We help people repair plastic
Bombardier Recreational Products, or BRP, has introduced several Sea-Doo personal watercraft with a new hull material they call “Polytec”. Polytec is a glass fiber reinforced polypropylene material that is much lighter than the typical fiberglass or SMC that is used to make watercraft hulls. The lighter hull material allows for easier trailering and great performance using a smaller engine. Sea-Doo has expanded the use of this material across its line to include SPARK, WAKE, GTR, and GTI models, and likely more in the future. If the Sea-Doo hull is black and the upper and lower parts are bolted together, it’s likely that the hull is made of Polytec.
Sea-Doo’s Polytec material is tough thanks to the glass fibers embedded in the polypropylene material, but it is not indestructible. The hull can be cracked and broken if struck with sufficient force. Needless to say, replacing a cracked hull can be an expensive proposition. But with Polyvance’s products and techniques, you can make quality repairs that will save you thousands of dollars.
In this video, we will repair a two foot-long crack in a Sea-Doo SPARK Polytec hull using Polyvance’s nitrogen plastic welder and R18 glass-reinforced polypropylene welding rod.
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Note: This is a list of the Polyvance products that can be used to make this repair. This list does not include sanders, grinders, or other common tools you will need. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call technical support at 800-633-3047.
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English Transcript:
Bombardier Recreational Products, or BRP, has introduced several Sea-Doo personal watercraft with a new hull material they call “Polytec”. Polytec is a glass fiber reinforced polypropylene material that is much lighter than the typical fiberglass or SMC that is used to make watercraft hulls. The lighter hull material allows for easier trailering and great performance using a smaller engine. Sea-Doo has expanded the use of this material across its line to include SPARK, WAKE, GTR, and GTI models, and likely more in the future. If the Sea-Doo hull is black and the upper and lower parts are bolted together, it’s likely that the hull is made of Polytec.
Polytec is BRPs trade name for polypropylene plus glass fiber reinforcement. Here we see the plastic ID symbol molded into the backside of the plastic. The “GF-30” means that the hull has 30 percent glass fibers embedded in the polypropylene matrix. In this video, we will show you how to repair a Polytec hull using Polyvance’s nitrogen plastic welder and glass-reinforced polypropylene welding rod.
Sea-Doo’s Polytec material is tough thanks to the glass fibers embedded in the polypropylene material, but it is not indestructible. As you can see here, the hull can be cracked and broken if struck with sufficient force. Needless to say, replacing a cracked hull can be an expensive proposition. But with Polyvance’s products and techniques, you can make quality repairs that will save you thousands of dollars.
We’ll show you the repair technique on this two foot-long crack. Again, since the material is glass-reinforced polypropylene, we will use Polyvance’s R18 glass-reinforced polypropylene welding rod. This rod is available in three different profiles – the 02 round rod, the 04 medium ribbon, and the 05 wide ribbon.
The first step in any plastic repair is to clean the plastic. Here we are using Polyvance’s 1000 Super Prep plastic cleaner. This material will dissolve any contamination on the surface, allowing you to wipe it away before it can cause any adhesion problems in the repair.
Because the impact distorted and misaligned the surface, we first have to heat the plastic up and push it back into proper alignment. Using a heat gun and some patience, heat the impact area and the surrounding area about six inches out from the impact to soften the plastic. It is best to heat from one side until the plastic is too hot to touch on the opposite side. That way you know the plastic is heated all the way through. In this case, the crack wasn’t straight through the hull; it was sheared slightly at an angle and the parts were not overlapping properly. Heating it will allow you to soften the plastic enough to push the sheared areas back into position. When it is sufficiently softened, push the hull back into proper alignment with a screwdriver handle.
Next, use Polyvance’s aluminum tape to hold the crack in alignment on the outer surface. The tape will also prevent the weld from blowing through the crack when you’re welding from the inside.
There was a bit of residual stress on the crack that the tape wasn’t holding together, so here we are inserting a couple of hot plastic staples using Polyvance’s 6204 Hot Spot plastic stapler. The staples are embedded into the plastic, tying the broken parts together with stainless steel. Using the airless plastic welder, we then melt the plastic on top of the staple to make them more secure.
