royalex canoe repair

[ColdWaterFshr]

Any suggestions on how to repair this crack in my boat?  I believe it was caused by the cold weather float I just took.  temps were down to zero.  Didn't discover it until I got home.

Would a syringe of JB weld into the crack be enough or am I going to have to lay some kevlar fabric over both sides and then 2-part epoxy?

[awhuber]

Dang...Sorry Ive only worked on my discos but you know someone here will know.

[moguy1973]

Looking at Mad River's website it says layers of Kevlar and repair resin.  That's a doozy of a crack...

http://www.madrivercanoe.com/us/customer-service/faqs/royalex-faqs

I'm also seeing royalex repair kits with everything you need for around $100 with a search.

[Flysmallie]

Ouch! JB Weld is NOT the answer. I'd try to find somebody with some good plastic welding skills. 

[fishinwrench]

Never tried it with Royalex but OT Polylink is real easy to work with using nothing more than one of these...

[Chief Grey Bear]

What do you think about Flexsteel on this?

Its not the bottom. Could work and its only $12 a can.

[MOPanfisher]

I would think that flex steel would dry to hard and not be flexible enough to withstand he stress with out cracking.  Also in my mind I thought something like drilling a small hole at the end of the cracks to keep it from growing.  That is a heck of a crack and could go from annoying to devastating with one good hit on a rock.  Probably the layers and resin might be best. If nothing else hit up an outfitter to see what they do for repairs, goodness knows their canoes get some abuse.  Interested to see what you come up with and how it works though.

[ColdWaterFshr]

30 minutes ago, MOPanfisher said:

I would think that flex steel would dry to hard and not be flexible enough to withstand he stress with out cracking.  Also in my mind I thought something like drilling a small hole at the end of the cracks to keep it from growing.  That is a heck of a crack and could go from annoying to devastating with one good hit on a rock.  Probably the layers and resin might be best. If nothing else hit up an outfitter to see what they do for repairs, goodness knows their canoes get some abuse.  Interested to see what you come up with and how it works though.

Found this article and it recommends a g-flex epoxy and drilling a hole at the bottom of the crack like you mention MoPan.  Check out the repair they did on this boat . . . it had similar cracks at every single screw coming down from the gunwales.  

http://www.westsystem.com/ss/repairing-a-royalex-canoe-with-g-flex-epoxy/

Guess I'll have to remember to back out the screws on the gunwales every winter.  Royalex and wooden gunwales don't like each other in the winter.  The plastic wants to contract and the wood wants to expand.

[Chief Grey Bear]

1 hour ago, MOPanfisher said:

I would think that flex steel would dry to hard and not be flexible enough to withstand he stress with out cracking.  Also in my mind I thought something like drilling a small hole at the end of the cracks to keep it from growing.  That is a heck of a crack and could go from annoying to devastating with one good hit on a rock.  Probably the layers and resin might be best. If nothing else hit up an outfitter to see what they do for repairs, goodness knows their canoes get some abuse.  Interested to see what you come up with and how it works though.

Wonder why they call it Flexseal then?? I used it on some duck waders. Flexed pretty good.

My bad. I called Flextsteel. It's Flexseal.

[Deadstream]

That was a heck of a repair job ColdWaterFshr.  Looks like that might work. And you only have 1 crack...  Good luck!