Laser Repairing

NickolasG

Member
Hi all! I'm about to make mini "service/repairing" on my laser, because I've noticed that somewhere silicone is gone, somewhere I still have glue marks on a hull, somewhere I have some weird black lines (probably from rubbing with something). And the questions I've got are:
1) If I'm going to take off old and put new silicone on bailer, should I fully take it off from the boat
2) What is better to take off these glue marks and black lines, I have 2 variants in my head that are acetone and isopropyl alcohol, and I'm a bit afraid to use clear acetone on a hull because as I know acetone damages any types of paint/gelcoat/etc
3)I have an Aussie Laser, and I'm living in Europe, where else, except official PSA store I can get new laser logo stickers and some can of "Laser Grey" gelcoat in Europe?
Thank you!
 
1) Where do you have silicone in your bailer besides the screwhole? If you use it for fairing the edge, then you don't need to take the whole thing off, unless someone already used so much of it that you can't get that old stuff out otherwise.

I've never faired my bailer(s), and don't advise anyone else to, unless it's a bad fit so that the forward edge is standing out. Even then the effect is 99 % psychological... but that's what you want, right? :rolleyes:

2) Yeah, acetone is effective but a little problematic. The area where you've used it gets dirty again easier, and then you need more of the stuff, and so on. I use it anyway :D

3) No idea. They don't ship that gelcoat outside Australia, so you have to make your own blend if you want an exact match. How close is that shade to LP's "vela" grey? (I'd use just plain white.)

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1) Where do you have silicone in your bailer besides the screwhole? If you use it for fairing the edge, then you don't need to take the whole thing off, unless someone already used so much of it that you can't get that old stuff out otherwise.

I've never faired my bailer(s), and don't advise anyone else to, unless it's a bad fit so that the forward edge is standing out. Even then the effect is 99 % psychological... but that's what you want, right? :rolleyes:

2) Yeah, acetone is effective but a little problematic. The area where you've used it gets dirty again easier, and then you need more of the stuff, and so on. I use it anyway :D

3) No idea. They don't ship that gelcoat outside Australia, so you have to make your own blend if you want an exact match. How close is that shade to LP's "vela" grey? (I'd use just plain white.)

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I said a bit wrong, not exactly on bailer, silicone gone around drain bush. Gelcoats are very different, my Aussie "plays" on the sun, if it's sunny color is kinda like bright blue, when it's cloudy color is close to blue/dark blue+grey. That's a big problem that they don't export it out of Australia.
 
not exactly on bailer, silicone gone around drain bush.
Ok, you better remove the whole bailer then.

That's a big problem that they don't export it out of Australia.
Probably has to do with air freight bans on toxic substances, as it's not shipped even to New Zealand or other Pacific islands which make up PSA's trademark area.

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Treat her right, and she'll take care of YOUR soul... no lie. Where are you located in Greece? My family spent five years living just outside Athens from 1968-1973, those were some of the best years of my life. Back then, my parents were still together and we all lived like kings, 9 kids plus two parents, and occasionally a grandma... cost of living was low back then, and Greece itself wasn't as crowded as it is nowadays. Less pollution too, but I guess that can be said of any place on earth in these modern times, more's the pity. :confused:
 
Treat her right, and she'll take care of YOUR soul... no lie. Where are you located in Greece? My family spent five years living just outside Athens from 1968-1973, those were some of the best years of my life. Back then, my parents were still together and we all lived like kings, 9 kids plus two parents, and occasionally a grandma... cost of living was low back then, and Greece itself wasn't as crowded as it is nowadays. Less pollution too, but I guess that can be said of any place on earth in these modern times, more's the pity. :confused:
I live in Alimos (place where this year were Radial Youth Europeans). Yeah these years were gold for Greece. Nowadays it's not that bad too, but the difference is so huge. Well, what to say, I just live, work, study and sail here, I'm not Greek at all.
 
