My board has a ding

[oldmansurfer]

Well in all the fun surf I have been having I overlooked that my board has a ding. I must have hit a submerged stick or something since I surf a sand break. My board is epoxy and EPS foam and so I guess it soaks up water like a sponge. I was at the beach with my board getting ready to surf and noticed water and thought $#^^&*@!!! it must have a ding. It did have a ding so I filled it with wax and went surfing. So there you go that's what I would do if I had a ding in my board. However I will be fixing it myself and will take pictures to document it all and post them here when I am done. Wish me luck First step is to remove the wax and then the damaged fiberglass and then let the water drain out so that is where I am at....letting the water drain out. I will probably put it in the sun this weekend to let it heat up and have the heat drive the water out. So it looks like I will be surfing my 9' fun gun for a while.

[surf patrol]

It did have a ding so I filled it with wax

shakes head

[oldmansurfer]

It did have a ding so I filled it with wax

shakes head

[oldmansurfer]

Coincidenetally I saw the guy who makes my boards and he told me he once had an SUPer bring a board to him saying it was listing (which means leaning to the side). He drilled a hole in the nose of the board and stood it up on it's nose and water poured out and ran out of his garage surf shop into the driveway. He also offered to fix my board but it would be a couple weeks out of action so I opted to try myself anyway. He warned me to use the right type of resin I guess EPS foam is bad for soaking up water. He warned me to use the right type of resin This is why I noticed the ding because my board had heated up in the sun and caused water to come out of the ding. I cut out the edges of the fiberglass and dug out the foam in that area to remove any reamaining wax and it seems pretty dry but I have the hole located as close to the most dependant portion fo the board so that water will drain out hopefully I will place it in the sun to drive more water out when I will be home duing the day on this coming weekend but so far it seems dry.

[waikikikichan]

Food for thought. Water runs down hill. Steam Rises. So when water is in its liquid state it should drain out the bottom. But if the water is heated up enough to become vapor, it will start to rise up. Finding its way thru the veins/ paths deeper between the EPS beads.

[oldmansurfer]

Food for thought. Water runs down hill. Steam Rises. So when water is in its liquid state it should drain out the bottom. But if the water is heated up enough to become vapor, it will start to rise up. Finding its way thru the veins/ paths deeper between the EPS beads.

I figured as much so am leaving it to let it drain for a few days before I put i back in the sun. What do you suggest Waikikichan? I think I won't be getting all the water out. As far as I can tell that is a problem with EPS foam with no good solution. Maybe drill multiple holes around the area and let it drain? I am not sure but if no water comes out when I put it in the sun then I will patch it. I guess the foam holds water so it won't all drain out anyway. But what do you do ?

[dtc]

Nuh, you definitly need a new board. Maybe 2, just in case.

[oldmansurfer]

When discussing the injured board I talked over a new board with him we'll see i might try a 7' 6" board....maybe

[jaffa1949]

Use the sun, I smell explosive de-lamination coming on
Or the two hole technique for leaking boats one to lets the water in, the other lets it out
It used to be a factor with solid balsa boards, water in a a little heat and the steam would raise a big bubble under the glass put pressure on the bubble and it would spread jus raising the glass as it went along the grain!
Clearly a new board needed

[oldmansurfer]

Long ago when I surfed 7 foot boards which were considered short back then my boards would delaminate over the area where my rear foot goes and I fixed them by just puncturing holes then squirting resin under the glass with syringes. Or I would cut away the whole area and reglass it. I had hard time convincing myself I needed a new board. My boards might have looked bad but they worked great. This one still works just fine and in fact it is working better and better as I use it...........maybe due to the increased weight from the water it's been taking on?

[oldmansurfer]

but yeah a new board maybe in January sometime. But I am not getting any younger so not a short board but maybe a shorter board by just a little.

[waikikikichan]

you gonna fix it with 2-part epoxy resin or with UV curing epoxy resin ?

[oldmansurfer]

I am not sure yet what I will fix with but thinking of filling hole with epoxy putty then sun cure resin

[oldmansurfer]

If there is no sun then a 2 part resin

[oldmansurfer]

Here is the ding full of wax


Here is the ding carved out with a utility knife


Here it is filled with putty and sanded


here it is covered with glass


Here it is sanded after glassing


Here it is with more resin applied to smooth down (sanding coat)

I am waiting for the resin to dry harder then will sand it and it's ready to go (I could actually use it as it is)

[oldmansurfer]

So my tips are make sure you dig out the fractured glass and let the water drain out first don't be afraid to make the ding a little bigger. Then make sure you use the right resin and follow the resin mixing instructions exactly use the correct amounts, mine was one part a to 2 parts b. Mix it well according to instructions and don't whip it up so there aren't too many bubbles. Get a pair of scissors that can cut fiberglass really well (which I did not do) If you notice my fiberglass piece is shaggy and this makes for more sanding. Let the resin harden enough so that it sands easily. Also make sure you use the right resin for your foam and just incase I didn't mention it make sure you use the right resin for your foam

[drowningbitbybit]

You did a good job at repairing that

I had to laugh though - I was expecting dramatic destruction (I get that the real damage is from the water getting in), but that's barely noticeable... no wonder you didn't spot it until you found a puddle.

I had a quick look at my own posts for the word "ding", and these are the two best ones that came up...

1186069947_1.jpg (145.72 KiB) Viewed 516 times

Epoxy board, flight-induced damage, and fixed with an epoxy two-part stick
This board got totally dinged to bits and waterlogged eventually... on the rails, the deck, the nose, and the tail, until it was 2 parts suncure, 2 parts seawater and 1 part surfboard

This one went in the bin....

[oldmansurfer]

One other tip is when you apply the sanding coat make it very light so it doesn't run to the side and make it hell to sand. If you look at my picture of the sanding coat you might notice the thick edge there.......Oh well it's read to go