Hi, I have just over tighten the screw in =my vent plug on my foil board. There is no damage to the plug or the screw, but it seems to have detached from the board and now wobbles.
Does that mean water can get in ?
Also how should I fit this ? Should I just try and apply epoxy resin around the rim of the vent to try and reattached it to the main part of the board ?
The screw in plug itself is metal and the vent with the hole and thread is plastic. I can't post a photo as I am a new member.
The vent seems to sit in a cut out hole under the outer casing of the board, so that the outer casing just cover a little over it. So I think I have detached it due to over tighting and thus it is now wobbling under that and there is a smal gap between it and the outer casing of the board
Yes you could repair it with some thickened epoxy. You probably need to remove the whole thing to get the epoxy all the way around.
Does the vent plug look like this?
If so then you've probably just mashed the o ring. Thats the end for the o ring, but you can generally get a new one or order one from the plumbing section at a hardware store.
If the plug wobbles after you tighten it, you might have damaged the plastic threads in the board. Like others have said, the vent has a plastic/rubber seal. That seal presses against the board to prevent water ingress:
That gap between the board and the circumference of the plug is normal. When you sail, a tiny bit of water pools there because the sealing happens a little bit below the surface of the board.
check the seal (o-ring) and check the plastic threads and report back.
Close the vent plug, place the board in the sun for a few minutes. With some soapy water you can check if there are any air bubbles coming out around the vent plug. If there are, air comes out which means water can come in. No bubbles means you are probably ok.
^^^ this
but it needs to be a good temperature increase to be sure
speaking of sure - how certain are u that the insert itself is moving in the board, not just the screw is wobbly in the insert? If the insert is loose it's going to need to come out in its entirety and be replaced. Just gluing around the top will seal it up maybe, but it won't be properly bonded to the board and will fail again. It's not a hard DIY with a holesaw and new chinook insert
Select to expand quoteWaterNomads said..
Close the vent plug, place the board in the sun for a few minutes. With some soapy water you can check if there are any air bubbles coming out around the vent plug. If there are, air comes out which means water can come in. No bubbles means you are probably ok.
Yeah best to open vent and leave board in cool place eg inside overnight. close vent then move to the sun. But I would give it 15-20 min to heat up then go with soapy water
I wouldn't even wait 15 mins to heat up. I would put soapy water immediately after putting the board under the sun.
For those people that haven't ever done the soapy-water thing. Until you see it happen, you dont know what to look for. But once you see it bubble, it is really obvious... you will know instantly. You only need a sprinkling of quite-soapy water.
Here is one I prepared earlier for my own understanding... I had it fully-closed, waited for the board to heat up (a few mins in the direct sun) then loosened the thread.
