I’ve got a Hobie kayak, rotomolded polyethylene hull, with a crack in the keel. I know there are a number of people locally who work with fiberglass, but I’m wondering if anyone has had experience repairing this material. Thanks.
How long/big is the biggest crack or how large of an area needs to be repaired? I've repaired polyethylene plastic water tanks using a fast setting epoxy fiberglass resin and fiberglass repair kit. The poly just has to be clean (acetone or pure alcohol works) and roughened up with sand paper 1st then a layer of epoxy resin is applied, followed by the fiberglass (fairly coarse) matting, followed by thorough saturation of the matting and fairing the edges with resin. The ends of the cracks should all be drilled with a small drill bit too in order to keep them from elongating/growing. If you have access to the inside as well as the outside of the hull I would do both. Let it dry thoroughly for 24 hours or until hard and you are good to go.
Vis vedlegget 9747 Thanks Broadside, I checked with Nigel, and, although he can do about anything with fiberglass, he doesn't have the equipment to repair this. Thanks Kdf, the crack is several inches long and is not accessible from the inside. Several websites call for a plastic welder and plastic welding rods sealed with TAP polyweld adhesive. Don't know if anything like that is available here.
