DS1 Seat Cracked Through

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DS1 Seat Cracked Through

Postby Anstigmat » Mon Jul 26, 2021 4:28 pm

The seat on my DS1 has developed a slightly longer than 12" crack, it goes all the way through. I attempted a repair with JB Weld but it opened up again, so I believe I need to do a fiberglass patch. I purchased a West System patch kit and will probably place a rectangular 'bandage' of glass over the crack. It's on a mooring now so I will do the structural part now and the cosmetic part when the sailing season ends.

Can anyone tell me if there is something wrong with this plan? I'm assuming the glass sheets will flex better and take weight. I was thinking of doing 3 layers over the crack...

Would love to know if anyone has faced a similar issue and how they fixed it!
Anstigmat
 
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Re: DS1 Seat Cracked Through

Postby GreenLake » Mon Jul 26, 2021 7:55 pm

Bring a battery powered sander and grind off (40 grit) the area around the crack. Should be a 12:1 bevel. You try not to sand through, but generally a 1/4" or even 1/2" gap would not be critical - as long as the two sides remain aligned.

That way, you place your patch "in" the seat, as opposed to on top.

You place the largest piece first, then reduce size of the patches as the "V" gets narrower.

If you have strong sun - give it a coat of spray paint for cheap UV protection. Later, you grind that off, as you make your repair flush and then you paint it nicely.

If the laminate on the seat is so super thin that this doesn't work, here's the proper way to reinforce.

Grind per above, but make sure you get a 1/2" - 3/4" gap. Bring a strip of rep-laminated (and cured to where it's stiff) fiberglass that will become a backing plate. Coat with epoxy (thickened so it doesn't run, or use non-sagging epoxy glue, or even Marine Tex). Insert into the gap. Use a wire loop through two holes on the center line to pull it up against the repair while the glue cures. When cured, you the pull out the wire. That should give you the structural reinforcement, without an ugly visible patch. Your gap needs to be wide enough so you can get in around the edges to sand (by hand) and wipe it down with solvent, so the patch will stick.

You either apply your final patch in the gap, or leave that for the off-season and temporarily live with a depression. Again, a bit of paint over the exposed epoxy will prevent it from degrading in the UV.
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: DS1 Seat Cracked Through

Postby Anstigmat » Tue Jul 27, 2021 10:20 am

Thanks! I find that pretty helpful actually. Do you have an insight into how many layers are necessary?

I just got a brand new boom tent from SLO so UV exposure is pretty low. The crack is right where my butt usually is, on the seat near the outboard mount.
Anstigmat
 
Posts: 103
Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2020 12:50 pm

Re: DS1 Seat Cracked Through

Postby GreenLake » Tue Jul 27, 2021 11:47 am

From what I've seen three layers of cloth are already pretty strong. Should be enough for a backing patch, if you need one.
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