Author Topic: Pin hole Palooza  (Read 17616 times)

jarvissup

  • Rincon Status
  • ***
  • Posts: 228
    • View Profile
    • Email
Pin hole Palooza
« on: October 05, 2019, 12:15:18 PM »
  Pin holes are not uncommon in standard layup surfboard and sup construction. When a board is simply cloth over foam with resin air bubbles can form in the resin as it dries. This is something a good glasser can reduce the chance of, but they still occur. When the sander finishes the board, if he sands it a bit lean here, or there, that's when the pin holes often occur.
     Below is a picture of a pin hole and a video of the board hooked up to an aquarium pump. The board was surfed for two months, a few times a week before noticing the pin hole. It lived outside in a dark shed, so I never caught a glimpse of a drop until it moved into a dry garage for the fall.
     The board has been sitting in a warm dry garage for more than a month dripping daily. I thought a month in a dry garage might dry it out, but the below video is what happened when I hooked it up to a cheap, Amazon aquarium pump. To hook it up, I sourced a rubber plug stopper from the hardware store, then drilled a hole in it for the pump line. I then removed the threaded, gore-tex vent plug and installed my plug and air line. I'm thinking a couple of days on the pump should pretty much dry it out. Does anyone have thoughts, or suggestions?
     This is a great board to surf, and light, a great shape, a custom that was supposed to be carbon sandwich. Sadly it came the wrong size, the wrong color, and now with a thirsty pin hole.....1st world problems.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RuteY7cfMOs" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
   
« Last Edit: October 05, 2019, 12:45:20 PM by jarvissup »

surfinib

  • Malibu Status
  • **
  • Posts: 85
    • View Profile
Re: Pin hole Palooza
« Reply #1 on: October 05, 2019, 01:30:20 PM »
There is a long thread on the subject here:
https://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,34297.0.html

Dwight (DW)

  • Cortez Bank Status
  • *****
  • Posts: 4780
    • View Profile
    • supSURFmachines
Re: Pin hole Palooza
« Reply #2 on: October 05, 2019, 04:00:11 PM »
I ultrasonic lead test every board at 15 in hg vacuum.

PonoBill

  • Cortez Bank Status
  • *****
  • Posts: 25864
    • View Profile
Re: Pin hole Palooza
« Reply #3 on: October 05, 2019, 07:46:26 PM »
But a problem nonetheless. If you have one pinhole, you probably have several. If it's a carbon sandwich (meaning PVC foam between layers) then what you're seeing doesn't matter much. The PVC won't absorb the water. It can get in, and wander around a bit, but it's not being sucked up. If, however, they lied about the sandwich (many do) then it's getting to EPS, and EPS stands for "Every Pinhole Sucks". Understand that a layer of 1/4" PVC over glass or carbon basically doubles the material cost of the board and triples, maybe quadruples the skill and effort required, and you can probably understand why "full carbon sandwich" might be a lot more about marketing than construction.

Back to your problem. You can put a little pressure on your board (very little, like, blow in a tube) and then go over it with an ultrasonic leak detector and see what you find. Leak detectors are refrigeration gear, and ever since DW put me on to them my life has changed. Get one, they're cheap. Find your pinholes, plug them.

I did this to a 10 year old F16 that was working just fine for all those ten years and never had a drop inside its hollow interior. I found three leaking pinholes, and plugged them after putting a vacuum on each for three days and pulling out less than an ounce of water total. This was a true carbon PVC sandwich, laid up in a mold and autoclaved, and I was just fucking around prior to giving it to a friend in trade for something I will never use. Yeah, he loves it, he probably doesn't really know how cool it is, but it's probably done more than 500 Viento downwind runs. It knows the way, all you gotta do is stay on it. 
« Last Edit: October 05, 2019, 07:51:03 PM by PonoBill »
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

jarvissup

  • Rincon Status
  • ***
  • Posts: 228
    • View Profile
    • Email
Re: Pin hole Palooza
« Reply #4 on: November 24, 2019, 06:27:13 AM »
Update:
              Quick synopsis: The board was surfed all summer without noticing the pin hole hole as it was kept outside in a rack under my house. The pin hole was noticed once it hung in a dry garage and was dripping. It dripped in the rafters for 6 weeks, then I decided it was going to take more effort to get the water out.
              After the 6 weeks it weighed 15lbs 3.5 oz. I drilled the pin hole out larger(very near tail), and drilled a hole very near the nose. I then bought a $17 Amazon aquarium pump, fashioned a rubber stopper around it's hose. I removed the vent plug's cover and pushed the rubber stopper into the hole. If you saw the video, a stream of water squirted out of the pin hole.
              Since then I have rotated the board daily. Nose toward heat source right side up, nose toward heat source up side down, tail toward heat source right side up, tail toward heat source up side down. I rotated the board daily. The room is warm and very dry with a wood stove. After the initial solid stream of water it's biggest one day loss was .6oz. After a bit more than a month it has ceased to lose weight and is at 14lbs 2.2oz.
               It is plugged and ready for the water again.

 


SimplePortal 2.3.7 © 2008-2024, SimplePortal