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First Royalex Cold Crack and Possible Gunwale Replacement Project

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Hello, I am a long time reader, but seldom post.
I have a 2014 Mad River Reflection 15 in Royalex with black coated aluminum gunwales that I purchased new in 2016 from a retailer in New York's Hudson Valley.
It's my first canoe and has been a good boat to learn on and use up in the Adirondacks and locally here in the Hudson Valley as well.
I've installed a kneeling thwart in it for solo use.

After a camping trip last month, I noticed a cold crack while I was cleaning it and applying some 303.
I've done a bit of research on how to repair these but needless to say, I was pretty disappointed to discover it. It was my understanding that this happens pretty infrequently on the aluminum gunwale models. At any rate, it's there. It's only about 2.5 inches long from the gunwale straight down up near the bow of the canoe. *Pictures attached.

My questions are: can I just do a patch job with epoxy and potentially paint over the repair and skip the fiberglass patch since it's so small?
I've read some instructions on how to repair the crack on both the West Systems website as well as an in-depth blog article on the epoxyworks website.

Additionally , I've discovered a few dents and almost-punctures that I should fill while I'm making the repair and would love to hear some thoughts on how to best handle those. *Pictures attached

From what I can tell...Mad River "Spruce" Royalex spay paint is impossible to find . Does anyone know a source where I could get something similar?

And.., lastly...I've been contemplating replacing the nice aluminum gunwales with wood (probably ash like the rest of the boat) ...just because I think it would be a fun project over the winter. Is this a terrible idea and has anyone done something similar (Aluminum to wood on a MR?)

I may end up purchasing a lighter composite solo canoe in the coming months / year ...but I think I'll hold on to this reflection 15. It's a nice shaped hull and I've grown somewhat attached to it.

Thank you!
Jason
 

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Jason, welcome to posting here. There is a lot to unpack there, the Reflection 15 is a nice canoe.

DougD is our resident expert at cold crack repairs (which he swears he will never undertake again, and keeps doing), and I hope he will chime in with his experiences.

I would gutter out the cold cracks, fill with G/flex and patch on the inside with epoxy and cloth (or even a mix of West epoxy and G/flex). Sand/scour/scrub/clean first to get the 303 off so the epoxy adheres.

I can’t see all of your attached photos, so no idea abouts the dents and “almost through” punctures. I guess the deeper ones could be filled with thickened G/flex if you intend to paint the hull.

From what I can tell...Mad River "Spruce" Royalex spay paint is impossible to find . Does anyone know a source where I could get something similar?

If you want to paint the hull I wouldn’t worry much about using Mad River’s “Spruce” spray paint. I went that route years ago with MRC and Dagger “matching color” spray paints. RX hulls UV fade, so it wasn’t exactly “matching” and, really, it was just freaking spray paint.

I’ve used same-ish color EZ-Poxy paint on RX hulls and it is definitely superior to spray paint. And is $60 a quart (enough to coat the hull thrice). If you want to go less expensive a quart can of same-ish color Rustoleum oil-based enamel, rolled on and tipped out, still beats the heck out of spray paint.

(BTW, grumpily, from past experience, you’ll need 3 cans of spray paint to lay down a micro-thin coat of paint. You can’t spray it outside in any breeze, or half the spray will blow away. If you spray the can closer it will drip and sag. If you spray it anti-breeze inside your shop/garage the aerosolized spray will end up everydamnwhere; the floor, the walls, you. Just say no to freaking spray paint)

And.., lastly...I've been contemplating replacing the nice aluminum gunwales with wood (probably ash like the rest of the boat) ...just because I think it would be a fun project over the winter. Is this a terrible idea and has anyone done something similar (Aluminum to wood on a MR?)

A “terrible idea”? Straight up, maybe. The screws in wood gunwaled RX hulls are the most prone to producing cold cracks. The still worse news is that cold cracked boats often continue to cold crack. I sure as heck wouldn’t replace “nice aluminum gunwales” with wood on a canoe already shown a propensity to cold crack.

