Epoxy repair, hypto krypto

[gsseirik]

I have been working on a ding repair on my epoxy board for almost 1 year now, and stopped during the winter due to cold temperatures. I wanna surf that board in the summer-season, and need to finish the repair. The first steps involved cutting away damaged glass and sanding around the dinged area. I mixed some epoxy with q-cells and filled the gaps. After curing I noticed a couple of air-vents going all the way down to the foam. Searched the internet and found out that I needed to mix the epoxy more carefully withouht whipping air into the mixture, and also to do it on descending temperatures.

I have tried over and over again, but the same air-vents keep on forming every time. I came to a point of frustration, and sealed the air-vents with uv-curing epoxy. And now the next step is to glass over the area of q-cells and uv-curing epoxy.

Is it okay to proceed to the laminating stage or should I give it another go with the q-cells? And what do I need to think about when glassing (the dinged area is underneath the board)? And how to prevent fisheyes on the next coat.
I used Kwik kick epoxy and some micro-airballons from sweden, which was suitable for epoxy.

Is there a ding-repair thread somewhere on this forum?

This photo is from one of the first attempts.. And I have carefully cleaned all of the wax-remains on the entire board now.

[oldmansurfer]

That is very bizarre. My best guess is that you have water absorbed into your foam and it is being pushed out by warm temperatures while you try to fix the board. Understand this is just a limited guess based on my minimal knowledge. I have not worked with epoxy much yet. But when i do a patch I place the board in a warm area after removing damaged glass and foam with the hole located so that water will drain out and let it sit like that for a few days or a week or so. then fix it.

[gsseirik]

Thanks for the feedback! I kept it warm and with the foam exposed for many days, maby even a couple of weeks. But maby it wasnt enough. Can the epoxy or q-cell absorb moist if not stored properly?

[oldmansurfer]

I set mine in the sun with the hole on the very lowest point so the water will run out unless it is really hot in the room I keep it in. Usually I actually see the water dripping out or see the puddle it makes. I am not sure about q cell sources and water.

[waikikikichan]

just from past experiences, which may or may not work in your unique position:

1) if the damage is so big and deep, use a transplanted piece of EPS foam instead of the mixture or as a combination.

2) brush on a thin epoxy resin layer in the cavity and let that go off. Then for the next step do the mixture.

[gsseirik]

I could see water dripping out and forming a puddle, so I really hope that there isn't any more within the foam:-( I usually dry the board close to a A/C heater that we have in the house:-) But time will show I guess.

I thought about filling the gap with some EPS-foam, but it is so expensive to get hold of proper materials. The shipping costs more than the products usually, and taxes on top of both product and shipping;-) And the dings wasnt that deep, but it probably was deep enough to exotherm a bit more. Would love to have a Fiberglass Hawaii shop around here!

But point 2) must work! Thanks a lot:-)

[gsseirik]

So today I decided to start over again with one of the dings containing all the air-bubbles. When I re-opened the area, I could see that there where many different levels in the foam. As you can see on this photo, some of the spots have deeper areas than the rest of the ding.

How do I approach this? Should I try to fill the deepest cracks first, layer after layer with q-cell mixture? Or try to sand down the highest foam-spots so that everything is at the same level and then fill it?

The dinged area looked similar the first unsuccssful attempt showed in the picture in the initial post. So I think maby the airbubbles evolved as some of the mixture sunk down to the deepest voids. I hoped that it would work to just squeege the mixture into the ding, and voila!

The rest of the board is almost flawless, and I would really like to use it again. But today when I re-opened the ding, I got so annoyed after all the attempts that I almost threw the whole thing in the garbage-bin. Would be very happy if any of you guys have any ideas on how to get this board water-tight again. I have been working on the dings on this board for a long time now, but it seems to turn into disaster for every attempt.

[oldmansurfer]

I would sand it down and apply a base coat of epoxy resin. Let that harden then do the q-cell fill then sand and glass.

[gsseirik]

Thanks for the reply:-) Okay, will try that. Fingers crossed for this next attempt.

