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Repairing Airush Sector V3

Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2012 9:21 pm
by UKSurf
Hi,

Could anyone advise on the best way to repair a small chip/hole in the skin on an Airush Sector V3. It only seems to be through the surface skin, I can see a second harder brown skin underneath.

Thanks Alot.

Re: Repairing Airush Sector V3

Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 12:01 am
by chipmunk

Re: Repairing Airush Sector V3

Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 2:48 am
by borist
Lots of info here: http://www.boardlady.com

Re: Repairing Airush Sector V3

Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 3:57 am
by foam-n-fibre
I did a fix on a very small hole on one and as the board warmed up in the sun I could see air bubbles coming out. This suggested to me that it is a somewhat porous core, so make sure you do fix it or it might absorb water. If it's small, you need just a few drops of resin to seal it. Bigger might be worth adding chopped glass fibres or even a bit of fibreglass cloth if its bigger still. Use epoxy, not polyester, just to be sure since I don't know what the core is in that board. It's hard to give advice without a picture though, post a piture of it.

Peter

Re: Repairing Airush Sector V3

Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 6:00 am
by ankers
I had a few months ago a crack at the finbox, repaired it with solarez and thought it was ok.

Suddenly after one session, the board was much heavier. Indeed water was sucked in. I think the foam is EPS, extremely spungee..... It sucked up like 1 glass of water.
After drying, checking for leaks etc. I thought to have it fixed.... but no, still a small leak and water in again....

The water as well caused delamination...... so i guess the board is kind of f....ed up.

Now what I do: I made two small holes, one in front and one in back. This makes it easier to get the water out (gravity based). Make sure there cannot get air inside in the crack. Then I taped off one whole (after drying) with a normal surf sticker (they stay well on the baord from my experience) and I kind of vacuum suck the board (via the other whole) with my kite pump (on deflate setting, using a rubber valve that seals of the hole well) so the epoxy outside layer sticks well to the EPS foam.

So far this works..... but still a new board has been ordered........

I dont know if this is something to do with airush quality or not.. still i got cautious with that brand(rightly or wrongly)....

Lesson learned: all those EPS core boards (almost all industrial kite surf boards) need extreme attention for cracks. the smallest one create major problems. They suck up water extremely fast and can destroy your board in no time. boardlady.com is indeed a very informative website
ankers

Re: Repairing Airush Sector V3

Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 9:26 am
by MikeBirt
Just a couple of things on this....
These boards have an eps foam core.
In this the foam is extremely light - it has to be, for it's a big board and there is a lot of reinforcement on heels and finboxes so weight reduction is V important. The Sectors are not as light as they could be, but they are very strong... The fact that they are EPS cores will make them absorb water and will also make them reactive to polyester resin when breached... So, please don't expose the core to polyesters.. (includes solarez). Repairs MUST be done with epoxy. That said EPS is functionally far superior for bigger volume boards.

While it is possible to crack the paint and not the laminate I would strongly suggest that if you see any cracks or bruising to the skin, pucker up, get your lips on there, and if you can suck air out, then water can get in, so get it fixed.

Before I started Kiting in '98 we had been using EPS cores in windsurfing since the late 80's. It's possible to get the boards to delaminate, but the water has to be in there for some time, and the eps will soak up a lot. If you think there is water in there, before you repair, open a small section of foam to the atmos, leave it propped in a warm dry room with the foam at the base to let gravity take the most out. After that put some toilet paper in, wound up as a wick, with the end fanned out to wick and evaporate the water away. Putting a dehumidifier in the same room for 3-4 days will help wick it all out.

After that, repair with epoxies and you should have no problems... But check your board every once in a while, and do treat them with care. They are strong but sharp hard objects are not it's friend...

When you go through the white paint you will first find a black carbon wrap, after that you will either hit eps on the deck, or if around a fin box you will find a non absorbent pvc foam called airex. This may be your brown stuff.. it does come in different colours, but you'll have to do some digging and sanding to find it.

I have seen many windsurfers back in the late 90's strapped to spinning devices (there was one in south africa). Made from a washing motor strapped to a spinning car hub welded into a frame, you strapped your board to it and span it like a top. It would take 4-5 litres of water out of a sodden board, quite incredible, but the fact that the boards broke loose regularly made it a risky proposition. Like medieval medicine, this was kill or cure, and plenty of people went home with their favourite boards in bin bags. :-)

Re: Repairing Airush Sector V3

Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 9:44 am
by ankers
fully agree Mikebirt

one remark: solarez exist for also epoxy and EPS foams (blue tube instead of the white one, which is for PU)

Re: Repairing Airush Sector V3

Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 12:25 pm
by UKSurf
Thanks alot for the help on that. Here is a picture of it. The hole is about 1cm across but I have blown it up. That wooden colour stuff you can see under the skin is very hard, and I think there is no water that has been adbsorbed by the core. So you think it would be ok to just fill it with epoxy resin or would some gelcoat filler be better?

http://picpaste.com/SmallDing.jpg

Re: Repairing Airush Sector V3

Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 1:36 pm
by chipmunk

Re: Repairing Airush Sector V3

Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 2:45 pm
by ankers
just make sure there is no water in it before you patch it.

if you can, just put your lips on it and suck.... if you can suck out air then most probable there will be water as well. the water tastes like sh.t, but hey......