White fiberglass crack in cockpit

[236eagle]

It's a small crack about three inches long it is clearly a stress crack. I have the same on pass. side. How do I repair? Thank u

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: White fiberglass crack in cockpit

fiberglass and gel coat

 

[dingbat]

Re: White fiberglass crack in cockpit

The first thing you need to do is find out what caused the problem. The cracks will keep coming back unless you fix the underlying problem.

 

[236eagle]

Re: White fiberglass crack in cockpit

That's true. Here is my thought now. To reinforce the underneath. Looks like a weak area for movement

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: White fiberglass crack in cockpit

The first thing you need to do is find out what caused the problem. The cracks will keep coming back unless you fix the underlying problem.

or just live with it. Boats get stress cracks, and the reapir can look worse than the crack

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: White fiberglass crack in cockpit

tiny holes drilled at both ends of each crack will usually help keep it from spreading

 

[metriccrescentwrench]

Re: White fiberglass crack in cockpit

Understand that what you're seeing is (most likely) purely cosmetic. Gel coat isn't as flexible as fiberglass, so in high stress areas fiberglass will flex more than the gel can and the result is those stress cracks you see. IF you decide to repair the area, as has been mentioned, you'll need to reinforce and immobilize the fiberglass to prevent the cracks from reappearing. If you post a photo of where the cracks are appearing you can get some suggestions on how to best reinforce the area. Several options are simply laying up additional fiberglass on the backside of that area, glassing in a piece of wood or composite material to form a beam underneath, attaching a support to the deck which will take weight off the area, etc.

 

[Georgesalmon]

Re: White fiberglass crack in cockpit

I agree, but without a picture its only a guess. Purely cosmetic. Actually many glass boats have tiny stress cracks from the demolding process. Often they aren't even seen until a boat is used and little dirt gets in them. Several years ago at the
Miami boat show we had some boats in the show and my boss found a stress crack in the gel coat. I agreed of course that we had to work harder to prevent those. However I bet him a weeks vacation that we weren't the only ones. After going all around the show and looking at least a hundred boats I was able to find a stress crack or two in every boat we looked at. I got that weeks vacation and at our company we still continued to work on ways to eliminate stress cracks. FWIW.

 

[236eagle]

Re: White fiberglass crack in cockpit

Understand that what you're seeing is (most likely) purely cosmetic. Gel coat isn't as flexible as fiberglass, so in high stress areas fiberglass will flex more than the gel can and the result is those stress cracks you see. IF you decide to repair the area, as has been mentioned, you'll need to reinforce and immobilize the fiberglass to prevent the cracks from reappearing. If you post a photo of where the cracks are appearing you can get some suggestions on how to best reinforce the area. Several options are simply laying up additional fiberglass on the backside of that area, glassing in a piece of wood or composite material to form a beam underneath, attaching a support to the deck which will take weight off the area, etc.

Excellent great info that's exactly what I can do. I will post a before and after. Thank u

 

[MAC ATTACK]

Re: White fiberglass crack in cockpit

Personally I would stop drill the cracks, fill with a little epoxy and monitor if the crack gets worse. Any time a structure is reinforced, the stresses will transfer to another location. Might never be a problem, but just something to keep in mind.

 

[236eagle]

Re: White fiberglass crack in cockpit

I'll post a pick as asked before. R u saying polyester putty with hardener?
Thank u