How do I repair medium size hole at hull area - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

FishingBeast · 09-30-2009, 05:02 PM

The material is Polyethelene. Any help would be gratful.

dick fabulous · 10-01-2009, 03:47 AM

Talk with your friendly sales staff.

MalibuJohnny · 10-01-2009, 09:06 AM

Take it to OEX Sunset....they fixed a tear in mine.

Iceman · 10-01-2009, 09:13 AM

simple do-it-yourself fix above the water line would be to cover one side with duct tape, if possible and then fill in with marine goop the other side. I don't recommend this for below the water line though.

We do most repairs with scrap plastic, a heat gun and torch. I usually charge $20- $40 for repairs. I am doing one this morning and will take some photos for you.

Iceman · 10-01-2009, 11:25 AM

Holes are a little more difficult than cracks as the repair wants to sink in and usually takes a 2 part fix.

Here is a basic $20 crack repair.

this is a bigger crack, so I am using 2 smaller scrap strips to make it more manageable. Heating the scrap with the heat gun until it becomes elastic, then heating the surface so it fuses together. You have to heat the kayak surface enough to fuse the 2 plastics, very tricky when you are dealing with thin plastic.

I have turned some little hole repairs into BIG hole repairs.

Next you are pressing it in place so that it fills in the crack.

After letting the kayak cool, I heat a screwdriver blade, you can use a soldering iron as well, but this works well for me. Once the blade is nearly red hot you do a quick swipe of the torch over a section of the repair and feather it in so there are no edges to catch. If flat enough, I use a scraping tool to make it look even better.

09-30-2009, 05:02 PM	#1
FishingBeast Junior Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Ventura,CA Posts: 14	How do I repair medium size hole at hull area The material is Polyethelene. Any help would be gratful.

10-01-2009, 09:06 AM	#3
MalibuJohnny Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Lahina (I Wish) Posts: 272	OEX Take it to OEX Sunset....they fixed a tear in mine. __________________ Malibu Johnny must catch fish

10-01-2009, 09:13 AM	#4
Iceman Administrator Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: 1-2 miles off the point Posts: 6,948	simple do-it-yourself fix above the water line would be to cover one side with duct tape, if possible and then fill in with marine goop the other side. I don't recommend this for below the water line though. We do most repairs with scrap plastic, a heat gun and torch. I usually charge $20- $40 for repairs. I am doing one this morning and will take some photos for you. __________________

10-01-2009, 11:25 AM	#5
Iceman Administrator Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: 1-2 miles off the point Posts: 6,948	Holes are a little more difficult than cracks as the repair wants to sink in and usually takes a 2 part fix. Here is a basic $20 crack repair. this is a bigger crack, so I am using 2 smaller scrap strips to make it more manageable. Heating the scrap with the heat gun until it becomes elastic, then heating the surface so it fuses together. You have to heat the kayak surface enough to fuse the 2 plastics, very tricky when you are dealing with thin plastic. I have turned some little hole repairs into BIG hole repairs. Next you are pressing it in place so that it fills in the crack. After letting the kayak cool, I heat a screwdriver blade, you can use a soldering iron as well, but this works well for me. Once the blade is nearly red hot you do a quick swipe of the torch over a section of the repair and feather it in so there are no edges to catch. If flat enough, I use a scraping tool to make it look even better. __________________

10-01-2009, 03:47 AM	#2
dick fabulous Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 90	Talk with your friendly sales staff.