happen on my next board. I have always gone lightweight but will be rethinking my strategy. Quality glassing is important but hard to monitor.
Ooh, yeah, that might change things a bit…I’m guessing the rail ding is a little shattered area that wraps around the rail? sounds like you severely flexed / stressed your board, so that it began to fail at the rail and stringer…It’s probably real weak there now, and will almost surely break there eventually…
Try flexing the board GENTLY, stressing that area, with a light source skimming across the flat…You might be able to see weak areas of foam, and other partial delammed areas across the board…If it’s a nice board, it might be worth it to get it repaired, if it’s a beater, a large wrap of 6 oz cloth completely around the board and a foot wide will splint it a bit and keep it from going there…the Proper way I guess would be to find all of the delammed areas and try to get’em sticking again…or maybe just hack it in two along the weak line and put it back together? sorry to hear that…
Injecting is the most temporary method for delams, especially one that big. Be wary about repairing the flex problem; this combined with the delams is probably not worth the trouble. You could likely glass a new board with the same amount of effort.
It’s really hard to get glassing done the way you want it, retailers have this problem all the time (wrong colors, fin setups, etc) . The best thing is to do it yourself. It’s not that hard; the mess is in the sanding. If you’re not up to it, take the shape yourself to a reputable glassing house with a typed list of what you want (give them 2 copies). Ask for a price per the list. That way if you don’t get what you asked for, they don’t get the full price.