Fixing delamination with... silicon?

Has anyone tried fixing their delamination with silicon? I've tried
epoxy on my board and it looked like a solid fix, but after 2 runs it just
disappeared and the delamination started getting bigger. My cousin had a
delamination and he took it to a shop to get it fixed, it split open after a
few runs also. Maybe the shop did a bad job and maybe I didn't put the epoxy
deep enough.
I've been thinking about other glues and superglue doesn't seem strong
enough in my opinion and then I thought about using silicon. It's
waterproof, flexible, and sticks to most woods and fiberglass. If you think
about it, epoxy hardens and if your board keeps flexing and twisting while
you're riding, wouldn't it crack the epoxy and then it would fall out little
by little. But if you use silicon it should flex and twist with your board
and I'm guessing it's sticky enough to hold a delamination together or maybe
have enough stretch to keep the opening sealed while the two layers try to
separate. Ice and water can't get in cause silicon provides a waterproof
seal. Sub-zero temps shouldn't have an effect on it. I read a label on a
tube of silicon and it's suppose to withstand the most extreme conditions.
I'm sure I'm not the first person to have thought about using silicon to
seal a delamination but I have not found any discussion about it. Does
anyone know any pros or cons about using silicon? Any insight would be
appreciated.

I've tried
epoxy on my board and it looked like a solid fix, but after 2 runs it
just
disappeared and the delamination started getting bigger.

Where did you board delam?

I've had excellent results with the one epoxy repair I've done. This
particular repair was right at the tip, so it probably isn't being
subjected to a lot of stress though. It's held for nearly 25 riding
days without any problems, and will probably go many more from the looks
of it.

Mike T

It "might" work, BUT silicon is great for sealing but it doesn't have great
shear strength. With the epocy already in there, I don't know how well it
will stick to it. You're right about the epoxy being too brittle for board
use. Same thing happened to my buddy's board.

Last year, I was unlucky to get a delam - I used construction adhesive -
"Lepage Panel adhesive". It was rated for outdoor use and was supposed to be
flexible to minus 40C or something. Pretty messy to get it in the crack -
had to masking off with tape and force the glue into the crack with a thin
metal blade. Used about 6 wood clamps on the joint and let dry for a week.
Used it for the latter part of last season, maybe 12 days - it held OK. Just
sold it early this season.


"Sandy Tam" wrote in message
om...
Has anyone tried fixing their delamination with silicon? I've tried
epoxy on my board and it looked like a solid fix, but after 2 runs it just
disappeared and the delamination started getting bigger. My cousin had a
delamination and he took it to a shop to get it fixed, it split open after
a
few runs also. Maybe the shop did a bad job and maybe I didn't put the
epoxy
deep enough.
I've been thinking about other glues and superglue doesn't seem strong
enough in my opinion and then I thought about using silicon. It's
waterproof, flexible, and sticks to most woods and fiberglass. If you
think
about it, epoxy hardens and if your board keeps flexing and twisting while
you're riding, wouldn't it crack the epoxy and then it would fall out
little
by little. But if you use silicon it should flex and twist with your board
and I'm guessing it's sticky enough to hold a delamination together or
maybe
have enough stretch to keep the opening sealed while the two layers try to
separate. Ice and water can't get in cause silicon provides a waterproof
seal. Sub-zero temps shouldn't have an effect on it. I read a label on a
tube of silicon and it's suppose to withstand the most extreme conditions.
I'm sure I'm not the first person to have thought about using silicon
to
seal a delamination but I have not found any discussion about it. Does
anyone know any pros or cons about using silicon? Any insight would be
appreciated.

With the right technique and epoxy, your repair should stay fixed. My
board took a hard hit to the nose, which moved dime sized portion of
the steel edge toward the inside 1 cm. After I gave up pounding it 1/2
back into position, I took it to a shop, they did a great job, and
it's taken a whole lot of abuse since then.

When I was asking about fixing it, several people reccomended "24 hour
epoxy." I think someone mentioned the brand West Systems. Anyhow, I
think the point is you need the same sort of expoxy that they use with
the fiberglass in the first place, not just generic "fix broken stuff"
epoxy from the super market's hardware section.

I recently got mine fixed and its been okay but they are very careful in
saying no gurantees...
"Jason Watkins" wrote in message
m...
With the right technique and epoxy, your repair should stay fixed. My
board took a hard hit to the nose, which moved dime sized portion of
the steel edge toward the inside 1 cm. After I gave up pounding it 1/2
back into position, I took it to a shop, they did a great job, and
it's taken a whole lot of abuse since then.

When I was asking about fixing it, several people reccomended "24 hour
epoxy." I think someone mentioned the brand West Systems. Anyhow, I
think the point is you need the same sort of expoxy that they use with
the fiberglass in the first place, not just generic "fix broken stuff"
epoxy from the super market's hardware section.

(Sandy Tam) wrote in message . com...
Has anyone tried fixing their delamination with silicon? I've tried
epoxy on my board and it looked like a solid fix, but after 2 runs it just
disappeared and the delamination started getting bigger. My cousin had a
delamination and he took it to a shop to get it fixed, it split open after a
few runs also. Maybe the shop did a bad job and maybe I didn't put the epoxy
deep enough.
I've been thinking about other glues and superglue doesn't seem strong
enough in my opinion and then I thought about using silicon. It's
waterproof, flexible, and sticks to most woods and fiberglass. If you think
about it, epoxy hardens and if your board keeps flexing and twisting while
you're riding, wouldn't it crack the epoxy and then it would fall out little
by little. But if you use silicon it should flex and twist with your board
and I'm guessing it's sticky enough to hold a delamination together or maybe
have enough stretch to keep the opening sealed while the two layers try to
separate. Ice and water can't get in cause silicon provides a waterproof
seal. Sub-zero temps shouldn't have an effect on it. I read a label on a
tube of silicon and it's suppose to withstand the most extreme conditions.
I'm sure I'm not the first person to have thought about using silicon to
seal a delamination but I have not found any discussion about it. Does
anyone know any pros or cons about using silicon? Any insight would be
appreciated.

I doubt that silicon would hold up very long. Any shop will use a
slow cure epoxy. Check out tognar.com to get the right stuff. My
guess is that the shop did a bad job and was stingy with the epoxy.
To do it right, you really need to get in there with an oyster knife
to pry the delam apart and get the glue in there nice an deep and use
plenty of it. Then clamp it and let it cure for at least 24 hours.
Also, a 15 minute cure time at about 120 degrees helps. Use a hair
dryer or heating pad.

snoig

Has anyone tried fixing their delamination with silicon?

Probably, but not successfully. Theres a reason epoxy is used, silicone is
not only a waste of time, but it will contaminate the area so after it fails
a proper epoxy job wont fix it either.