plastic welding

[playboat Junkie]

Hello Everyone
a friend of mine took his Jackson Star out for a little drag behind a truck in the snow and eventually cracked the hull.
Could someone please tell me if there is somewhere to take it to get it plastic welded
Thanks for the help

[okieboater]

Was the kayak cross link or linear plastic version?

My understanding is linear can be easily welded. Cross link I have not heard of a successful welding.

[BMuu]

Is it the "elite" crosslink or is it the linear?

How old is the boat?

If it's the crosslink it can't be welded, it can only be patched as a temporary fix. However Jackson does carry a great warranty.

If you don't know what plastic the boat is look at the backbone down the center of the boat. If it's a small about 1.5" rod then it's crosslink. If it's a 4" wide plastic piece then its linear.

[Shep]

Pretty sure the "elite" boats are the cross-linked plastic.

Shep

[BMuu]

Pretty sure the "elite" boats are the cross-linked plastic.

Shep

You would be right!

[Shep]

Ah... now I see I misunderstood the question (or lack thereof...)

[okieboater]

pasted in from the JK website:

Choosing between SL or Elite?

So, you’ve decided which Jackson whitewater model is best for you, now you get to decide between two versions of that model. Relax, either way you go, you’re guaranteed to get a great boat! But both have advantages.
SL (Super Linear)

* The hull is made from Superlinear, a metallocene-catalyzed polyethylene that is the whitewater industry standard. This stuff is super-strong and fairly easy to repair, in the unlikely event that you ever break it.
* A comfy, foam padded seat sits atop a welded-in plastic track. Simple and easy to adjust.
* Adjustable, contoured hip pads and backband, same as in the Elite version.
* SL Stars feature adjustable, cut-foam footblocks.
* And best of all, Jackson’s SL models are competitively priced!
* WARRANTY: Three year limited warranty with hull replacement at no charge for the first year.

ELITE



* The hull is made from crosslinked polyethylene. No other major whitewater brand uses crosslink, despite its superior impact strength and abrasion resistance. Why? Crosslink is more expensive, takes longer to process, and requires more highly-skilled molders. Superlinear is tough. Crosslink is tougher and can be molded a bit lighter.
* Elites feature a seat with “Sweet Cheeks”, Jackson’s unique, custom-fit butt-pad, for all-day comfort.
The Elite seat sits atop a composite beam that integrates into the foam walls, providing unparalleled hull stiffness and total outfitting integrity.
* Elite Stars have “Happy Feet”, another Jackson exclusive. Happy Feet are a customizable footbrace system that not only adjusts for length, but actually contours to fit your foot shape and angle.
* WARRANTY: Three year limited warranty with hull replacement at no charge for first two years.

[Eric Esche]

one of our new members posted a while back that he had been to a plastics welding school. You might try to get hold of "Spongebob squarepants" by PM. Think I heard he was living in the Ft.Smith area now.

Eric Esche

[bhodgin]

Ozark Mountain Trading Company repairs kayaks with a plastic welder.

[plaidpants]

I have been to the plastics welding school as of last September. If this is a Polyethylene boat I am sure I can weld it. However I hope you do not mind of the color does not exactly match. I would need to see the damage to determine if I would need to order more supplies. I can send an email with an example of some work I have done on ATV fenders.

[RandyJ]

Best thing I've seen on plastic welding: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bos4lfOA3k. Plaidpants, is this consistent with what you learned?

Gluing: Not sure how this would work on cross-link or linear, but might be another option. Gotta' believe that welding would be superior, especially on a whitewater boat that's taking lots of rock hits. Haven't heard anything first-hand since this sorta' made a "splash" last year. If nothing else, it might get your pink Barbie jeep back in commission? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a5RlcP-4JE.

Patching: Bituethane (sp?), commonly called "bi**h-ethane." Used in construction industry for roof repairs, I think. Cali and Colo boaters seem to use this quite a bit for field repairs, esp. the Cali guys doing self-support overnighters. I keep telling myself I need to dig some of this up and have handy, but never have. Anyone around here used it? Have some they wouldn't mind swapping for a couple of barley pops? Could sure save your day on Hailstone, Beech Creek, etc.

[okieboater]

CKS in BV had some B****thane repair strips in the shop last summer when I was just looking.

might be worth a call.

[Adam Willard]

I went to Harbor Freight the other day and picked up a plastic welder(20.00). It came with the plastic too. My kids got green machines for christmas. Yep I can still do 360's on them Anyway my fat a$$ broke the seat from the extreme G's I was pulling. Welded that sucker up and it's still holding. Harbor has several different models that come with all types of plastic, might try them.

[plaidpants]

Randy. The technique in the video is called pendulum welding and does work. However you have to have a lot of practice to be good at it. You also stand more of a chance on burning your pinkies. The methods I have learned was using an Extrusion Welder. This device is a lot like a hot glue gun and does a rod feed from a spool and only takes a one time pass to completely fill the crack. An Extrusion welder is quite expensive and I have not had enough business to warrant the expense.

I use a hot air gas welder. It is similar to the welder in the video. The welder I have will get up to 970 degrees and can weld some thin=cker plastics. It would use the same type of rod as the handheld or the extrusion welder. If a plastic is thermoplastic and not thermoset it can be welded but only with the same type of plastic. Example welding High Denisity PVC will only hold with HDPVC and not Low Density. There are different types of Polyethylene as well. What ever this kayak is it will have to be welded with the same materials or it will not hold. If Jackson has the welding rod to match said kayak and will sell it then I can weld it.

I attended this school last September and this week my oldest son is attending the same 5 day Hot Gas Welding class.

http://www.plasticweldingschool.org/cou ... ls.php?r=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[BMuu]

Sorry but even if you have the cross-link rods you can not weld Jackson cross-link, and I bet that's what this guy has.

If he has a boat new enough to be made out of Jacksons linear plastic then it is still under Jacksons warranty. Or he could try to weld it.

Cross-link simply can not be welded or recycled.

This is information passed down to me from Jackson after my 4fun cracked, luckily for me they replaced it under warranty even though I had bought it as a Demo boat.