Walker Bay Hull repair

[Belliure 50]

Hi All,


I have an older walker bay Genisis dinghy that i need to make a Hull repair on. I understand the material is some kind of high impact resin/plastic composite.
Has anyone made a Hull repair on one of these dinghies? Wondering if I can simply plastic weld it or if fibreglass will adhere to it?


many thanks!

[deblen]

https://www.practical-sailor.com/unc...ghies-8-and-10

[BlueH2Obound]

Interesting article, but unless I missed, says nothing about hull repair . . .

[Benz]

Resins used for fiberglass will not stick to that material. There are ways to "weld" this material with a filler rod of the same substance, but I've never seen it done nor the equipment to do it.
If it's old and has been in the sun a lot, the plastic may have degraded to the point it's not worth saving.
Depending on the nature of the repair, you might get away with some of the tapes they show stopping leaks in big tanks, though the durability of that is unknown.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Benz

Resins used for fiberglass will not stick to that material. There are ways to "weld" this material with a filler rod of the same substance, ...

The Walker Bay dinghys are injection molded out of polypropylene.
Since virtually [search ‘flame treating a plastic surface for bonding’] nothing will bond onto low surface energy plastics, like PP, repairs are generally made by welding.

[deblen]

Plastic welding is common place today in many industries./L
Some links to get you started:


https://ihshotair.com/blogs/resource...tobody-repairs


https://weldingboss.com/how-to-weld-...ods-and-steps/


https://youtu.be/44lih_dnhuo?si=xwbE_0X7YqRyPuSO


Google: & Youtube "plastic welding"


Tools available on Amazon,etc.
Any modern autobody shop can weld/repair plastic.


Cheers/Len

[GordMay]

Welding Polypropylene 101: A Comprehensive Guide to Joining Polypropylene
➥ https://www.forgeway.com/learning/bl...-polypropylene

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Belliure 50

I have an older walker bay Genisis dinghy that i need to make a Hull repair on. I understand the material is some kind of high impact resin/plastic composite.
Has anyone made a Hull repair on one of these dinghies? Wondering if I can simply plastic weld it or if fibreglass will adhere to it?

I have made numerous attempts over the years to repair PP and PE with relatively few successes. I offer, with due humility, some advice based on what has worked most often, having attempted all the techniques mentioned upthread.



Your best bet is to get some G/flex epoxy. Use a die grinder or dremel to cut out a bevel at the crack or whatever, flame treat the area (not as difficult as it sounds), then mix and apply G/flex.


G/flex has better adhesion properties to PP/PE and has a more similar modulus of elasticity which reduces the presence of stress risers when the boat flexes, compared to other epoxies.


You could also try Devcon Plastic Welder, which is a methylacrylate adhesive that also bonds well to PP/PE. It is sold in little dual syringes, just buy 5 or 10 of them or whatever to get enough. (Same chemistry is sold industrially as Plexus MA300 in larger containers but costs just as much)


No guarantees but this is your best bet. A fact to bear in mind is that plastic boats crack at the point where they are under the greatest stress, so any lasting repair has to be at least as strong as the original material.

[NorthCoastJoe]

Your gonna laugh. We used to use Duck tape on plastic white water kayaks in 1980's.
It would last a few runs before needing to be retaped. It kept the water out.

[HankOnthewater]

I had a Walker Bay dinghy for years. When I purchased it 2nd hand, it was quite well-used, and the 'keel' for a better word was worn thin and leaking in places, but..... the price was right. I guess worn due to dragging the dinghy on beaches etc by previous owner(s).
I welded a 3.5 mm thick, 40 mm wide strip along the bottom and then it was possible better and stronger than new. Hardest part was to make it neat around the centreboard opening.

But if the original poster needs hull repair, hmmm, the hull is double skinned and quite thin.

But as said above, unlike most plastic dinghies and kayaks, Walker Bay is not poly-ethylene (PE) but poly-propylene (PP).
It is easily to weld if one has the tools, and I had those, colour matching is at times more difficult.
If you have not got the right tools, just take it to a plastic welder.

[GordMay]

“G-Flex 655" Epoxy Adhesive Instructions, for Plastic Boat Repair:
➥ https://www.westsystem.com/app/uploa...ctions-min.pdf

Note: These instructions specify plastics, such as ABS, PVC, HDPE, LDPE, & Polycarbonate, but NOT Polypropylene [of which Walker Bays are made].

[Belliure 50]

Wow, lotta good info here, many thanks everyone. I can get my hands on PP welding repair gear, so ill give it a go.

[Leadfree]

G-flex. Here is the kit. Yer done. Also google ‘west system kayak repair’ for info

https://www.westsystem.com/products/plastic-boat-repair-kit/

[Hesti]

If the hull material is not glassfibre reinforced, welding (or glueing with surface activation) may work. If the hull material is fibre reinforced, you may want something to bridge the break. There are meshs for that purpose used in car bumper repair. Something like this https://www.ebay.de/itm/286195284406...rchantid=87778


I have never worked with such a mesh, so, good luck!

[kavw]

Plastic welding if you know how. The only one I’ve seen repaired was blue barrel piece of plastic patch with lots of rivets. Looked bodged but worked.