Glueing tubes

[Chris]

Got it done this weekend reglued on the last meter of Dstrake on both sides where it had started to come away after years of water pressure against the bottom of the strake. A laborious job but I am happy with the results.

Three tips from Henshaws that I found useful.

1 - get some heat on the strake before trying to bend it round any awkward curves (such as the cones at the rear of the tubes)

2 - Use a mini lorry strap when applying a fairlead for the bowline run the strap from the font eye over the tube to the eye in the boat (if you have one)then crank the strap down, this holds the fairlead tight against the tube whilst the glue cures.

3 - run a bead of Sikaflex along the bottom edge (mask off first) to help prevent the water from blasting its way back up the strake when underway.


If you need to do some glueing and have not tried it before don't be to concerned. If you prep everything well and sand the area to be glued to get off all the old stuff and loose bits thats the main pain in the arse bit done, prime twice then a final coat which you leave for about 15 mins till it feels slightly tacky.

I used some 2" sanding drums off ebay and then the dremel with the smaller sanding drums to get into the tight spaces. It was a bit unerving when peeling the strake away to see pieces of the blue rubber outer skin coming away leaving the white fiberous material behind however I kept on going and its was all fine in fact I think it actually gives a really good surface for the glue to key onto.

I checked with Henshaws who said if you ever think you may have leakage in these patches then when you are putting the first primer coat of glue on if it bubbles just let the air out of the tube, put plenty of glue over the area, let it cure then reinflate.

Its comforting too know that this is another process that I can perform myself if necessary (hopefully not)

Chris

[havener]

Looks a nice job.....

[Orville]

How much do you think it cost you in:

1. Glue.
2. Rubbing Strake
3. Preparation materials
4. Time

???

Cheers,

Orve.

[Chris]

Originally Posted by Orville

How much do you think it cost you in:

1. Glue.
2. Rubbing Strake
3. Preparation materials
4. Time

???

Cheers,

Orve.

1. Glue - 1 litre from Henshaws £12.75 (Still got loads left and also made far too much and wasted quite a lot)

2. Rubbing Strake - I just restuck down the old one at the back, I bought a metre from Henshaws for the Fairlead this cost me 14.61 and Ive still got most of it left over.

3. Preperation materials - 2" Sanding drum (only used 1) £2.50, Seam Roller £2.50 from Local hardware store. 4 cheap 1" paintbrushes £7.50 and old baby feed bottles for mixing glue in and a baby syringe for measuring activator. If you have a dremel or can borrow one I used 1 small sanding drum (3/8") and one larger one (1/2") to get in the tight spaces. Finally some Acetone for degreasing used about 250ml.

4. Time - About 2 hours of prep and the first coat of glue on day 1, On day 2 just 20 mins for another coat of glue in the morning and then later in the day about 1 hour for the final coat of glue then stick on the strake (I did each piece individually) So in total about three and a half hours.

Having done this for the first time I could easily do it in much less time now I know what to expect.

Chris