How do you fix a leak in a factory handle screw hole?
My 2014 Starboard Allstar has a leak in one of the factory fitted handle screw holes on the rail. It has only ever had the manufacturers supplied screws in the hole and only when a handle is fitted. Not sure how long it has been there just noticed it today after the board had been in the sun for a while and I could hear the air escaping out the hole. Got the board home and did the soapy water trick and had plenty of bubbles forming.
I guess the only way to fix it is seal the hole up completely. Anyone else had similar problems and how did you fix it?
I would remove completely the current one and replace it with the same or a new one.
This way you can
- make the blank dry properly
- add some casing to support the plug: put it back into a mixture of resin and fibers and/or microspheres to anchor in the blank
Cheers Colas. I will make some calls and see if I can find someone local that can do this.
You should contact Starboard [Oz] and see if this is a comon problem.. and see what they recommend you do .. and let us know what they say.
Auswind came back to me today after I emailed them last night with the following response:
We have seen this issue in windsurfing and kiteboards but not with a sup board yet.
The best recommendation I can make is to fill in the hole completely with Epoxy glue. Once this has hardened you can drill a small hole in the centre of the Handle hole. With the hole being smaller than the screw when you do re-screw in the handle, the screw will thread into the resin/Glue giving you a sealed handle hole.
Which sounds like a reasonable option before replacing the whole insert. I dropped it off to a local repairer today and he basically said he will try a similar technique, so we will see how it goes.
That's what I would have done.. Should be an easy fix..
Use the full strength 24 hr epoxy and not the quick 5 min stuff..
I'd be cautious of that technique - if the hole drilled is too small, the screw will crack the epoxy. Best to tap a thread I would expect and use an o-ring or rubber washer.
If you measure the core thickness of the screw with a vernier caliper, you can then match the drill size to this and the screw will be nice and snug.
My suggestion
Fill in hole as advised with epoxy, but insert the new screw BEFORE the epoxy goes off.
In that way the epoxy will set around the thread of the screw.
Try to use a coarse threaded screw so the epoxy has a bigger surface area to set around and hold
