Water Logged board

suck it out. Just like a snake bite.

 

Water log

Depending on how bad...cut a few holes in the glass without getting into the foam and let it bake in the sun to dry out. Water will find its way out- then just glass it back up. Good as new. Glass work is easy, dont be scared. If it looks like a ding and the area is dis-colored then there is probably water inside.

 

You don't mention any visible cracks or holes where you think the water is gettig in. If you don't see the foam discolored, or see the water weeping out of the board cracks after a session, you probably don't have enough water seeping to justify hacking up the board. If you can't even figure out where to cut it, then you don't even know where the leaks are!!

 

Your method to reverse waterlogging will be different depending on the foam type. XTR, EPS, and traditional polyurethane blanks all have different properties. This gets even more complicated if you have a compsand such as surftech, sunova, firewire, or (God forbid) Bic or NSP.

For example- XTR boards are closed cell and do not get waterlogged. EPS gets waterlogged and unwaterlogged fairly easily, but if you patch it with polyester resin it will melt the foam. Compsands (composite sandwiches) have layers of EPS, fiberglass, closed cell foam, or other materials depending on the manufacture. They can be tricky to fix correctly if your a novice.

First figure out what kind of board it is. Most likely it is a traditional PU/PE or possibly an EPS/epoxy board. These are the most common.

Next research how others have fixed similar problems. Swaylocks.com is a good resource for this but, like I said, research the problem before you post a 'help me' thread.

Your best bet- find your local shaper and have him take a look. Your will support your local surf scene, have the problem fixed correctly, and be out $30 at worst.

Good luck.

 

Good advice- yeah, Spike at K-Coast is good. And this link is pretty informative...

www.boardlady.com

 

Trust me, if your santa cruz is a tuflite, your local shaper isn't going to want to mess with trying to repair it. Take it to a shop that sells them...they have trained repair guys. If K coast sells em then yeah.

 

I did a bit of research and Santa Cruz uses what they call 'powerlyte technology' on the pumpkin seed line of boards. I can't find exactly what goes into 'powerlyte technology' but if it is similar to the methods used by tuflite or resin8 then the damage is probably worse then it seems.

Assuming that the methods are similar...... This type of board consists of a high density foam (such as corecell or divineycel) vacuum bagged onto a low density EPS core. The high density foam is pretty much waterproof and it will protect the water-sucking EPS core if the epoxy/fiberglass shell is compromised. If you are seeing bubbles coming through a crack that means that water has penitrated the EPS core and both the epoxy shell and high density foam are busted.

In other words.... your board is no longer water tight. Follow South Bethany's advice and take it to someone who has experience fixing compsands. Your local surf shop should be able to point you in the right direction but be leery. Most of the summer time help are high schoolers or college kids who sell shirts, baggies, and the occasional surfboard. They work in retail, not the surfboard industry (usually). I don't have any experience with any of the surf shops in the area so i cant recommend anyone.

I plan on taking a trip down to IRI this weekend so if you want me to take a look at it I would be happy too. Send me a PM.

 

I'd go to K-Coast or Chaunceys and just ask them which local shop has a trained surftech repair guy. I don't know what shops do, i've tried to repair a couple surf techs myself, and know just enough to be dangerous.

Yankee..i wasn't trying to be harsh about your support your local shaper suggestion...i only buy boards from local guys myself, so i know all of them around here, and none of them want any part of a surftech repair. Thats just not their thing...not my thing either.

 

Doc at Ocean Atlantic Surf shop may be able to help. He's a local shaper and the first person I'd go ask in the MD/DE area.

 

Water log

Sounds like you need some epoxy resin- the box says "epoxy resin." Avoid the suncure unless you want a quick fix. Who wants to go to the shop everytime you get a ding. Its part of surfing. Like anything the more repairs you make the better you will get.

 

Suncure, like any poly resin, will melt the EPS foam core of the board. Don't just avoid suncure- DO NOT USE IT PERIOD!!!!

On a traditional PU/PE dings can be easily fixed at home with some suncure or dingall. An EPS/epoxy board can be fixed with epoxy resin at home as well.

Your problem is more complicated because 1) the board has layers and 2) the core has been compromised. If you just sand it down and glass over the ding you might shave off the high density layer. Your board will be weaker and more prone to snapping. Also, you might trap water in the board which will not only add weight, it will also rot the core and increase your chances of lamination.

 

I'd like to see Doc's reaction to someone coming in with a waterlogged tuflite to fix. I pay money to be there if someone took a waterlogged tuflite to Ashton to fix

 

seriously all sarcasm aside just find out which shops in OC sells tuflite boards and take it there. Doc at Ocean Atlantic doesn't but he is a super cool guy who knows his stuff...you wont go wrong taking it to him. If he can fix it he'll do it right. If not he'll know who can.

 

So. . .

They're not really either tuff, or lite, eh?