delam repair

Well, I did it this time. While drilling small breather holes around the perimiter of the delaminated area on the deck of my H16 hull I accidently went too far with one hole and went all the way through. Now what? As I force resin into the area I know it is going to leak through this hole into the hull. I am probably not the first guy to do this. Anyone with solutions?

If you can get to the inside hole by way of a hull acess port, then you should be able to lay some fiberglass over it on the inside, or maybe epoxy. It also may just be fine the way it is if the injected epoxy dries completly filling the hole, you may just have a sharp drip on the inside of your hull, which should not bother anything, and UV shouldn't affect it since it is inside of the hull away from sunlight. It could possibly wick a little water.
I fixed some areas of delamination from the inside using the west system, sticking a sharp turkey seasoning syringe through the matt, but I could only do that around the access ports, it did drip a little, but hasn't hurt anything except maybe weight of the hull. The rest of my hulls have about 60+ holes drilled an filled.
I hope this helps, and if I am wrong about anything someone else answering your thread will surely point that out.
Good Luck,
John G.

Chuck, lather up a small square of something thin like craft paper or plastic with any kind of glue/adhesive and push it down into this hole with a smaller size drill bit. Test/mark your bit in a hole that didn't go through to gauge the depth to insert. Let it dry for a good while (day?) before injecting your resin.

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Sheet In...Max Out
www.fleet297.org
sailflatlands at gmail dot com

Even easier:

Mix up a very small batch of Marine-Tex. Force as much of it into the hole as you can. Let it go off overnight.

Drill another hole in another location and use a depth stop, fer crissakes!

Thanks for your suggestions!

Chuck

How big is the hole? (Diameter)

dip a couple toothpicks in some epoxy and run them into the hole.

How deep do you or did you drill the holes to do the delam repair without going all the way through??? I need to do the same thing on my 16 deck lids.. Another question I have would be what diameter holes would be the best to use

No more than 1/4 of an inch I would guess. If you are careful with the drill, and let it do ALL the work, then you will feel when you go through.

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James
86' Redline Hobie 16
Sail # 76909

To check the thickness of the hull in any spot, just drill a tiny hole in the outer skin and stick a toothpick through the hole and the foam until it strikes the inner skin, mark the toothpick and measure it after you pull it out!!! Hey, this is Hobie/fiberglass repair, not rocket science.

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Alan
'86 H16, Sail #89057

Thanks all you guys for the help. I am going to try it out this weekend and see if I have any luck

Agreed with James and Alan there, I've got a piece of deck in my garage (somewhere) from cutting in a port, but if memory serves me correct the foam is 0.375" thick. Best, and easy, to check first.

_________________
Sheet In...Max Out
www.fleet297.org
sailflatlands at gmail dot com

Hey guys, what is the best two part epoxy to use and where is a good place to buy it.

Git Rot is what is recommended by Matt Miller and many others. You can find it at marine stores or hardware/home improvement stores. It is also used to fix wooden deck delam and fiberglass tubs. It's really simple to use. I used it on my old 16 decks about two years ago and they are still rock hard, although I have some new hulls and don't use those anymore.

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James
86' Redline Hobie 16
Sail # 76909

I did a delamination repair on my port hull two years ago. Instead of using a drill, I used a Dremel Moto Tool (also known as a Rotary Hobby Tool). It's smaller, lighter & less intimidating. You have a much better feel when you drill through the top layer & go through the foam layer. You can feel it when you hit the bottom layer.
I don't consider myself as being very handy, but this turned out to be an easy repair. If you have the opportunity, use a power tool that's smaller & lighter than a drill. I didn't use a drill bit. Instad, I used a small round grinding bit - similar to what your dentist uses to drill teeth.