C-Forum

Anyone with a zephyr notice tiny fiberglass strands on your clothes or
arms. I know mine has gotten faded with the sun and oxidized I think.
I'm thinking of giving it a car wax job to lock in the fibers. Not sure how
long it will last though.
mark

When I had one I waved it over the threads- low heat. Threads gone. No high heat.

My gives me the itchies - I need to do the heat gun trick.

I can't see the heat gun or torch thing working cause the glass
fiber has a super hot melting point, like a 1000 deg or somthin.
unless the plastic melts just enough to re seal the fibers. I'll probably
try something else first. At least I know my boat's not the only shedder!
thanks mark.

The fibers are so tiny that they may torch off the surface. Worth a try in a small area.

I've used a torch to burn Kevlar fuzz off of a kayak. Kevlar has a rather high melting point for an organic chain plastic. The fibers sputter and spark in an interesting way, but some of them burn back to nubs that have to be removed by shaving.

Wendy wrote: Low setting on heat gun... When I had one I waved it over the threads- low heat. Threads gone. No high heat.

Maybe it's a problem with your eye's because it seems like you can't read either?

This lady is a Doctor a couple times over (mine on occasion ), has been a boater for decades, and has a proven record of helping whomever... every chance she get's. And never ever have I heard her utter a lie, nor heard of such from anyone. Oh - and did I say a most highly intelligent person, and pretty good boater.

(and you - you're the newguy????)

AAhhh! philcanoe I see your point , and will take the advice given
Thanks. mark.

Well...... actually I wouldn't have thought much of the idea myself.

Let us know how it works out?

You can move it up just keep the heat moving. My Zephry was the first cracked one Eli tried to repair- to much heat is not good. The heat gun, before the crack happened fixed any exposed threads.
PS- Thanks Phil for the kind words.

I'm resurrecting an old thread rather than start a new one. I've tried some experimenting on resolving the fiberglass-fiber-itchy problem. I consulted with Eli some then went "off road". Failures are information and most of the information here is of that variety.

# Heat gun alone - i bought an adjustable heat gun (*) - I understand this has worked for some, not so much for me. Maybe I have a greater level of wear? As I see it, there are two ways to think about this - you are burning off the exposed fibers or you are softening the outer layer of polypropylene (PP) and pushing the fibers back in to the "matrix". The former didn't work. With the latter, Eli suggested applying heat until the surface started to get shiny then use foil to press the fibers in. I made a tool (see pictures). No luck for me - distinct fibers remained.

# razor - it feels like stubble, so... No luck with the disposable razor.

# PP sheet - I bought some that was .030" thick sheet and - referring to the working temps on the web page for Twintex - I was able to get a 2" strip to bond, but not very well. I applied heat to the hull and PP sheet and then applied pressure with my "iron" and it would bond, but later could lift it with a putty knife. It was promising so I went after some film.. [The PP sheet makes a passable cutting board so it will have at least one use.]

# PP film - i found some PP film on line that was described as heat sealable and sold as a wrapping product. It was cheap so I ordered some. Again with the heat gun and "iron" - i could get it to start to bond, but a little too much heat made it shrivel up. Could not make any progress. Maybe a thicker film would work.

# paint / buffing - I applied a coat of plastic paint (Valspar, label lists PP as an application) - the fibers remained, but were like stubble - I buffed the surface after paint dried with an old t-shirt and what remained was nice and smooth. Seeing that, I tried buffing an unpainted section - I could still feel fibers. A coat of paint over that was nice and smooth. So, buffing alone didn't seem to do it, but buffing and painting (regardless of order) did. Now to see how it wears - 1 day of rock sliding and it seems OK... No itchies from loading up.

Pictures :

https://picasaweb.google.com/1038689084 ... 2645855266" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


* heat gun - I went after a adjustable heat gun with digital display after watching the Liquid Logic welding video - that appears to be a Milwaukee - couldn't find one still available. Thought that would be good to better stay near the intended / safe temp for various materials. I found a Dewalt with a digital display, adjustable in 50 degree steps. From what I can tell (with out instruments), the temp doesn't describe the temp at the nozzle accurately - considerably cooler. I may get an infrared thermometer to use with it. The jury is still out.

tags :
Zephyr fiberglass fibers itch itchy itchies scratch

Thanks for the info. I am attempting to repair an older Twin-tex Esquif Mistral that had a balsa core that rotted. I have sanded fiberglass boats and had the itchies many times but working on this thing is something else. It is as if the shedding fibers are encapsulated in polypropylene and they stick in your skin like little needles.

I had come to the conclusion that painting the hull bottom (where the wear and shedding is the worst) was the most reasonable option and your experience reinforces that.

I found a tip on line for removing the fibers from your skin - scrub with a microfiber cloth. It worked! Still not as good as not getting them in the first place...

Resurrecting an old thread again!

Today was the first time I noticed my Zephyr shedding. I was really itchy after loading/unloading.

Scott, I'm curious- how is the buffing and painting holding up a year later? Also, for someone who is not very handy, exactly how do you buff the boat? Did you use a plastic spray paint or apply with a brush?

Thanks!!

Buffing - I folded up the shirt and just rubbed the boat hard like waxing a car (wax on, wax off)

Paint - sprayed it from the can

Still holding up, but light use and I anticipate touching it up as needed.

Excited that the easiest solution was the one that worked! Thanks for sharing all of that info and the pictures.