Ever use soapy water to test for leaks?

[Zooport]

I've finished the repair of the handle on my Blair, glassed the heck out of it and sanded.  It looks watertight, but I'm thinking of putting soapy water on the area, putting it in the sun and watching for bubbles.  Like we did on innertubes.  Do you think that's a good way to test it before I get it in the water? 

Side note:  As I ground out the area and re-glued it, I noticed that the foam was melted away all around the handle from the exothermic reaction of the epoxy when they installed it originally.  No wonder it leaked!





 

[PonoBill]

sure. Or if you can borrow and ultrasonic leak detector use that, but soapu water works okay

[DCSurf]

Zooport,  I had that melted foam problem too. The hole around the handle was the size of a baseball. It created a very weak spot, and the board snapped in half one day.
Fortunately,  when I sent pictures to the manufacturer, they sent me a new board. 

[lunchbox]

I think soapy water would be a good test. But if there are leaks, I would think just putting it in the sun for about 15 mins would be enough to cause little bubbles to be seen...because God knows, water never seems to completely leave the EPS 

[Wetstuff]

Zoo,  Innertubes are filled with air - if water, you'd see the leak, no?  Like Lunch, I'd put it in the Sun ..nice and dry, then wait for a gusher where you anticipate the leak...

Jim

[Zooport]

Zoo,  Innertubes are filled with air - if water, you'd see the leak, no?  Like Lunch, I'd put it in the Sun ..nice and dry, then wait for a gusher where you anticipate the leak...

Jim

This is for my freshly repaired, drained and dry Blair.  Wanting to test my handle repair for watertightness before I get it wet again. 

Did that yesterday and there were not bubbles anywhere around the handle, so I surfed it this morning.  Gonna let the deckpad dry and then weigh it again to watch for weight gain.  I'm grateful to the Zoners that advised me to weigh my boards regularly. 

[Wetstuff]

Ah-so..  Really good point about establishing weight when new then hit the scale occasionally.  Good luck with your repair.

Jim

[OUTSIDEWAVE]

heck my board bubbled with out soapy water !!!!!  so i think it would work fine.