Hi sways crew. Looking for some advice on a log repair.
I spotted a minor crack on the righthand rail a few months back. A small area of foam around the crack was starting to discolor so I did a rush repair with UV cure and forgot about it.
So now there’s a fairly big depression (4-6 inches) on the bottom, right by the original crack.
Two questions:
1: It’s a PU board. Is the foam collapsing because of water damage, or is this just a regular pressure ding? I don’t remember any incidents that would have caused a pressure ding (but I don’t know how the crack got there either.)
2: I was planning to key up the glass around the ding and the crack, fill the dent with qcell mix and apply a glass patch. Does that sound like a plan?
Thanks y’all.
Dave P
No doubt the original damage was done by you at some point while surfing. It’s not hard to do damage to your board without knowing it.
One cause for the dent might be if you leave the board directly in the sun for a long time…like on top of your car. This kind of heat will do all kinds of bad things to the board, especially with regards to shrinkage of fiberglass. The crack could have let in water that allowed the foam to get wet and soft, then the sun exposure heats up the foam and it shrinks along with the glass.
A repair like that is easy because there is no hole or cavity. Just fill the dent with q-cell without doing anything but some light sanding in and around the dent. Sand it smooths and glass. I often add color to the q-cell to match the board color if it has any.
Just make sure it’s dry inside the dent first. You may want to cut the glass out just to check for any wetness. Water is bad and it will swell and ruin your repair. If it’s wet let it sit out for a few day…also tape a wad of paper towel to it to draw the water out.
Rough up the entire pressure dent too, and put 2 layers of 6oz on top of the entire dent. This will give the dent structural strength so that if your board heats up, that dent won't turn into a delam. large dents need cloth over topeven if they are not cracked open. the cloth over the dent has memory, and keeps the original glass from separating from the foam.
If it isn’t leaking, don’t fix it. You will only add weight, and add no strength.
This is an old post...didn't realize it was on the bottom. I do like to fill bottom dents like billy said though. On my deck dents(if they are huge) I will rough and glass the area.