To prepare for welding, grind a v-groove about halfway through the plastic using a carbide die grinder bit. Here we are using Polyvance’s 6122 round cutting bit in a quarter-inch air die grinder. This tool makes fast work of removing the plastic. Note that the v-groove is fairly wide, at about half an inch. Due to the stresses placed on the hull in operation, we want to make sure there’s plenty of contact area between the welding rod and the hull.
We will set the Nitro-Fuzer nitrogen plastic welder at a heat setting of 72 for the nitrogen side, with a flow rate of between 12 and 15 liters per minute. The setting is a bit higher than we normally recommend for polypropylene to help speed up the welding process a bit.
At the bottom of the v-groove, we start by laying down a bead right down the middle of the crack with the 02 profile round welding rod. When welding, it is essential that you melt BOTH plastics at the same time as you make your pass. Note that the welder nozzle is very close in to the work, and that the hot nitrogen gas is melting both the hull and the welding rod at the same time. Apply a light downward pressure to the welding rod as you make your pass to fuse the two plastics together. When you reach the end of the pass, direct the heat on the rod alone for a few seconds, then twist the rod to break it.
Because the v-groove is so wide and deep, this repair will take several passes of welding rod to fill completely. Here we are welding with the 05 profile wide ribbon. Again, the same basic process is used. Make sure the hot nitrogen gas is close in to the action, making sure to pre-melt both the hull and the welding rod, then fusing the two melted plastics together with a slight downward pressure on the welding rod. We’ll make a second pass with the wide welding rod in order to completely fill the v-groove. If there are any voids or low areas, fill them in with the welding rod that fits the area best.
Now that the rod is laid into the groove, we will use the airless plastic welder to smooth it out and burnish it in. Note that we are using the nitrogen plastic welder to preheat the plastic immediately ahead of the airless welder’s tip. Move the tip slowly over the surface and let the heat do the job. Keep the heat on the plastic and smooth it with the airless welder to your satisfaction.
After letting the weld cool completely, we will remove the temporary staples by reheating them with the plastic stapler and pulling them out with a pair of needle nose pliers. After the staples are removed, we will v-groove the area as we did before and weld that segment of the hull using the same method.
With the welds on the inside completely cooled, we will peel the tape off the outside and get it ready for repair. We’ll recycle the aluminum tape and apply it to the inside to help support the area while we weld on the outside.
V-groove again with the carbide cutter bit along the cracks about halfway through the plastic. Weld using the same technique along the crack. Here we will start by using the 05 profile wide ribbon. Apply as many passes as necessary to completely fill the v-groove, using whichever profile of welding rod fits the bill. Here we started with the wide rod, then made a couple of passes with the 04 profile medium width ribbon, then capped it all off with a final pass of the 05 profile wide ribbon.
As on the inside, when you have enough material to fill the v-groove, smooth the weld with the airless plastic welder. Again, you can speed this process by using the hot nitrogen immediately in front of the airless welder tip to preheat the plastic. Move the tip slowly, allowing the heat to penetrate the plastic.
When the welds have all cooled completely, sand the weld smooth. Here we are using coarse 50 grit sandpaper to knock the high spots down. Once the correct profile is achieved, then we’ll switch to finer grades of sandpaper to get a smoother finish. Finish sand the area with 320 grit sandpaper.
Because we want the best appearance possible without having the paint the hull, we will melt the sandpaper fuzz off the surface with a propane torch. Keep the flame moving rapidly; you don’t want to overheat any certain area. You just want to melt the fuzz created by the sandpaper.
Thanks to the color match and strength of the Polyvance glass-reinforced welding rod, the appearance is almost back to original and the repair is strong and functional. You can repair cracks or holes in the Sea-Doo Polytec hulls using this process. Polyvance also offers products to help paint polypropylene including fillers, adhesion promoters, and texture paints to help restore the factory appearance of the plastic. Check out the Polyvance website, or call 800-633-3047 for technical assistance on any plastic repair or refinishing challenge you face.
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