We lived in a northern suburb of Athens, maybe half an hour away from the Acropolis on those skinny roads back in the day... every summer when school was out, we'd all pile into a VW Bus with a full-length roof rack hauling all our gear, and we'd go car camping in Western Europe. I'm talking about 10 or 11 people crammed into the bus, sometimes an older brother would stay in Greece and hold the fort, so to speak. One summer, we tooled up to Scandinavia, the next summer we drove to the Iberian Peninsula, each summer a different area of Western Europe, aye? We toured something like 16 or 17 countries this way, camping in two heavy Coleman tents most of the time, and occasionally spending a night at some hotel in town as a break from the routine, LOL. :rolleyes:

In those days, car camping was dirt cheap, so we lived well even though we were tourists, you understand. We camped in beautiful campgrounds right on the ocean, maybe by some river or lake with a castle on a nearby ridge, and the cost was peanuts, a few lousy dollars per night... good times, definitely some of the best. My pop was a retired submarine commander, so he was big on logistics... to this day, I wonder where he found the patience, cruising throughout Western Europe with such a large family in a VW Bus, but he got it done, LOL. To this day I still love camping, and I'm good at it too... all that pre-Infantry training paid off, setting up camp under every imaginable circumstance. Only nowadays I go remote, better than developed campgrounds due to greater freedom, less people, less regulations. :cool:

I guess that's what I liked about Greece in the late '60s & early '70s, it felt like we had such freedom there, ya know? Certainly more freedom than one finds in the U.S. today, which is sad. Some of my relatives still live in Europe: England, Germany & Italy, but no longer in Greece. They decided to try their luck overseas rather than stay in the U.S., go figure. I don't blame 'em either, the way this country is heading... I'd sail for Costa Rica today if I had more money, LOL. But living here in the wilds of Arizona isn't so bad, there's definitely more personal freedom here than in states like CA. For example, I can walk into a local swap meet and buy a firearm pronto, taking immediate possession of that firearm, and the only "paperwork" involved is the transfer of C-notes from my wallet to the seller, LOL. That's the sort of freedom I like, keeping the gubmint out of the equation entirely. ;)
 
Don't use silicone it will never come off if you ever have to reseal the bailer. 5200 is ok but is hard to remove. If you can find something called marine sealant that is the stuff.
 
Don't use silicone it will never come off if you ever have to reseal the bailer. 5200 is ok but is hard to remove. If you can find something called marine sealant that is the stuff.
I actually wanted to tell you a lot of time ago, but just remembered about it again, my previous boat had s/n 166731. Pretty close to each other
 
This thread is alive again and I need your help.
Is there any way to fix the mast step without drilling inspector port? Dinghy is kinda fresh and still costs money, don’t want to “kill”appearance of it and money on selling. I’ve got one picture of my step, I know from where leaks are coming, but in Greece I don’t know nobody who could to this repairing job.
945FAA02-93B7-420E-BA48-CF233AF8E2F5.jpeg

Plus there’s one more question, how to remove this Teflon disk from the bottom if it’s stuck there?
 
I did this once. used a long drill extension with a sander on the end. I sanded down the mess in the bottom of the tube. Then used a vacuum and a lot of denatured alcohol and rags on a stick to clean the area. Then I sat the hull on its side and filled a big syringe with west system, (mixed hot) and would squeeze it into the area trying not to over apply. I let that harden and flipped the boat on it's other side to handle the other side of the tube. Then I sanded the excess down with my sander, (drill bit) extension. If the hole in the bottom is large enough that it's going to require glass work you'll have to go in under the deck to wrap the tube from inside the hull.
 
I did this once. used a long drill extension with a sander on the end. I sanded down the mess in the bottom of the tube. Then used a vacuum and a lot of denatured alcohol and rags on a stick to clean the area. Then I sat the hull on its side and filled a big syringe with west system, (mixed hot) and would squeeze it into the area trying not to over apply. I let that harden and flipped the boat on it's other side to handle the other side of the tube. Then I sanded the excess down with my sander, (drill bit) extension. If the hole in the bottom is large enough that it's going to require glass work you'll have to go in under the deck to wrap the tube from inside the hull.
There’s no big holes. All small ones. Thank you
 
Hi,
Use a hoover to remove teflon disc, dry out the area thoroughly then pour in about an old 35mm film container worth of epoxy. After it sets replace teflon disk and go sailing. A hatch installed next to the daggerboard slot will help ventilate the hull without suggesting a mast step repair.
Steve
 
Looking through the thread, there some great suggestions. To spring board off a few, you could also shred some fiber glass into an epoxy blend and poor is in, it will help keep the epoxy from cracking and provide additional strength. Wait for it to dry then drop in the Teflon puck.

This a good way to rebuild torn screw holes as well.

Also, if you add a port, put a water bottle port in. This could be viewed as a “upgrade”.

Chem use on gel coat can be tricky, at times black marks can be removed with a white eraser then washed and polished. Using acetone can damage the gel coat.

Best of luck!
 
I interpret "not once" meaning "no". But if you have tested it, how fast did the mast step drain? Millimetres/minutes is probably the appropriate unit...

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