Filling spider crack with wax?????

[j_k_bisson]

Just a thought to one of my problems. I have been buffing my black dash that is very spider cracked from sun exposure. I do know that the proper way to fix this is to re gel coat. But I do not want to get into that this year.

I was thinking of filling the cracks with a crayon (Black) before waxing while they are clean. Anyone ever try this? I know this is the fix for counter tops that have a seam in them. The wax seals the cracks so water can not get into them and expand the crack.

Here is a pic of the dash after buffing.

 

[j_k_bisson]

Re: Filling spider crack with wax?????

Nobody has any opinion on this. How does everyone else fill/seal their spider cracks from water? Just wax? I'm seriously wondering if it will work. Anyone ever try it?

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Filling spider crack with wax?????

The water aspect of it makes little or no difference, and I don't see a down side to trying to hide them. It may make them a little less noticeable depending on the type of crayon you use.

A Sharpie is commonly used to hide small chips or scratches in black parts, but not cracks.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Filling spider crack with wax?????

Ive seen anything from Wood crayons to Crayola for wood reps. They have been thaned over though..

Im sure there are many ways to "hide" gel cracks for the short term ( I have seen Boot polish used as well ).

Use what you will to hide things.. but normally winter is a good time to fix things up before that HOT sun starts up again .

YD.

 

[j_k_bisson]

Re: Filling spider crack with wax?????

I am just trying to seal the cracks for later repair. Meaning I will fix it next winter. I still have a motor to rebuild before next fishing season. I will eventually repair correctly. Just do not want water to seap into the fiberglass and delaminate it further.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Filling spider crack with wax?????

Like I said, the water worries are unfounded, if that's your only concern do nothing.

 

[j_k_bisson]

Re: Filling spider crack with wax?????

Like I said, the water worries are unfounded, if that's your only concern do nothing.

I don't understand this comment.

If I have a crack through my gel coat. My barrier between my fiberglass and the outside enviroment if you will. Won't the enviroment (water/ice) penetrate the crack. And over the long run make the cracks larger, and potentially cause a bubble to form under the gel coat? I live where there tends to be a ton of thaw and freeze cycles over the winter time. So if water was to penetrate this crack the cycle would over time cause a bubble to form. This would in turn cause a larger repair later when I do get to redoing the black dash.

True? Or am I over thinking the problem. I do have an area on the side of the boat's cap where a crack is starting to form a couple of bubbles. I was thinking that these where cause this way.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Filling spider crack with wax?????

The gel coat is a protective, but mostly cosmetic layer. It will help to protect the laminate for a period of time during long term or constant immersion, but will still allow water to pass through and reach the laminate eventually. Short term it will keep water away from the laminate, but short term the laminate doesn't need much protection because water won't have enough time to be absorbed before the boat is removed from the water and allowed to dry.

This was all in below the water line applications, above the water line the laminate doesn't stay wet long enough to have much of an effect on it at all, with or without gel coat. Gel coat does protect the laminate from UV rays though, so in a trailer boat the gel coat is mostly for UV protection and cosmetics.

If you want to use the crayon for cosmetic purposes, go for, but I doubt whether it would work to seal water out of the cracks for more than a very short period of time. To protect it from freeze damage keep it covered, a boat should never sit outside unprotected for more than a very short period of time if you want it to last.

The chips or blisters you saw could be from many different things and while it could be from freeze and thaw cycles, that isn?t the leading cause.

There is cracking that can be caused by severe temperature swings, this can happen when the gel coat is heated and cooled rapidly. In very cold parts of North America (mostly Canada) where it may get to
-20 or colder, gel coat, like other materials, can become brittle and weaker, which can result in thermal cracking from stresses that build up in the laminate.

In your case the cracks are there already, water reaching the laminate won?t have an effect, water freezing in the cracks could, but the crayon isn?t going to keep water out for long. The wax will become stiffer as the temperature drops and as the laminate expands and contracts with temperature swings the wax seal will be broken and water will get in anyhow.

To fix the cracks you will need to either grind each one out completely and depending on how deep the crack is it may need to be glassed for it to hold up very long, or if the cracks are severe as in crazing, you may need to remove all of the gel coat before resurfacing it.