Foretravel Owners' Forum

Foretravel Motorhome Forums => Foretravel Tech Talk => Topic started by: oldguy on June 03, 2021, 09:08:25 pm

Title: repairing the broken fiber glass
Post by: oldguy on June 03, 2021, 09:08:25 pm
The fiber glass was broken where the tail pipe goes through. First I mixed up G Flex
epoxy with 404 West System in it then put the mixture in the crack and jacked it in
place. Then I mixed up cold cure and used it with 5 layers of glass. It should be a lot
stronger than new. 
Title: Re: repairing the broken fiber glass
Post by: Pierce & Gaylie Stewart on June 03, 2021, 11:04:26 pm
Nice clean job. I see you used cloth instead of mat. Good choice!

Pierce
Title: Re: repairing the broken fiber glass
Post by: oldguy on June 03, 2021, 11:48:30 pm
Pierce with epoxy I have to use cloth as I have been told that mat doesn't work with epoxy
only fiber glass resin. I have both but when I do small jobs epoxy is easier to work with but
big jobs it is a lot more expensive than fiber resin.
Title: Re: repairing the broken fiber glass
Post by: Pierce & Gaylie Stewart on June 04, 2021, 10:18:20 am
I don't like mat for anything. If you buy a gallon or more of epoxy online, it's not too expensive. I paid $70 for a gallon kit. EPOXY RESIN 1 GALLON KIT * CLEAR * UV RESISTANT * LAMINATING * FIBERGLASS *... (https://www.ebay.com/itm/331530373394?hash=item4d30c00912:g:qBcAAOSwsnVeRgO~)  A gallon of epoxy resin goes a very long way.  We all know how easy it is to punch a hole in a coach bumper. If you go underneath and look at the backside, it's mat.

My sailboat lost it's steering at the mouth of Manila Bay right where Corregidor Island is. I got the anchor out just in time to avoid going on to the rocks but one big boulder was pounding the bottom with each swell. Instead of helping me get the engine started, etc., my buddy said we were going down and was collecting all his gear, camera.  It did sound bad, just like a telephone pole smashing against the hull. We finally got the emergency steering bar in place and got the diesel started and made it to Subic Bay where the U.S. Navy took me to the hospital and really took care of us. To make a very long story short, when we hauled out, there was a tiny fifty cent sized chip in the gelcoat. No other damage. I had watched the Taiwanese layup the hull with layer after layer of cloth with as much resin (polyester) squeegeed off between coats as possible. The resin bonds the layers together but it's the cloth that gives the hull great strength.

Epoxy resin bonds to almost anything and together with fiberglass cloth, can make permanent repairs to even cracks in black water tanks or your main fresh water tank. Not much smell and with a little effort, you can get it off yourself if you didn't wear gloves.

Pierce