[gsseirik]

So heres the progress so far. Glassed 3 of the dings, and coated the exposed foam on the last ding..hope it works

[RinkyDink]

I haven't done any intricate ding repairs so take my advice with a grain of salt. If you're having trouble with air bubbles, you might want to try using some kind of syringe to help get the air out. I imagine you could fill the syringe, seal it off so the epoxy doesn't dry, let the air rise to the top of the syringe, then push that air out and start epoxying.

https://www.amazon.com/West-System-807- ... B000208DZC

[gsseirik]

Thanks for the reply! A syringe sounds great to use on small dings or airbubble-holes. But the epoxy will also harden in a sealed syringe? I thought maby the airbubbles came from the eps outgassing, or formed while the epoxy drained down in the eps, or due to whipping air in when mixing. I cant see any airbubbles in the coated foam, so I hope I can fill it with q-cell without getting all the bubbles again.

[RinkyDink]

Thanks for the reply! A syringe sounds great to use on small dings or airbubble-holes. But the epoxy will also harden in a sealed syringe? I thought maby the airbubbles came from the eps outgassing, or formed while the epoxy drained down in the eps, or due to whipping air in when mixing. I cant see any airbubbles in the coated foam, so I hope I can fill it with q-cell without getting all the bubbles again.

I've never mixed epoxy and I don't even know what q-cell is so I'm really not the one to be throwing my weight around in this thread. I think you might find better answer at Swaylocks or a board shaping forum. Wish I could be more help, but I'm not that knowledgeable because I haven't had to do much ding repair outside of Solarez touch-ups.

[gsseirik]

Thanks anyways:-) I have tried reading old posts in Swaylocks, but I couldnt register for some reason..and I don't know if the page is working.

[waikikikichan]

Is that a single layer of fiberglass cloth ? You should use at least 2 layers. One cut to the size/shape of the ding and one bigger than.

[gsseirik]

Its just one layer yes. I was thinking about using two layers, but I was afraid that I would make a mess of the weave. Last time I did two layers at the same time the weave got a bit folded, and it was hard to spread it out nicely. Is it okay to sand the high spots and put on a second and larger layer?

[oldmansurfer]

epoxy will harden where ever it is in a syringe out of a syringe on the floor on your fingers anywhere if you have mixed it properly. Waikikichan says to do 2 layers one just the size of the hole and one overlapping. I like to do 2 over lapping layers and fill the hole flush to the bottom of the existing glass. I tape off the patch to the size of glass that I want and overlap the glass over that then cut the glass to the edge of the tape while it is still not completely hardened, tacky slightly. Epoxy is such a bear to sand so after glassing you sand that down then glass over that then sand then resin over it to smooth it out and sand again. If I ever do another patch I am going to purchase a electric sander to help out.

[gsseirik]

Thanks for the replies waikikikichan and oldmansurfer! Everything you say makes sense! But I didn't completely understand :"..and fill the hole flush to the bottom of the existing glass". Do you mean when you prep the ding you sand down to below the existing glass around the cavity? So that the new weave isn't higher than the original and creates a bump?

So its okay to sand a little on the first cured layer and then go on with another one? Or is it better (chemical) to wet out the two layers at the same time? I have a small cheap eccentric-sander, but I don't have enough control with it. I just use a block and some sandingpaper.

I feel the epoxy is such a bear to work with in general All the steps sounds so easy and straightforward, but I've encountered different issues with all of the steps, haha! I will be very happy if I ever feel that I can master this ding-repair thing..These are probably not my last dings.

[DrDave]

I thought about filling the gap with some EPS-foam, but it is so expensive to get hold of proper materials. The shipping costs more than the products usually, and taxes on top of both product and shipping;-)

At least here in the states EPS foam (or Styrofoam) is easy to find as either packing material for delicate items or cheap ice chests. It’s the squeaky white stuff that crumbles when you break it. I usually keep a couple of chunks of it around if I buy something that comes shipped in it. It doesn’t need to be some special surf repair kind. Just roughly shape it for deep dings and then fill around it with q-cell slurry.

[gsseirik]

Brilliant! We get a lot of boxes at work with that kind of packaging. Never crossed my mind that it could be used for dingrepair. The ding in this thread has one small deeper part that is maby 1/4 inch deep.