I had a different, vent problem, bought what looked like a chinook vent but now I think it was a cheap imitation. It had a moulding line right across the land, forget how I evened it up, but getting rid of the mold seem fixed the problem.

I had the same problem with a JP 2010 FSW, luckily I noticed before it got wet. The shop owner got the ok to try and fix it and see how it went. He actually had to finish the thread as it didn't go all the way and then even off the recess where the o-ring sat. Luckily no issue and the board is still water tight today. I'd say there is quite a bit of water in your board and it's going to take more then a few days to dry out. I'd even suggest that when it's fixed it will cause the board to fail next time it sits in the sun for a while. I think you'll need to loosen the vent plug when not sailing from now on to save the board blowing up like a balloon.

Hope it's not as bad as I think....If it was new I'd go for warranty, Even if clearance. I'd call it a manufacturing defect.

Good luck.

init9999 said..
I have always put a thick layer of wax over the vent plug once it is screwed in.

interesting - i have NEVER heard of that before
is this candle wax or some kind of pliable wax ??

init9999 said..

Surfboard wax. I could well be the only one that does it but it gives me peace of mind

Don't worry - you're not the only one.

I've only just heard of that also, but was told some guys plug the bottom of the hole (just below threads) with surf wax. So if you leave vent undone, water will not get to the core, but the wax is
pliable enough that excess pressure in the board can still blow out without hurting the board.

I like the theory........

jh2703 said..

I had the same problem with a JP 2010 FSW, luckily I noticed before it got wet. The shop owner got the ok to try and fix it and see how it went. He actually had to finish the thread as it didn't go all the way and then even off the recess where the o-ring sat. Luckily no issue and the board is still water tight today. I'd say there is quite a bit of water in your board and it's going to take more then a few days to dry out. I'd even suggest that when it's fixed it will cause the board to fail next time it sits in the sun for a while. I think you'll need to loosen the vent plug when not sailing from now on to save the board blowing up like a balloon.

Hope it's not as bad as I think....If it was new I'd go for warranty, Even if clearance. I'd call it a manufacturing defect.

Good luck.

Yes, you are right. I am going to vent the board until there is no more moisture in the board (and won't use it until then). I've got a piece of toilet paper pinched up like a wick and stuck down the hole, not only to dissipate the moisture out of the board, but as a tester. When I do my final test, I'll know if it's ****ed the board. I vent all my boards (with the screw half in) anyway, so, most of the water could have dissipated after using the board each time. It might not be so bad.

The board was a clearance sale board for $600. I brought it interstate. From what I've seen from people's experiences locally (buying locally), applying for warranty is a mind**** and all Cobra boards have defects anyway. The replacement you get after waiting months and months is only going to have another defect. This could be worse than the original defect. I've brought 4 JP boards, 2 Fanatics. All of them have/had defects. Some serious, others cosmetic. Only three boards I have owned were free of defects. An OES XR115, a 2nd hand 2006 148 Bic Techno and a 2nd hand 2006 Starboard 104 S-type. The only way to avoid defects is to buy a custom board (if defects really bug you). I'm willing to put up with it when I get the boards cheaper (clearance sales).

Regarding seals. As any good mechanic will tell you, all seals need lubricant to function properly and stops them pershing. I use Vaseline on my vent plug seal on my boards. Apart from the above mentioned case, I've never had any issues with water getting into the board. A dried out seal will leak, no matter what.

Note: A guy down my local uses blue tack to cover his vent hole. I started doing this last year, but it became a pain in the arse when the blue tack sticks to everything (inside of board bag) and comes off when you step on it, or the base boot scraps it off.

We'll see

Easy Fix - Seal it up and put in a gore-tex one!

I've fixed a few like this by grinding the land back to a good surface. You can make a tool with a suitable diameter dowel with some sandpaper glued to the end. A little fiddly to make, but once it's done you pop it in the hole and rotate until the land is square. The last one I did I used a dremel with the right size grinding stone in the collet.

As a temporary measure you could put some thread tape around the vent screw.

ikw777: I was going to use that method (and brought the materials to do that), but then I remembered I had Dremel planer.

MattDowse: That is another good option, but as long as I could remove it to inspect down the vent hole.

Thanks Mineral. Just to be sure, I've drilled two holes in the deck for extra venting. I'll plug them once the board has dried out. I don't think there is a lot of water in the board. I've fixed boards that were full of water (many times worse than my current problem, with the same construction) and those boards are still working perfectly after a few years; One I still own, and a mate of mine owns the other. I'm pretty confident my board will be okay since I reacted as soon as I spotted a problem. As you said, there will always be some residual moisture in the board, but based on my previous two cases, I should be able to get many years use out of this board. Anyway, we'll see what happens . Touch wood hahaha