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Topic: Plastic welding a leaky hobie  (Read 1210 times)

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  • Dave The SynthGuy
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I recently posted about my leaky hobie sport hull, discovered Labor Day weekend out of Trinidad -- Over time I developed cracks in the hull just aft of the mirage drive  :oops:  causing a really bad leak.

I bought a replacement hull-only, a "new" 2014 hobie sport hull, that I picked up on Thursday of last week.  I'm happy that I did that. There's some nice new features -- especially for my lowrance FF transducer .. but that's not what this post is about.   :lol:

I also contacted "Wes", a guy who does kayak plastic weld repairs out of his home here in L.A.  He was recommended by "Greg" at Xtremeline, where I purchased my kayak.  I figured if I could make this a 2nd usable hull, that would be cool.  (Occasionally my wife wants to join me OTW)  :mrgreen:    Watching him make this repair was an interesting experience and it seems to have worked. I took some pix of the process and thought I'd post it here.

On Saturday I took the kayak over for Wes to see if a repair was even possible.  After looking it over he said he would have to try to repair the cracks from the outside because he could not get his welding tool inside the hull in that tight area near the mirage drive.





He sealed up the "gaping" hull holes. Here he used some foam rubber stopper to fill the holes where my FF cables were.



Then used an air pump, like the kind to inflate an air-matress, to pressurize the interior of the hull.



Here's a closer look at that little air pump.



He then sprayed a soapy water solution on various spots in the hull and found the cracks on the outside of the hull, just like finding holes in a tire or an inner tube.



Once he located the cracks, he used a grinder to grind out the cracked area providing a place for a "bead" (my words) of plastic weld material in the cracked region.  He's done this many times, I can tell.



Then he used the plastic welding tool to lay down a bead-like layer into the region that was "carved out".



That left a "bead" in the repaired area.  Here you can see the two welded cracks that were in my hull, repaired from the outside.



Then he used the grinder to trim away the beads to make them flush on the outside.



Next, he used some plastic "dust" -- small particles -- and a standard solder iron to fill the cracks on the inside of the hull.





That was it.  He asked for $50, I paid him $60.   I thought that was extremely reasonable, I was there about 2 hours.  :D

So I just had to try it out -- I took it over to Cabrillo on Saturday afternoon - it was about 4:30 when I got on the water and, believe it or not -- no wind! -- I should've taken a rod and reel!    ;)   Here's the old hull -- stripped down for harbor trials.



There were no initial leaks so I decided to give it the acid test.  TWO HOURS of straight pedaling all around the harbor.  How do you like those pasty white, hairy old man legs?



So after TWO HOURS of solid pedaling all over the harbor -- there was no water in the hull, save that that dripped in when I opened the hatch -- less than a spoonful.  This is looking in the forward hatch, wheels in, so all the water would run forward -- no water!



So it now appears I am the proud owner of TWO hobie sport hulls, a "new" 2014 hull and the repaired, older 2010 hull. At this point I only have one mirage drive, and one seat, but  I may be in the market for a used drive, paddles, and a seat.  :D

And now -- because every post should have fish porn -- this is the best I could do on that trip. This "roly poly" fish head was floating around near the Cabrillo boat ramp.    :lol:



That's my story and I'm sticking' to it! 

Dave   :smt006
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RBark

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Wow that is a damned awesome job. I know who to go to for any repairs!
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barefoot1

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KPD

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That's great! Thanks for sharing.
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jonesz

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Wow! That guy knows what he's doing. Only question I've got, is there a guy like that in northern California? That's a VERY reasonable fee also. Those cracks are right in the high stress spots that are known to crack in the older Hobie units before the click and go retrofits. If it holds up with be a real acid test for sure. Great set of pics too by the way. Very informative.Thanx


jonesz

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Oooh, just looked again and that does have the click and goes on it...hmmmm.


weldhuntfish

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Having been continuously welding for the last 14 yrs and a welder by trade for 11 years now I found that very very interesting. Ive always known about plastic welding but have never executed it or even seen it done in person. But like I say, if it makes a molten pool, I can weld it! I could be that northern ca plastic welder. O doubt. That guy grinded out a groove to put a bead in literally exactly as if it was steel. Thank you for taking the time to post that dbradfield. You may have opened up yet another door in my welding life. Very cool man, very cool.
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FishingAddict

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Wow! That guy knows what he's doing. Only question I've got, is there a guy like that in northern California? That's a VERY reasonable fee also. Those cracks are right in the high stress spots that are known to crack in the older Hobie units before the click and go retrofits. If it holds up with be a real acid test for sure. Great set of pics too by the way. Very informative.Thanx


JT Thomas at CCK Oakland does similar work.  I've had him do 2 welding jobs on my Hobie.  Great work and very reasonable prices.

« Last Edit: October 10, 2015, 05:55:41 PM by FishingAddict »
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jonesz

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Duly noted Fishingaddict. Thanx. Hopefully I won't need it, but if the situation arises, good to know someone to turn to.


halibutboy

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Sorry if this is a repeat question but have read else where here that Hobies crack in this area where the Mirage drive inserts. Makes sense in that there is a lot of stress here as one is pedaling. Why doesn't Hobie re-enforce this area to prevent this problem from occurring?. Can it be done with after market materials?  Curious
Thnx!
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Sorry if this is a repeat question but have read else where here that Hobies crack in this area where the Mirage drive inserts. Makes sense in that there is a lot of stress here as one is pedaling. Why doesn't Hobie re-enforce this area to prevent this problem from occurring?. Can it be done with after market materials?  Curious
Thnx!

As I understand it, cracks in that area were fairly common in older Hobies, but now it's very rare. Presumably, that's due to it being reinforced in newer models...
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  • Dave The SynthGuy
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Mine was a 2010 hobie sport. Apparently cracks at the aft (rear) side of the drive housing, like mine, are not as common.   :smt009  I was told they were more often found forward of the drive.

My replacement hull is a 2014 model and the entire slot seems to be much thicker.  :smt004

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Tote

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Great post.
Now for the real question, "Who gets to pedal the repaired hull, you or your wife?  :smt044
FWIW. I have  a'08 Revo and an '08 Adv and have had no problems with either of them leaking.
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MontanaN8V

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Great post.
Now for the real question, "Who gets to pedal the repaired hull, you or your wife?  :smt044
FWIW. I have  a'08 Revo and an '08 Adv and have had no problems with either of them leaking.

But you only take them out, twice a season  :smt044
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  • Dave The SynthGuy
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Heheha .. yeah … that's the $60 question.   :smt044

Also need a solution to put TWO little hulls on top of the Prius.     :smt003
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