Forums > Kitesurfing Foiling

Damaged carbon wing tip

Reply
Created by olyowl > 9 months ago, 29 Jun 2020
olyowl
WA, 42 posts
29 Jun 2020 5:08PM
Thumbs Up

Learnt a painful lesson today. Don't leave your foil face up in car park side on to 30knts of wind.
looking for some advice on how best to fix or who might be able to do it? Would some Araldite work?
also if I go out tomorrow with it like this will it make damage worse?





Raw Boards
WA, 66 posts
29 Jun 2020 6:08PM
Thumbs Up

Hi mate, yeah don't go out like that you will do more damage...
Can be fixed with carbon cloth and powder..

Kamikuza
QLD, 6493 posts
29 Jun 2020 10:31PM
Thumbs Up

I repaired similar but smaller (maybe -- can't tell how big it is) area of damage on a wing tip with JB Weld Marine. Cleaned it, filled it, sanded it to shape. Basically, a Bondo job, easy enough.

shi thouse
WA, 1129 posts
29 Jun 2020 8:46PM
Thumbs Up

Impressed that you're foiling in 30 knots!

olyowl
WA, 42 posts
29 Jun 2020 8:49PM
Thumbs Up

Not sure foiling was how you would describe what I was doing more hanging on.

olyowl
WA, 42 posts
29 Jun 2020 8:54PM
Thumbs Up

I found this at Bunnings. Thinking it might be worth a go.


Gorgo
VIC, 4911 posts
30 Jun 2020 9:50AM
Thumbs Up

I have the same foil, and did similar damage to it when it was just new (dropped it on the road and smashed the tip).

I repaired it and over 500 hours later it's still going strong. I love it and wouldn't ride anything else.

Seems to me the repair process is pretty much the same no matter how you go about fixing it.

Clean up the end and remove all the broken bits of carbon.

Use a pin to scrape into the cracks and chips. Make sure any little particles are removed. Probe the cracks and see if they go through to the foam inside. Don't be too vigorous. You don't want to damage it more. Just clean it up and explore the damage. A magnifying glass or jeweller's loupe is very useful. Use lots of light.

If you find any pinholes that go to the inside (the pin goes all the way in) then it's good to get a syringe and inject epoxy inside to seal it and reglue it.

I use West epoxy with the slow cure catalyst.

If it's all sound then fill it with epoxy paste. I use this stuff www.bunnings.com.au/pc-11-56g-white-epoxy-paste_p1560098

Read the instructions. www.pcepoxy.com/products/permanent-repair/pc-11-paste-epoxy/ You can smooth it out with metho or just a wet finger. It sands really well. It's a good idea to mask off the damaged area to reduce sanding and to avoid too much sanding of the unrepaired section.

If there's any big gaps you might want to get a sheet of carbon. Cut up a bit into fibres and use it as a thickener and gap filler.

If it's really badly damaged then you'll want to laminate the tip with the carbon. Finish it with a top coat. Maybe some filler to smooth it out.

If that comes up well then just paint it with Dulux Duramax white paint (or not if you don't want to). The mongrel camo look is pretty cool.

You can find videos for all this on youtube. You can buy all the bits and pieces from Bunnings and/or surfboard shapers supply web sites. There a couple of those in Oz.

Plan B is send it back to J Shapes in New Zealand. It's not too expensive to post a foil and it'll cost about $100 plus postage.

Questions. What are you going to do with the graphite? It's a lubricant. I guess you could use it to colour resin.

Why do people think 30 knots is strong wind for foiling. A 4-5m kite and that foil are joy in conditions above 30 knots. It's made for fun in the waves.

olyowl
WA, 42 posts
30 Jun 2020 8:08AM
Thumbs Up

Thank you every one for the tips. Going to tackle it today.

COL
NSW, 550 posts
30 Jun 2020 7:16PM
Thumbs Up

that graphite powder is intended as a lubricant not a reinforcement. you'll need a fibre for strength. I wouldn't layup any sheet, you'll never get the true profile back. Best repair is mixing up glass milled fibre( 0.8mm length, available from f/g store) with epoxy resin to a toothpaste bog(ie thick for max strength/wear resistance). Mask up the undamaged area first, and also have it masked for sanding until the final sand

Livit
WA, 542 posts
30 Jun 2020 6:18PM
Thumbs Up

Quite a common repair and not a big deal if you're handy with epoxy. I have a couple to do over the week end, happy to help out if you want to drop it off in Mosman Park

Gorgo
VIC, 4911 posts
1 Jul 2020 12:36PM
Thumbs Up

This is what my wing looked like. If I remember correctly I glued it with araldite, filled it with chopped carbon and araldite, then filled and smoothed with PC-11, then painted. It's had more than 500 hours use since then.

I've fixed a heap of scratches and chips with PC-11 since then.

I prefer to avoid Araldite. It works ok. West is much better. Easier to measure out with precision scales. Easier to mix with with thickeners and stuff. Seems to stick more reliably to carbon.




lwalker
69 posts
12 Jul 2020 1:00AM
Thumbs Up

Similar type of repair:
boardlady.com/finrepair.htm



Subscribe
Reply

Forums > Kitesurfing Foiling


"Damaged carbon wing tip" started by olyowl