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Leaky centreboard

Started by Flew, 31 Mar 2011, 10:11

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Flew

Hi,
I have recently purchaced an old Nigel Waller Final Chapter. During my refit works I discovered that the hollow carbon centreboard was full of water. Luckily it's nice clean fresh water and I've drained it through a drill hole and it's now drying out in a warm place. A basic pressure test as shown one possible spot of leaking is a cracked joint at the trailing edge. Any tips on the best way to seal this all up and keep it water free in the future? I'm sure someone out there has dealt with this problem before.
Thanks in anticipation.
Chris

Antony (Guest)

Chris,
That is not a question i am qualified to answer, but if I were you I would call Nigel and ask him.  If you google him you can usually get his mobile number.  He is pretty friendly and usually happy to talk about 12s!  He made a rather fine hollow rudder for himself that was totally hollow and had a bike tyre valve on it so that he could pump it up (or let out pressure) as he saw fit.... as i recall it was not a route of development he continued for long.
Antony

Gavin (Guest)

Hi Chris,
If you mix some resin with a small amount of filler - either microbaloons or micro fibres - (to give the resin some structure) then brush a little on the crack. Use a domestic vacuum cleaner on the drill hole to create a negative pressure inside the board. Don't seal the vacuum nozzle with plasticene or anything like that or it will create too much negative pressure and crack the board but if you just use your hand around the end of the nozzle to create a partial seal, you will see the resin dissapear into the crack. keep painting more resin on the crack and seeing more of it dissapearing. Keep the resin mix wet, ie don't mix in too much filler or it won't flow but the resin will run into the crack and seal it.
If you are still unsure - ring Nigel!
PS If you are like me and don't know what a domestic vacuum cleaner is, apparently it makes a noise when it's on! - only joking :)
Good luck,
Gavin

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