I have been wanting to learn to plastic weld for some time now and was just given an EZG 60 (thanks, Badazws6!). With it's past history, it should give me plenty of practice! Anyhow, I was wondering if anyone out there has any suggestions/tips for me before I get melting my new broken boat away, please feel free to critique the following.
From what I have gathered, here is the idea:
heat up the plastic to the melting point by incrementally increasing temperature of your heat source and giving each increased temp setting some time to see it's effect before you crank it up to the next level (once the setting is learned, I assume you can just go to it from the start for the next welding session). Once plastic darkens a bit/ gets a bit shiny, it is melted.
Add/melt welding rod material into crack and mix melted boat + melted rod material so they bond to one another (don't just melt the welding rod into the crack)
Let cool
Sand to desired finish
Somewhere I had read that some people actually add in a piece of metal screen into the weld to increase strength, any feelings on that?
Also, I know the plastic blend is important as well. As I understand it, only linear plastics can be welded. I believe that the EZG60 is made of linear plastic, but can anyone confirm it?
If so, will any linear plastic welding rod from a kayak shop do, or do I need to get the exact blend from Wavesport?
Thanks a million, everyone! Cheers,
-Tony
Last edited by spenceuiuc; 09-18-2008 at 11:24 AM..
Reason: better title
There are multiple cracks; one is an inch long near the bolts that adjust the seat near the cockpit lip, and then there are 2 U-shaped cracks, one near each of the thigh braces on the cockpit lip.
Honestly, if the boat doesn't make it out alive, it is alright because it was free and it will be a learning process for when my main boat gets a crack. I will get some pics up before long (I actually haven't seen any pics amidst the slews of posts on EZG problems anyhow).
Get ahold of xacker or tj@cu. Far and away the best plastic welders I've met. I don't think either one of them has had a proper boat this summer. Alex Kilyk is good too, but I'm not sure he reads the buzz since he hit the PNW.
Joe
We do a lot of polypropylene welding at work, and while I have never welded on a kayak, I think that most of the principles hold true. I agree with all of the above, and would just add that I believe resin is VERY important, to the extent that I would get welding plastic right from the boat manufacturer or from a donor boat of same make and color. At work we have also had problems with welds being contaminated because the surfaces were not cleaned properly prior to welding. Surfaces really need to be as clean as possible, and weld contamination will weaken even the best weld. While welding (I would use a forced hot air wellder on a boat) If you see smoke, you are too hot, and contaminating your weld. Lastly, in our buisness, we fill out finished tanks with water and beat all of our weld seams with a rubber mallet to stress test... If I had a welded boat, I would want to make damn sure it was strong before I relied on it in water of any consequence...
My 2 cents... Best of luck!
Tim
Right on. I will definitely make sure the area is good and clean before I go at it. I am also getting plastic directly from Wave Sport for welding. Thanks for the tips. Keep the tips coming if you have any more for me!
Right on. I will definitely make sure the area is good and clean before I go at it. I am also getting plastic directly from Wave Sport for welding. Thanks for the tips. Keep the tips coming if you have any more for me!
I'll be interested to hear your results. Keep us posted.
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At least once every human should have to run for his life, to teach him that milk does not come from supermarkets, that safety does not come from policemen, that news is not something that happens to other people. ~ Robert Heinlein
We do a lot of polypropylene welding at work, and while I have never welded on a kayak, I think that most of the principles hold true. I agree with all of the above, and would just add that I believe resin is VERY important, to the extent that I would get welding plastic right from the boat manufacturer or from a donor boat of same make and color. At work we have also had problems with welds being contaminated because the surfaces were not cleaned properly prior to welding. Surfaces really need to be as clean as possible, and weld contamination will weaken even the best weld. While welding (I would use a forced hot air wellder on a boat) If you see smoke, you are too hot, and contaminating your weld. Lastly, in our buisness, we fill out finished tanks with water and beat all of our weld seams with a rubber mallet to stress test... If I had a welded boat, I would want to make damn sure it was strong before I relied on it in water of any consequence...
My 2 cents... Best of luck!
Tim
That's good tech information. I've been wanting to try this for sometime so I've been following this thread.
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At least once every human should have to run for his life, to teach him that milk does not come from supermarkets, that safety does not come from policemen, that news is not something that happens to other people. ~ Robert Heinlein
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