Forums > Kitesurfing General

P-tex repair

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Created by flyingcab > 9 months ago, 23 Mar 2015
flyingcab
VIC, 942 posts
23 Mar 2015 11:33AM
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Anyone done a p-tex wax repair on a kiteboard? I heard its the same as a snowboard but I'm not 100% sure.
My boards got a ptex base and not looking flash after a couple seasons on the rails.

Gorgo
VIC, 5100 posts
23 Mar 2015 12:54PM
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Ride it across the beach a few hundred times. That will rub out all the old scratches and put in nice clean new ones.

suniboy21
VIC, 1090 posts
23 Mar 2015 1:49PM
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yep, works a treat!

flyingcab
VIC, 942 posts
23 Mar 2015 2:54PM
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Select to expand quote
Gorgo said..
Ride it across the beach a few hundred times. That will rub out all the old scratches and put in nice clean new ones.


I only have pebbles at the local beach, will that be ok?

flyingcab
VIC, 942 posts
23 Mar 2015 3:50PM
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Select to expand quote
suniboy21 said..
yep, works a treat!


in regards to the beach or the wax?

Gorgo
VIC, 5100 posts
23 Mar 2015 5:04PM
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Select to expand quote
flyingcab said..
Gorgo said..
Ride it across the beach a few hundred times. That will rub out all the old scratches and put in nice clean new ones.


I only have pebbles at the local beach, will that be ok?



Yep. Concaves.

fflo
WA, 30 posts
23 Mar 2015 2:24PM
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Hey,

I've started using p-tex repair sticks which I found on eBay in the US.

They come in transparent and black.
All you do is set them on fire and poor ptex droplets onto the wound.

Pretty easy to use and the board maintenance keeps your riding speed up.
Especially if larger chunks stick out.

Racewax.com is selling them.

Enjoy ;-)

dafunk
QLD, 561 posts
23 Mar 2015 4:25PM
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I used devcon epoxy steel repair on my Tona pop .
Looks like it stuck well for the last few sessions ?

flyingcab
VIC, 942 posts
23 Mar 2015 7:03PM
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Thanks fflo thats exactly what i wanted to hear.

pedleym
WA, 168 posts
23 Mar 2015 6:25PM
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Shred rescue sell ptex candles and just use a soldering iron to fill any deep scratches

Wanos
NSW, 24 posts
23 Mar 2015 9:48PM
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Hey flyingcab,

Just started kiting so guess it depends on what the base is made out of.
Ptex is polyethylene so if its similar to the base all good - but as it's meant for deep cuts masks sure its at least as mm or 2 deep and make sure it is well seated so it doesn't come off from thermal changes. A good metal scraper will work wonders for this.

As I was a ski racer for many years & rep'd for Australia a ptex base is supposed to be slightly pourous on a ski/snowboard so it can take a wax infusion when heated... as its generally kept cold ptex could work but just seems weird to me.
Can probably get it from any ski shop.

Good luck and let us know how much it goes.

flyingcab
VIC, 942 posts
23 Mar 2015 10:52PM
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Thanks Wanos,
I was wondering with the extra heat during summer how it would fair.
The board in question is a 2012 LF FLX, which has a sintered Ptex base, so it will blend fine. I guess time will tell how it goes haha.

KiteBud
WA, 1599 posts
24 Mar 2015 10:24AM
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Hey flyingcab,

I've done lots of p-tex repairs on snowboards following methods described by fflo.

The most important step is surface preparation if you want the p-tex to stick and not peel off you need to carve grooves in a ''X''' shape through the repair area with a very sharp thin knife. You also need to to clear and cut off any excess sticking out and sand it out. This will allow the p-tex to hold a lot better.

Burning off the p-tex candle into droplets works, but ideally you'd be using a p-tex gun which resembles a lot like a glue gun, but is not the same. It heats up the p-tex to the exact temperature. P-tex guns are very expensive, hence why most people just use a lighter...

Once you finish dropping the p-tex shave off the excess using a sharp blade that you position vertically (90' angle) to the board until it's flush.

Some Youtube videos explains this well.

Christian

pearl
NSW, 984 posts
25 Mar 2015 8:39AM
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I used to be a ski technician many years ago. Used to run ski/board over a machine with a wide belt sander to take out any 'feathers'. Carefully clean, scrape and cut grooves in damaged section with stanley knife if needed. (This is probably more needed on snow.) like surfboards the worst to repair are those long dints that just tail off; deeper gouges hold material better. We had like a big hot glue gun that filled and spread at same time. Then run it over coarse or fine belt sanding machine again, depending on how damaged edges were. Repairs generally only needed a light sand. They were mostly invisible when finished And waxed. In Australian snow conditions, we were kept very busy by punters, let alone the rental gear. Maybe something similar there you can use.

Gorgo
VIC, 5100 posts
25 Mar 2015 12:16PM
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Honestly, if the scratch is not structural (through the base and into the core of the board), then don't worry about it. Kiting gear is meant to be used until you destroy it so you can buy new stuff.

I used to religiously repair all the scratches and dings on my boards. Now I just ride them to death. I have only every managed to kill one board in 15 years (tore the tail off a surfboard).

I have an Underground TT with about 400 hours on it. It's as ugly as sin but works just fine. I have a Cardboards light wind TT with a snowboard base. It's only got about 300 hours on it. There's a few minor scratches on it.

I do ride my boards across the beach, only because it's fun to do.

flyingcab
VIC, 942 posts
4 Apr 2015 11:54PM
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So I needed up doing this to my board and a mates, works well for the real wide and deep scratches but definitely is not worth it on superficial stuff.
Looks like poo stains on a white board too if you don't get all the carbon out.
Other than that, has held up well and I would recommend

juicerider
WA, 790 posts
4 Apr 2015 10:38PM
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Just going to add that you should not let the P-tex drip into the repair. Let it melt by setting it on fire, but as it melts let it touch the repair so that it flows in, rather than forming drips, this keeps burnt carbon and impurities out of the repair.



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"P-tex repair" started by flyingcab