Hi All,
Need some help determining if I have a potential fin plug problem or not. Just noticed this the other day, pictures attached. The plug does not seem to feel loose when I apply pressure on the fin… This is a board I had shaped for me 6 months or so ago. Don’t know enough about board construction to know if this is just superficial or something that needs attention. Would appreciate some advice.
Thanks
leave it alone for now.
Keep testing the fin by pushing it side to side, if it starts to breath water in and out.
Get a real “pro” ding fixer to do the repair. A bad repair could spell disaster for your board.
jammin_randy,
it looks like they might of wrapped the fin box with some fiberglass cloth when they put it in the hole. Did the cloth on the back part of the fin box always look like that? The fin box doesn’t look like it was installed before the glassing was done. There probably was enough resin in the hole to seal the foam when the fin box was put in. Sometimes when you put fiberglass in the hole for fin box the cloth sticks out from the hole and doesn’t always get completely saturated. Usally it doesn’t matter because it gets trimmed off.
Mike
No, it did not always look like that..... had my board flipped over the other day and just happened to notice it. Everything feels flush around it and solid. Wanted to make sure this wasn't an indication of a bigger problem that should be addressed immediately. I'll keep an eye on it for now.
Thanks
Howzit randy,I did thousands of FCS install and never saw anything like that but it looks like they tried to glass over the plug and fiberglass and plastic just don't work that well together and it may be the glass has released from the plug which would show the glass. Those are the new FCS plugs and since I am out of the business these days I am not familar with the new plugs and if they are uner the glass or installed after the hot coat like the older ones. Aloha,Kokua
Fusions are a pre-glass install. Looks like the sander left some exposed weave over part of the box? Will rubbing in some thinned resin or even arcylic make it disappear?
No worries.
Agree; pre-glass install. What happened is very likely your fin impacted something and the box went slightly down at the rear and fiberglass didn’t follow. Since it’s very confined, I would just infiltrate some monomer styrene and then some resin. Styrene will make fiberglass perfectly clear again and resin will follow and make it waterproof.
Try dabbing it with Super Glue.
Now you’ve just started a rumor. Fin boxes should not be glassed over as the fibreglass won’t stick to the plastic on the top. Larry, here they come! And it’s about time…
To me it looks just like a typical sand-through.
The board may have been polished and therefore you didn't notice the exposed weave.
after a while the polish fades and sand-throughs become visible.
yep.
If you’re sure that’s there’s no leaks (salt crystals) or structural issues (looseness), remove the fin, sand lightly with 320 and clear acrylic spray (rattle can) the exposed weave area. 2 coats. Nobody takes the time to babysit embeds during glassing anymore. Hell, they don’t even set them in the blank right. During the past year, I’ve seen more cleanly ripped out finboxes (with the fin attached) than ever. Granted, most are from melted EPS around and under the box, but lots on PU/PE boards. Epoxy/EPS boards need to have all embeds glassed over to hold them in. They’ll develop leaks as the EPS expands/contracts over time without cloth over them. This is why pre-glass boxes are used for production so much now.
Howzit dean, Sorry I did't mean to start any rumors but some plastics just don't play well with resin and like I said I am not that familar with the new FCS plugs. I have seen resin just pop right off some plastics and that is not a rumor. Now could you explain what the "it's about time" statement means because it kind of sounds like you are aggreeing with me.Aloha,Kokua
Mr. Mellor’s method works and you can get super glue (cyanoacrylic) in a gel formula to spread it into the repair.
Kokua, off to greener pastures?
I agree with balsa, probably not a sand through since it wasn’t there before and the visible weave does not go beyond the joint… looks like there was some impact and the box pulled down-away from the glass in that section.
…here s what you see who are the hackers and who s not in this forum…
Its exactly as Balsa and Bud described.
plus: looks like a sanded finish, so pull out the fin then grab an angular sander with 80 grit and sand off that part then reglass again (lam 2 x 4oz, H Coat, sand, other HC sand to 400, put the fin)