Xfactor Leaking - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

BassYackwards · 11-03-2015, 12:16 PM

Hello all,
I am new to BWE and about 6 mos into Kayak fishing. My first Kayak was a Cobra Navigator XF, great kayak, had it out about a dozen times on the lake and once to LJ (A story for another time...) The Navigator was great , had plenty of tackle storage in the hull and when I got done fishing the hull has always been dry, even in and out of LJ surf. A few days ago I bought a newish blem X-factor from a friend and immediately rigged it up to go. He had mentioned it had a repair and it looked ok from what I could see. Took it out on the lake Sunday and it is leaking. Slow steady leak until I stood on the flat side areas just stern side of the bait tank then it would take on water faster.
Upon close inspection with a flashlight I found a U shape crack in the seat pan with the bottom of the u shape going slightly down the scupper edge in the seat. Also the bottom of the scupper had a crack from 2/3 back to the front where there is a 1cm hole. The whole thing was covered in white deck sealant looking silicone. So I removed all the silicone and started to scrape at the repair to see if it was solid. layers of plastic came off with chunks of some other clear more brittle plastic. also some calcium mixed in there here and there. After flaking the garbage off and cleaning the area some I am left with this

The lower front of the left seat scupper
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f310/rmccomb/20151103_075715.jpg
The lower inside of the left seat scupper
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...103_075726.jpg
The seat pan left scupper top cleaned some and drilled cracks
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...103_075625.jpg

My question is what next?
I see powder, rods, and 4" square pieces for sale.

BTW: I called Malibu to get there opinion and after that exchange it took me 6 hours to talk myself back into keeping the boat. Which may change...

"Patrick" mentioned the special epoxy powder they sell and how it reacts with heat when applied to a welding rod? WTF is that? They would not take my order over the phone for repair materials. He referred me to the website 3 times, laughed plenty and left me plenty po'd. He should have said do you have google? go to our site and goodbye I would have appreciated that much more.
I asked what are these foam blocks I see? "Oh that is the standing platform" What? Are these areas on the side of the yak not a standing platform?
"They reinforce the hull"

That presupposes some $#1*

What is the best what to repair this? Will it be sea worthy? I fish often and would like to do a Catalina crossing a few times in my life.

To be clear I am not upset with Malibu for not offering any assistance of any kind, I understand if you buy something and sell it to someone else the manufacturer has no more warranty obligation whatsoever.

I had planned to repair this but I may be in over my head here.
I see these: http://www.codpaddlesports.com/collections/repair-kits
The "Standing Platform"
http://www.codpaddlesports.com/colle...cks-for-kayaks

Also had a look at these:
http://www.harborfreight.com/welding...ure-96464.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/9-pc-he...kit-68695.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/1500-wa...112-96289.html

From what I can tell from the first repair the seat pan edge of the scupper was heated and the scupper pushed up (possibly from the lower repair) and bulged the area slightly where the scupper hits the seat.

I planned to heat the top of the scupper and get it repaired and sitting right then do the lower repair with a cut piece of plate, rods, powder?

I had planned to add blocks under the seat and reinforce the scuppers in question somehow after the repair, maybe carve up some lobster floats to go under the seat and reinforce the scupper posts.
The left seat scupper also looks like it attaches to the hull at an angle not flat like the right side. Will have to address that maybe it will straighten out when I get the rest back to shape.

Does anyone have any good resources or links for kayak repair?
Would like to keep this one afloat for a year or so until I can afford something better.

Thank you in advance, Great Forum, like the fishing reports, webcam , weather links,

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11-03-2015, 12:16 PM	#1
BassYackwards Junior Join Date: Jul 2015 Posts: 13	Xfactor Leaking Hello all, I am new to BWE and about 6 mos into Kayak fishing. My first Kayak was a Cobra Navigator XF, great kayak, had it out about a dozen times on the lake and once to LJ (A story for another time...) The Navigator was great , had plenty of tackle storage in the hull and when I got done fishing the hull has always been dry, even in and out of LJ surf. A few days ago I bought a newish blem X-factor from a friend and immediately rigged it up to go. He had mentioned it had a repair and it looked ok from what I could see. Took it out on the lake Sunday and it is leaking. Slow steady leak until I stood on the flat side areas just stern side of the bait tank then it would take on water faster. Upon close inspection with a flashlight I found a U shape crack in the seat pan with the bottom of the u shape going slightly down the scupper edge in the seat. Also the bottom of the scupper had a crack from 2/3 back to the front where there is a 1cm hole. The whole thing was covered in white deck sealant looking silicone. So I removed all the silicone and started to scrape at the repair to see if it was solid. layers of plastic came off with chunks of some other clear more brittle plastic. also some calcium mixed in there here and there. After flaking the garbage off and cleaning the area some I am left with this The lower front of the left seat scupper http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f310/rmccomb/20151103_075715.jpg The lower inside of the left seat scupper http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...103_075726.jpg The seat pan left scupper top cleaned some and drilled cracks http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...103_075625.jpg My question is what next? I see powder, rods, and 4" square pieces for sale. BTW: I called Malibu to get there opinion and after that exchange it took me 6 hours to talk myself back into keeping the boat. Which may change... "Patrick" mentioned the special epoxy powder they sell and how it reacts with heat when applied to a welding rod? WTF is that? They would not take my order over the phone for repair materials. He referred me to the website 3 times, laughed plenty and left me plenty po'd. He should have said do you have google? go to our site and goodbye I would have appreciated that much more. I asked what are these foam blocks I see? "Oh that is the standing platform" What? Are these areas on the side of the yak not a standing platform? "They reinforce the hull" That presupposes some $#1* What is the best what to repair this? Will it be sea worthy? I fish often and would like to do a Catalina crossing a few times in my life. To be clear I am not upset with Malibu for not offering any assistance of any kind, I understand if you buy something and sell it to someone else the manufacturer has no more warranty obligation whatsoever. I had planned to repair this but I may be in over my head here. I see these: http://www.codpaddlesports.com/collections/repair-kits The "Standing Platform" http://www.codpaddlesports.com/colle...cks-for-kayaks Also had a look at these: http://www.harborfreight.com/welding...ure-96464.html http://www.harborfreight.com/9-pc-he...kit-68695.html http://www.harborfreight.com/1500-wa...112-96289.html From what I can tell from the first repair the seat pan edge of the scupper was heated and the scupper pushed up (possibly from the lower repair) and bulged the area slightly where the scupper hits the seat. I planned to heat the top of the scupper and get it repaired and sitting right then do the lower repair with a cut piece of plate, rods, powder? I had planned to add blocks under the seat and reinforce the scuppers in question somehow after the repair, maybe carve up some lobster floats to go under the seat and reinforce the scupper posts. The left seat scupper also looks like it attaches to the hull at an angle not flat like the right side. Will have to address that maybe it will straighten out when I get the rest back to shape. Does anyone have any good resources or links for kayak repair? Would like to keep this one afloat for a year or so until I can afford something better. Thank you in advance, Great Forum, like the fishing reports, webcam , weather links, Last edited by BassYackwards; 11-03-2015 at 01:26 PM.