Repairing a (Polyethylene) Canoe
- This topic has 12 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated Feb 6, 2009 at 3:02 pm by
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i hope no one confuses canoe repair thread with wader repair thread and puts a blow torch to their waders
Zach, if the G-flex does not work try 3M Marine Fast Cure 5200 adhesive sealant. My buddy Jim cut a hole in his brand new Malibu Kayak and added a flush mount transducer for his fish finder. The 5200 is super strong 😉
Flush Mount Transducer for (x-13) KayakI’ve little experience with plastic boats, but I know wood boats and fiberglass well… But you got me thinking about this….
First, how attached to this thing are you?
If it were mine, I would consider doing this- Making a sandwich patch.
Zach,
The problem you are going to have with any adhesive is the mold release agents that reside in the polyethylene. Mold release is added to the polyethylene in the manufacturing process. This allows it to pop out of the mold easily but makes it a pain to repair. Collision repair shops deal with the same problem all the time because todays bumpers are made the same way.
The key is to get the area clean. Heating the area will bring the release agents to the surface but must be cleaned off at this point. There are a lot of products out there that will clean this off without leaving a residue. But mostly they are just made up of isopropyl alcohol (plain old rubbing alcohol).
You should heat it up and wipe it down several times before applying any adhesive.
As far as the skid plates, there are many that are applied with super strong double sided tape. With these kits they supply a small wet nap that is saturated with isopropyl alchohol to wipe down the area before the skid plated are attached.
Just make sure it’s clean and you shouldn’t have any problems.
Good Luck.
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