My First Kayak has a hole in it, questions....

[TJ-xtreme]

I recently became the proud owner of a Perception Dancer whitewater kayak. It was given to me by my fiance's uncle for helping him move last weekend. It is a plastic (polyethylene) kayak measuring just under 12' long.

The problem I have is that her uncle left oneof those halogen shop lights sitting too close to it and melted a hole in the hull that I can barely fit my thumb through (~1" diameter).
My plan is to support the under side of the hull with a piece of wood, heat the excess plastic that is now surrounding the hole with a heat gun, try to smooth/spread it with a putty knife, and fill in the remaining gap, if any, with some plastic welding stick.

Does this sound like it will work or is this kayak a total loss???

Thanks in advance for any responses and or advice...

[jeff]

TJ -

I have a how to on this in my collection of DIY, let me find it and upload it for you. It even has some pictures.

Give me a couple of days as a I am traveling atm.

[Jimt]

I am kind of interested in this answer as well...

[jeff]

Ok here is the info I found in my archive of DIY.

(Original Author Unknown)

Most are made of polyethylene, and are easily repaired. You can use any tool that will melt the polyethylene, to make the needed repair, but Harborfreight.com sells a 80 watt plastic welder, for $15.00. Included is Wire mesh to reinforce the crack, along with poly welding rods...

However, to make a better color matched repair, I've looked around and found plastic containers the color of my kayaks, to use for my repairs and modifications. NOTE: Plastic container must have a recycle triangle, with HDPE , which stands for High density polyethylene..

Cut off a piece to use instead of the black welding rods, that's provided in the kit... I recommend practicing on scrap poly container first... Cut the container, then repair it, with a piece of the scrap plastic container.
Basically , work slowly heating the damaged edges of the break, don't melt all the way through your kayak.. Be gentle, let the tool do the work... You just want to melt the surface enough to work the wire mesh into the softened damaged area, for reinforcement... While it's still hot and soft, hold the scrap poly against the welding tip, melting old and new poly together, to completely fill cracked area. When you have plenty of melted poly, smooth it out with the spoon shaped bottom of welding tip... If you don't get it right the first time, reheat it a little and smooth it out again....

There you go, hope this helps.

[keith]

Here's another decent article on How to Repair Plastic Kayaks (http://www.kayakreview.org/go/HowToRepairPlasticKayaks/), although it deals more with cracks than holes. Good luck.

[flyguy]

I recently became the proud owner of a Perception Dancer whitewater kayak. It was given to me by my fiance's uncle for helping him move last weekend. It is a plastic (polyethylene) kayak measuring just under 12' long.

The problem I have is that her uncle left oneof those halogen shop lights sitting too close to it and melted a hole in the hull that I can barely fit my thumb through (~1" diameter).
My plan is to support the under side of the hull with a piece of wood, heat the excess plastic that is now surrounding the hole with a heat gun, try to smooth/spread it with a putty knife, and fill in the remaining gap, if any, with some plastic welding stick.

Does this sound like it will work or is this kayak a total loss???

Thanks in advance for any responses and or advice...

I don't know about Perception,but Ocean Kayak will supply you with a piece of plastic that matches in color and info on how to repair (4 free).