Hi all,

I have a board that am trying to bring back from death. It had a lot of holes everywhere, I thought I patched all of them but the board is not watertight. I suspect there might be something going on in the foilbox but how do I test with soapy water if I cannot build air pressure? I was thinking I could insert a tube in the vent thread and use a bike pump to get some air in. But I'm not sure how to seal it temporarily. The leak is big enough that the pump won't generate enough pressure to delam. Thoughts?

tonyk said..

WillyWind said..
Hi all,

I have a board that am trying to bring back from death. It had a lot of holes everywhere, I thought I patched all of them but the board is not watertight. I suspect there might be something going on in the foilbox but how do I test with soapy water if I cannot build air pressure? I was thinking I could insert a tube in the vent thread and use a bike pump to get some air in. But I'm not sure how to seal it temporarily. The leak is big enough that the pump won't generate enough pressure to delam. Thoughts?

Just put it out in the sun and board pressure levels will change and expose leaks as it heats up.

Where I live It might be days until there is sun :)

also, since the leak seems to be biggish, it will take a few seconds for all the air to escape.

First cool it off, then close the vent, spray it with soapy water, and set it in the sun.

jdfoils said..
First cool it off, then close the vent, spray it with soapy water, and set it in the sun.

No sun for MANY days and if we are lucky to get some sun it's too cold.

It worked! Rear footstrap insert. Inside one so I'll plug it for now.

My tip is then do it again. As it had so much damage - you may have found and plugged a primary leak and there's still another little thing going on elsewhere

decrepit said..
But don't pump too hard!!!!!!

Geeze no. Any more than light mouth pressure will wreck a board.

Imax1 said..

decrepit said..
But don't pump too hard!!!!!!

Geeze no. Any more than light mouth pressure will wreck a board.

Agree. I'm pushing the pump handle down with one finger only. I'll plug the leak and test it again but like Mark said, I'll be even more careful because there might not be leaks.

I guess, appearances can be deceptive.