Hi guys. For all the repairs I have done, I have never landed on a great solution for (what I call) “ring cracks”.
Yes, I checked the archives, and attached photos…
I refer to the round cracks that occur around compression dents, particularly at stringer and on heavily hot-coated boards. Preventing them with good construction is obvious enough, but repairing them has always kind of eluded me. First, not all of them leak, and I typically don’t fix it unless it’s broken, so many times I have deferred to a tasteful sticker or a shot of Krylon for peace of mind. Like a real pro. In the case of reviving beaters where the foam is down at the stringer, I have sanded and laid down a strip of cloth… These solutions have apparently been adequate, though do not address the isolated cracks on the deck or bottom that are known leakers.
I am guessing that most here will suggest sanding to cloth, perhaps even adding a patch, and re-hotcoating / sanding. This solution makes sense to me, if not a little labor intensive for something that could also just be forgotton under a nice STP sticker… Nah, I know better. So, specifically I ask if anybody has any neat little tricks, shortcuts, long ways around, backyard hacks or general good advice here (Too late on the “stay in school, don’t do drugs”, boys!). I remind you that I am not asking about preventing them or what is causing them, but if anyone has come across a neat way of insuring these ring-dings don’t effing leak once they’ve occurred. Yes, by “neat” I mean quick, lazy, and with the intention of surfing more than fixing. Thanks to any and all that are inclined to weigh-in.
