Please help. My wife's one true love, her Kestral 140, has suffered terribly.
I've been posting what a tough and wonderful boat this is, but what happened today would exceed most materials endurance.
The stern of the boat fell off the trailer at low speed, and dragged on the asphalt for several feet.
The heel of the keel has ground down to a very thin membrane of plastic, with one pin hole all the way through.
She's in tears and we both feel like dopes. Bow and stern lines, even when on a trailer, could have saved this from happening. As well as many "if only I..." thoughts.
Can Devcon Plastic Welder 2 be used to fill and build up this area to a decent, safe, repair?
Pics can be provided.
Please understand if I bump this request to the top for a few days, fishing for an experienced reply.
Thanks,
T
thermoplastic
I/m not sure about your material, however, you mentioned thermoplastic and if it is a true thermoplastic, i can tell you that 3m has product you can purchase at a auto paint store that does a great job at repairing thermoplastic (Plastic car bumpers) I’m sure if you are interested your local auto paint store will be happy to supply you with detailed information. I hope this helps
Fiberglass
A small crack in mine was repaired with FG, no problems yet.
3hrTour
Fiberglass
Is the way to go. I needed to repair an eddyline boat and used fiberglass and devcon plastic plastic welder II. Use progressivly larger pieces in layers to build up.
However, it’s better to do the largest
piece first, and then on down to the smallest. May seem counterintuitive at first, but decades of experience repairing whitewater boats shows that it works best.
Also, for a serious repair, a thin epoxy like West is worth the investment.
a few options
DevCon's plastic weld works well to stick things to ABS boats or to bond cracks in the plastic, but isn't designed to be a filler.
You might want to look at fixing your problem with a combination of MarineTex to fill the missing material (bonds well to ABS) and a few layers of glass with West System epoxy for strength and protection over the damaged area.
Depending on the severity of the damage, you might actually be able to go with MarineTex only. Back when we were selling sailboards (ah, the 80s...), MarineTex was the material of choice for repairing ABS and glass boards that had suffered the same types of damage. It cures overnight, and can be wetsanded down to blend perfectly with the surrounding area.
Call Current Design’s engineering dept
Why don’t you call Current Design’s Engineering Department and seek their advice.
I’m sure they have had this question before. Their number is 507-454-5430. Sorry I don’t have a toll free number for them.