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Board bubbling

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Created by ikw777 > 9 months ago, 2 Apr 2011
ikw777
QLD, 2995 posts
2 Apr 2011 11:29AM
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The underside of my Exocet is coming up in dozens of tiny little bubbles/blisters 1-2mm across. Is it serious? What can I do about it?

jh2703
NSW, 1225 posts
2 Apr 2011 1:05PM
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Have you been leaving your wet board in your board bag all summer?

ikw777
QLD, 2995 posts
2 Apr 2011 12:27PM
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50/50. I try to keep it out, but not always successful.

Wet Willy
TAS, 2317 posts
2 Apr 2011 7:03PM
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what have you been feeding it?

kato
VIC, 3532 posts
2 Apr 2011 7:14PM
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It may be the paint, had an AB do this.

pweedas
WA, 4642 posts
2 Apr 2011 4:40PM
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They had that sort of trouble years ago with fibrelass swimming pools. Lots of small blisters. In fact some ended up about an inch across. (2.54cm for the metricated)
I think it turned out that there were microscopic holes in the resin top coat and water was being forced in by osmosis, the same process that trees use to suck up water.
Real good for trees but not so good for swimming pools, surfboards or windsurfers.
Sounds like it might be something similar. The only way to stop it is to never leave your board in a wet bag. Otherwise you would need to sand off the original topcoat and re do it. That's what they did with swimming pools because obviously you can't leave a swimming pool dry.
I always leave mine in a wet bag because I'm such a caring and careful person with all my gear, not,( Borat not joke) and so far, no problems, so I think there's something wrong with your board.

terminal
1421 posts
2 Apr 2011 5:00PM
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I bought an ex-hire board with a nose protector on it and when I removed the protector, there were tiny bubbles under the paint from water trapped under the nose protector. The water can soak through the paint, given enough time.

I decided that if the water can get in, it can get out and just kept it dry. It seemed to reduce a bit over time, but didn't disappear. It was only a small area and very small bubbles, so I didn't sand it down, dry it properly and repaint it.



sideskirt
328 posts
2 Apr 2011 5:29PM
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Throw away the nose protector and repair the nose.... noseprotector is a marketing thingie and it causes more harm to your board than having a board without it....

terminal
1421 posts
2 Apr 2011 7:34PM
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sideskirt said...

Throw away the nose protector and repair the nose.... noseprotector is a marketing thingie and it causes more harm to your board than having a board without it....


It also weighs about 0.5kg. I could feel the difference when jumping after I took it off.

ikw777
QLD, 2995 posts
2 Apr 2011 11:07PM
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So, I should keep it dry and think about block sanding it back and painting it over winter?

evlPanda
NSW, 9207 posts
3 Apr 2011 12:35AM
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You should have used a condom is what.

terminal
1421 posts
3 Apr 2011 5:46PM
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ikw777 said...

So, I should keep it dry and think about block sanding it back and painting it over winter?


If you are going to paint it, dry sand it down to remove the blisters and leave it to dry somewhere warm but not hot (with the vent screw out if there is one). I would expect it to take a while for the moisture to come back out of the fibreglass where the bubbles were, so give it as much time as you can before painting.

ikw777
QLD, 2995 posts
3 Apr 2011 9:34PM
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Sounds like an ideal winter project.



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"Board bubbling" started by ikw777