Always remove vent when not in water. I can't believe people think this is too much effort. We load up car/trailer head down beach, then rig up sail, get board out, put sunscreen on, put wetter on, lock car, walk equipment down beach. We do all this religiously but think its too much to put a screw in which takes 5 secs. Mmm

sboardcrazy said...
My plugs have the one side that is flat but if the plugs have an O ring on how does the air escape the board when the plug is loose?

Don't worry too much it's highly unlikely the o ring will seal around the thread and walls of the insert, it would have to be a very soft and oversized o ring, with a smear of grease on the threads before this could happen.

actionmax said.....
I'm not sure what's right
But I do agree with barn that having no washer can pinch & twist o ring so it doesn't seal
& so why do vent plugs get made this way ? If it is so critical; the plugs would b designed not to chew up the o rings

Adding a washer, could stuff up the seal, it's metal to metal between washer and plug head.

Carantoc said...
From what I read here it seems that those in WA need to remove the plug and those in Qld don't.

Clearly this is a daylight savings issue. The extra hour of light must somehow warm the board up more.

Personally after I have removed, checked, cleaned, greased, kissed and polished the plug I then blow dry the footstraps with my 12v hairdryer.

we also have daylight saving down south. .. ,but I don't think that has much to do with boards blowing up in TAS ,its the H 2 o in the board , cause ya metal washer gave , turning in to ice, expanding,and bang ya boards flappin ,or was it all just hot air? Durex for me

Carantoc said...
From what I read here it seems that those in WA need to remove the plug and those in Qld don't.

Clearly this is a daylight savings issue. The extra hour of light must somehow warm the board up more.

Hmmmm. How is this so? Neither QLD nor WA has daylight saving, so one would expect their experiences to be the same. Methinks there's something weird at play here .

A good example.
Ive been doing a small ding repair on a mates board. Nothing big, just deep enough to get to the styrofoam.
Being an "undoer" I did all the right things (rinsed, dried and sanded) and when ready slapped on the epoxy. straight away small air bubbles started popping out of the ding.
Bugger, straight away turned the board over and undid the valve.
Never been undone before (board approx 4 seasons old) , hiss of air and bubbles stopped.
resin had started to harden by this stage so began again. Ding repair worked sweet.
You be the judge, probably why the makers put the warnings on your board

decrepit said...

sboardcrazy said...
Ok say your board has now delaminated ( theoretical question -mine are great)..is it fixable and if so how?
I know it would depend on how bad but does anyone have any photos of a board that has died due to the plug being left tight so we can see what it looks like?

There's basically 3 methods,
1, drill holes in the board and inject resin, then weight or vacuum bag the bottom down.
I haven't tried this one, but others have reported success.

2, cut around edges of delam with short bladed jig saw, (about 5mm long), remove, brush on glue then same as before with bottom. sand around cuts and glass/carbon over. This will work if the core foam isn't too damaged.
3, if the core foam is badly damaged, ie bits of loose compressed foam floating around, the core has to be smoothed off, (I use a router in a travelling jig on rails). New core material glued in to level of underside of sandwich. After this I've tried cheating and used the original bottom, but it didn't really work, it's better to apply a completely new sandwich.

This last is a time consuming process, probably better to buy a second hand board, if you aren't doing it yourself.

Sounds like it would be worth getting a repairer to quote before you ditch a board and buy another...?

deejay8204 said...
Neither of my boards have vents but if they did, not hard to undo and do up I would think.

Don't underestimate this it's a right pain in the ar$3!!!!
Agreed the actual physical work involved is minimal, but some of us area little absent minded, remembering to do it is one of the problems!

Then there's getting sand or grit under the o ring and it not sealing.

Having one from the factory that doesn't seal properly and you don't notice it.

Loosening at the beach only to have it fall out somewhere between there and your next intended session.

Somebody else does it up for you and over tightens it, tearing the o ring.

There's probably more to this list, and there's ways to cope with them.
But you've got the best answer, NO bung at all!!!!!!

Bluedog76 said...
For the last year and a half I have stored my board undercover in it's bag with the vent screw almost out (a few turns left) when not in the water. The storage area is in a rack (standing upright) with other boards around it and open on all sides.

I brought the board home today and noticed a large bubble/delaminated area (about a quarter of the bottom surface area) on my 2 year old isonic 121....it's been used under ten times. It is in Singapore where everyday is 28-32 degrees with high humidity and showers/t-storms thus rain has probably wet the bag (lightly) at times.

Should I have removed the plug completely or not at all or is the delam due to something else?

delam due to something else, probably manufacturing defect.

Bluedog76 said...
For the last year and a half I have stored my board undercover in it's bag with the vent screw almost out (a few turns left) when not in the water. The storage area is in a rack (standing upright) with other boards around it and open on all sides.

I brought the board home today and noticed a large bubble/delaminated area (about a quarter of the bottom surface area) on my 2 year old isonic 121....it's been used under ten times. It is in Singapore where everyday is 28-32 degrees with high humidity and showers/t-storms thus rain has probably wet the bag (lightly) at times.

Should I have removed the plug completely or not at all or is the delam due to something else?

Check that it's not just the paint that's bubbling, sounds like there's no reason for the sandwich to give way, but hot humid conditions, in a board bag can affect paint.

An idea I'm going to try tonight. This is taken from the aircraft world. A "Remove Before Sail" indicator.

In winter, I normally leave them in (very little temperature change). Summer time, I vent my boards when not in use. I normally do up the screws at home when I'm packing, but tomorrow I'm going for a sail after work and taking my gear to work. It's going to be +30C at my work, and even hotter in the car. I don't want to have my board in the car with the vent screw done up and I'm one of those people who forget little details like doing up the vent screw; doubly so in the rigging area when saying hello to people and all the other distractions.



It's a off cut from a foam mat (you get at Clark Rubber or Bunnings). It's the same width as a mast track. This is the rules: When it's in, the vent screw is open. It's impossible to fit a base. Before flight (sail), do up vent screw, then remove indicator. After sail, slide indicator back in rail, undo vent screw.

Hope that helps

J

Have been thinking of another option lately. What about a sort of 'vent plug holder' consisting of a threaded hole or fitting in the mast track that one could thread the vent plug into once its removed? It would be difficult to forget putting the vent plug in if its in your way when you try to fit the mast base into the track!

Milsy said...
for the forgetful,, wht not a message on board bag, DONT FORGET PLUG, personally i dont mess with plug much, but when its hot, over about 35, i bring boards out of shed and put them in the cooler house.......then i put wife in shed, its sweet, a win/win

Boy your wife's tolerant..

Mark: No system is completely idiot proof - "ya can't fix stupid" :)

still a better option !!!

don't know of other brands apart from Exocet that have that system ?