Repair a small hole in a kayak

Garysmo

A friend gave me a kayak and it has a small hole where the seat post rubs against the bottom of the kayak.   I heard that you can heat a piece of plastic (ie. a lid from a peanut butter jar)  with a heat gun.  The hole is pretty small.  I'd be interested to hear if you have any other suggestions.......

Kokosing Lover

Bad idea.  You need to get the exact same type of plastic or the plastic won't bond.  Call a local kayak shop and ask if they have any patching plastic for your make and model; if t's a common boat, then they probably have some scraps lying around from boats that were defective and had to get trashed.  Is it a round hole or is it a linear crack?  This is important.  If it is a crack, it will just keep reopening and get larger unless you drill two round holes on each end of the crack.  The circular edge will stop the crack from extending farther.  Once you have the ends drilled out, then you start filling and melting plastic.  Look up the correct temperature for working with your plastic and get a heat gun that runs in that range.  Too cold and it won't bond, too hot and it destroys the plastic and you need to cut more out.

If it is purely a hole, then an easy fix is to drill it out slightly larger than it is to give a clean edge, and take stainless steel bolt, nut and washers with some foam or rubber gaskets.

Garysmo

Kokosing Lover said:

Bad idea.  You need to get the exact same type of plastic or the plastic won't bond.  Call a local kayak shop and ask if they have any patching plastic for your make and model; if t's a common boat, then they probably have some scraps lying around from boats that were defective and had to get trashed.  Is it a round hole or is it a linear crack?  This is important.  If it is a crack, it will just keep reopening and get larger unless you drill two round holes on each end of the crack.  The circular edge will stop the crack from extending farther.  Once you have the ends drilled out, then you start filling and melting plastic.  Look up the correct temperature for working with your plastic and get a heat gun that runs in that range.  Too cold and it won't bond, too hot and it destroys the plastic and you need to cut more out.

If it is purely a hole, then an easy fix is to drill it out slightly larger than it is to give a clean edge, and take stainless steel bolt, nut and washers with some foam or rubber gaskets.

Thanks.....

dcr

That sounds like pro advice and I'd follow it.  At the risk of ridicule, would a tube of Goop help provide some functionality to a kayak that was given away?

conchydong

5200 is like the duct tape of the boating world.

DropTheHammer

I dropped the kids off.

How much did you pay for that?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIAAut3KOeY

Alex from GA

Nothing sticks to polyethylene for long, it must be welded like Kososing said.

Salty Dawg44

I cut a very small piece from an out of the way place and then "stitch welded" it with a soldering iron. Held up for several years now with no problem.

BigGuyinaLittleBoat

If you don't wish to learn plastic welding you could try G-Flex epoxy from West Marine. Follow the directions and it works just as well as welding.

jawray

Most kayak shops will repair that pretty cheap. At least here in Jax.

krash

G-Flex, thickened Epoxy Adhesive

GRIZZL

I "melted the Kayak hole sealed and then cut some fiberglass cloth and fiberglass'd over the melt. haven't had a problem in years and mine was a 3" long crack

Barrell

Garysmo said:

A friend gave me a kayak and it has a small hole where the seat post rubs against the bottom of the kayak.   I heard that you can heat a piece of plastic (ie. a lid from a peanut butter jar)  with a heat gun.  The hole is pretty small.  I'd be interested to hear if you have any other suggestions.......

  I have tons of plastic. What color? Ive been repairing kayaks for 30 years. My favorite tool is an old butter knife. Heat up the tip red hot with a propane torch.

shamrock1188

How about some flex seal they cut a boat in half and put it pack together with flex seal and take it out on the water. If flex seal will do that it should fix a small hole.

GRIZZL

Barrell said:

Garysmo said:

A friend gave me a kayak and it has a small hole where the seat post rubs against the bottom of the kayak.   I heard that you can heat a piece of plastic (ie. a lid from a peanut butter jar)  with a heat gun.  The hole is pretty small.  I'd be interested to hear if you have any other suggestions.......

  I have tons of plastic. What color? Ive been repairing kayaks for 30 years. My favorite tool is an old butter knife. Heat up the tip red hot with a propane torch.

YUP...exactly what *I* did

Garysmo

Barrell said:

Garysmo said:

A friend gave me a kayak and it has a small hole where the seat post rubs against the bottom of the kayak.   I heard that you can heat a piece of plastic (ie. a lid from a peanut butter jar)  with a heat gun.  The hole is pretty small.  I'd be interested to hear if you have any other suggestions.......

  I have tons of plastic. What color? Ive been repairing kayaks for 30 years. My favorite tool is an old butter knife. Heat up the tip red hot with a propane torch.

The hull is white.  Going to try to repair this weekend.   Will let you know how it goes