Patch Crazy

[docwilson]

Hi All, I have just bought a Honwave T27 v deck and the previous owner has gone overboard with patches. He has put patches on patches and told me he had no patience with repairs so just threw loads of glue and material on the sponsons etc.
My problem is how to get all this excess glue off the boat so I can strip off the patches, clean it up and make a tidy repair. I have tried gentle rubbing with mek but to no avail.
Can anyone help please?

[Max...]

Welcome. You might want to ask the mods to move this to the SIB section.

For advice on all your questions see the current topic in that section by Fenlander: "Aerotec patching/glue advice."

[Fenlander]

Yep have a read of that thread. I'm just off out to prep the next area I'm sorting in time to glue midday.

Max advised me to use acetone as MEK is a little aggressive and Wilk says it needs using with huge caution near existing glued seams/fittings.

Most of the work I'm doing is to re-do previous patches due to concerns over strength on some of them and improve cosmetics on others,

My SIB is 17yrs old and has led a busy life having been used off a rocky coast for many years and then on davits so has gained more patches than many. The past repairs vary in quality from patches you can peel off by hand to some you can't budge but on most of them there has been no attempt to prevent excess glue going way outside the area of the patch and this turns brown in time looking pretty ghastly.

I've been using acetone as I said... with Tesco value microfibre dishcloths and scouring pads. I've hunted down white scourers (in Dunelm) as the usual green ones seem to transfer their dye to the SIB fabric which then needs more acetone to remove.

I'm unsure of the glue types used in the past and some bits come off OK... others are like trying to remove hard fibreglass resin. Where the glue doesn't come off easily it is all too easy to damage the surrounding fabric when using scourers... not to the point of leaking but you can go through the top fabric colour to the weave the PVC is layered on.

So there has to be a balance between possible improvement and causing further damage.

[Poly]

Have you tried using a heat gun gently. That should soften the glue. Keep it away from solvents obviously!

[Patch]

A die grinder with a small stone bit and a steady hand!