Or will it bounce back? Does anyone have pictures of what oil canning actually looks like. I can imagine but I'd like to actually see it.
I use ratchet tie downs for my PH Capella 166 (2005 Model) which has the 3 ply poly. I have a 2x4 truck rack with foam blocks velcroed to it. I ratchet until the strap won't slide by hand but I do see the boat compress a bit. I'm told the 3 ply poly is very strong. I used to tie it down with the hull down but have switched to hull up.
I have noticed a flattening on the hull but I'm not sure if it is from design or from oil canning.
When I first noticed this I had only car topped it about 4 times with a week or two in between and it was never in the beating sun and always less than an hour.
If anyone out there has the same boat (year and model) can you take a look and let me know if you have a perfect "V" along the whole length of the hull.
Other suggestions and comments also welcomed.
Yes, kayak should be thrown out
OK, boy has this topic been done to death. Just leave it in the sun, hull up and you’ll be just fine.
Sorry Brooktrout
The recent topic about oil canning made me think about my issue but I figured it would be lost if I added to that thread.
I guess I could have searched the forum for more info but I did have some specific questions about my particular boat as well. I’m also not convinced my boat is oil canning.
I apologize to others for the redundency of this post. But would still appreciate some input if you have it that wasn’t already covered in the other recent oil canning post.
Just having some fun.
I notice that people (usually new to paddling) get very obsessive about their equipment. This will pass. It’s OK and a good thing to want to keep your stuff in good condition but normal wear and tear is just part of the game. Your plastic boat WILL oil can when tied down, at least the older ones (although the new plastics are SO much better). You WILL get scratches and gouges and bashes if you’re using them and that’s fine–all part of the game. Forget about them. Just paddle and have fun.----Rich
Mine did
Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh! But it has popped back out. Took a few days of GA heat and sun but it is a shock the first time it happens.
I just noticed that you live near Boston
Get in touch with the North Shore Paddlers Network (NSPN). Great group and the real deal. You will learn a lot from them and you should see some of their boats! Lots of scratches,etc. I belong to a group in Conn. called ConnYak that is very similiar.–Rich
It often does.
Just to reiterate, oil canning is a dent in the hull. Sometimes the dents pop out again with a heat treatment. But a great deal of the time they don’t and your only solution is to provide support from the inside of the boat. It is not a good thing. Scratches? Nobody should care about them. Oil canning? Care.
Mine doesn’t actually have a dent
I have a V hull but it flattens a bit (not a dent) then goes into a sharper V again under the seat then flattens out a bit again (just happens to be in the areas where my straps go). It’s definitely not a dent like you’d see on an oil can, just a little flatter.
I heard that the 2005 Capella RM 166s hull was slightly redesigned and I was wondering if what I’m looking at has something to do with that design change.
I’ve been paddling since May and been having a ton of fun and progressing well. I don’t worry about the scratches (anymore) but if oil canning effects tracking (and resale value) I’d like to avoid it if possible.
Oil Canning is NOT a dent!!!
A dent is a dent is a dent....
Oil canning is when the hull flexes in and out..
Like the bottom of old fashion oilers. Like your car door does when you close it with your knee..
http://img390.imageshack.us/my.php?image=oilcan6zm.jpg
Oil canning is a dent!!
It is like when you push in the bottom of the oil can and it does not retract. It is like the bottom of my Dom 47 WW boat where there is a permanent broad indention right under the seat. Neither sun nor hot water nor hair dryer nor whatever will get it to pop out. I could put some foam under the seat to reduce it somewhat but I don’t use the boat enough to go to the trouble. It is in the nature of plastic to deform in that way.
Can of oil or Oil Can???
A can that oil comes in will dent…
An Oil Can always retracts immediately by itself.
Sorry, you have a dent… ;-0
Sounds like you two guys…
…are opening up a can of worms!
If their can gets oil canned do you suppose they will be squashed worms or dented worms?
Cheers,
JackL
These young wipper snappers…
Don’t remember what an “oil can” is…
That’s the problem, Jack 
I used to be able
to play a tune on the old 3 in 1 can using the “oil can” method
I still have one of those little old ones with the spout where you would “oil can” the bottom to make the oil flow.
It was my grandfathers and he used it to lubricate his whetstone to sharpen his pocket knife.
I’ll bet it is a hundred and fifty years old.
Cheers,
jackL
I don’t get it
I must be doing something wrong. I have a 17’ MR Explorer, a Phoenix Cascade and a Millbrook AC/DC that I can’t seem to put a dent in no matter how hard I tie them down even though I leave them on the rack in the sun for a week at a time. Maybe I need chain boomers? I can’t even get them to oil can when in the water although the 20+ year old battered up Millbrook probably should as thin as the layup is. Where am I going wrong and should I worry about this?
When I turned 50, got this deformatio…
…on my butt that won’t go away, so I guess it’s
permanent.
butt dent
That’s from sitting on the couch watching the tube or surfing the net. More time paddling will get this dent to pop out. Or you could try being nicer to people if this dent is caused by people putting their foot there with extra force in order to get you to leave.
More practical advice than…
…my wife wanting to pour boiling water on it.
Oil Canning
Ok…as you caan see, things wander on these type of posts.
I’ve got a plastic America that developed an oil can deformation from one weekend of laying hull down on the garage floor. I laid it out in the sun as everyone sugested and 98% of the dent disappeared…Only to somewhat re-appear when I put the boat into the water several days later.
The plastic seems to have a ‘memory’ (A response thru KayakForums will give you a more definitive reason)and will ‘re dent’ to a certain extent.
I discovered that the hull/deck didn’t compress IF I strapped down over the foam verticle supports…Problem was: The supports didn’t line up with where the racks were.
Solution…I went to a craft store and bought two 3" thick x 3’ long x 24" deep blocks of foam and cut extenders to fit inside the hull so I had support where the straps and racks crossed the hull/deck. The extenders are for transport only (I pull em out once I get to the water but leave em in on the racks in the garage)but seem to have eliminated this desire to dent when tightly strapped.
btw…do NOT 303 your boat immediately prior to car topping it somewhere…the grip the straps and rack have will be reduced enough that the boat-at 55mph- may slip right out… So mentioned because I actually witnessed this happen.
Regards
Rich McCarthy
Hull Flattening
I just went on a day of test paddling on Georgian Bay. I tried the Capella 166 RM plastic boat and loved it. When I got it back to shore I noticed two definite 'flat' spots on the v-hull fore and aft of the seat area. The two other new and used plastic Capellas being stored had the exact same flattened out areas in the same spots. The dealer advised me that this seemed to be a new problem with the current 2005 model year Capellas--in previous years this was never a problem. The dealer had contacted P&H and they dusted him off saying they didn't know what he was talking about, and that their reputation speaks for itself (a tad arrogant). The dealer has tried to pop out these flat areas but to no avail. I would have bought one but but this swayback disuaded me! This definitely appears to be a design flaw, as someone else mentioned they re-jigged the shape of the Capella's hull in 2005?