Ted, if you treat it like brain surgery, it should work. When I say brain surgery, I mean, surgical cleanliness bordering on sterile. Assuming that you've got the right glue (not outdated, not spoiled, not for the wrong material) most glues will fail if there is any contamination. So first, use alcohol or a similar zero-residue solvent to clean the area. Work your way OUT from the damage, expanding the clean area. Use paper towels & throw them away, the goal is to absorb and remove any possible contamination or leaching from the plastic.
Now go back and do it again. You do this before roughing up the surfaces, because
sanding just embeds any surface contaminants into the material, ensuring failure if you don't start with a clean surface.
"1. rough up both surfaces.
"2. Add 10% of the activator to the glue and mix well, mixture is good for 10 minutes. ( ok so how precise does this 10% need to be cause I dont have a good way to measure it) "
>>Measuring can take some practice. Is the activator a watery liquid? OK, then buy an eyedropper, place ten drops of
water or honey on a CLEAN surface, take a second eyedropper and place ONE drop of the water net to it, stare at it until you get a feel for the proportion. Or, take a piece of clean heavy foil, draw a square about an inch or two wide on it. Draw lines on the square to make it into a tic-tac-toe board, so there ar nine squares. If you cover the square with glue, and now just cover the center square with activator? Right, you'll have 9:1 so you'll have 10% activator.
The proportions are usually not critical, there's room for human error.
"3. spread the mixture on both sides and wait for 10 minutes, then spread them with another hand. (must be bad translations here, how can the mixture only be good for 10min but I have to wait 10 min for it to get ready?)"
Definitely some translation errors. Usually, with a 2-part contact cement, you should spread it on both sides and wait for the glue to either get tacky, or get almost dry, so you can lightly touch a fingertip to it and pull it away, with no glue on your finger. Or glove.
"4. After 20 minutes put the two sides together and press carefully with a shaped piece of
wood. (ok so now im waiting 20 minutes for the glue to induct or get ready for use but the first instruction said the mix was only good for 10 min? Assuming I can get blocks on the patched area should I clamp it up then?)"
You may want to try contacting the manufacturer, or asking at the shop where you bought it. Again, there's usually room for error and moisture and temperature affect things. It might pay to make a couple of practice spots--right on the dinghy if you want. Give one a 10-minute time, give another 20, apply and clamp to small patches in some obscure place and come back in eight hours to see which one bonded better.
"5. Work will be completed in 72 hours. (this is the hard part as we use the dinghy a lot, will have to make a plan to be dinghyless for 72 hours)"
I suspect they mean the FINAL CURE is not completed for 72 hours. In which case, you can't rush things, you'll need to leave it clamped and set so it cures 100%.
With all these patches, clamping the patch until it has finished curing and setting up makes a difference. Scrap wood and a c-clamp, or a pile of stones if you can't clamp...
Even with the tolerances for human error and
environment, all these glues really need to be applied as directed to make a permanent repair. If you can't give it 72 hours, do what you can, keep the duct tape handy, and expect you'll need to redo it with a bigger patch somewhere down the line.
About 5200? You know it eventually hardens up rock solid. That would give you a hard spot on the dink, and possibly cause the patch to either
lift, or chafe around the edges.
If you can find "Goop", which is a brand of high quality one-part urethane glue (sold in
hardware stores in the US, in about 9 flavors targeted for shoe
repairs,
plumbing, general fixing, etc.) that might be a better idea. Stays flexible.
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