This CCR thread may be disheartening, but worth a read (Trigger Warning - Aluminum gunwaled RX canoe that cold cracked every few years)

https://myccr.com/phpbbforum/viewtop...it=Cold+cracks

I may end up purchasing a lighter composite solo canoe in the coming months / year ...but I think I'll hold on to this reflection 15. It's a nice shaped hull and I've grown somewhat attached to it.

If you are using the Reflection 15 as a solo boat I would retrofit it with a center seat, and install couple new thwarts in the old seat holes. 15’ 4” L x 33” WL with an inch of symmetrical rocker is right in my peculiar wheelhouse. As a solo I’d trade that extra seat weight for better solo trim and gear storage space in a heartbeat.

I am, as folks here know, peculiar; especially when it comes to solo tripping canoes, and the Reflection15 would make a dandy solo tripper or day boat.

Don’t be a stranger, keep us posted on what you do and how it goes.
 
Jason, I have fixed several boats with cold cracks, the last having something like 9 of them. What I did was first drill a hole at the bottom of the crack to prevent further cracking. I never guttered out the cracks but I know some folks have. I just didn't feel the need to do that. I did use cloth and G-Flex on both the inside and outside of the crack to seal it. All the boats did have wood rails on them so getting them off was pretty easy to take them off to get at the sheerline and patch from the very top of the crack. I don't think you'll want to take off the aluminum gunwales. I think I did a write up here on the board and if I find it I will add to this post.

Also,when I did the patching I had the hull on its side so the resin didn't run. Keep us posted!

I couldn't find it here on this site but did find my write up from my blog from 2011. I use different materials now a days but this gives an example for a fix:

http://scooter-bangortoportland.blogspot.com/2011/07/the-mad-river-eciplse-fix.html

dougd
 
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Hello jandrews,

"Sorry to hear about your problem. Below is my experience with cold cracks. I offer if because it's fun to share. And it also supports your decision to seek advice from member on this site. I did not know about the site when my problem appeared in 2011. I wish I had, as I could have done a much better job. Anyway, I wrote up my experience in my journal. Here it is.

Our Mad River Explorer canoe had wooden gunwales, and a Royalex, plastic hull. Plastic and wood expand and contract at different rates during times of warming and cooling. That didn’t make much difference when Kathleen and I lived on the west coast, where temperatures didn’t get all that cold. In Preeceville, Saskatchewan, however, winter temperatures usually fell, at least on some of the days, to -40 degrees. That’s cold. One has to be aware of differential expansion and contraction rates.

To prepare for cold winters, one is supposed to loosen the screws that attach the wooden gunwales to the plastic hull. That way, the hull and gunwales can expand and contract at their own rates. Otherwise, severe cracks in the hull will almost certainly greet the once-proud canoe owner in the spring.

We moved to Preeceville in the fall of 2008. I loosened the gunwale screws at the beginning of winter in 2008. I loosened the gunwale screws at the beginning of winter in 2009. In the fall of 2010, I put the Mad River Explorer in the storage shed, and said to myself that I would loosen the screws later. I don’t know why I said that. It only takes about five minutes. But I would have had to walk a couple hundred metres (yards) each way to get my portable drill. I didn’t want to take the time right then. I would do it later.

Well, later never came. I got busy doing something else. I didn’t loosen the gunwale screws. In the spring of 2011, I slid back the door to the canoe storage shed, and literally staggered from the horrific sight. I started counting. Thirty-seven cracks all the way through the hull of my beloved Mad River Explorer. You might not think this possible, but I loved my Mad River Explorer even more than I loved my Ford Econoline van. I loved my Mad River Explorer only a little less than I loved Kathleen. And I loved Kathleen a lot. This was truly horrible, and I was responsible. Perhaps the worst mistake of my entire life. I had to rectify this situation. I sent away for a bunch of Kevlar cloth and Cold Cure, a two-part epoxy. I spent most of a day affixing the Kevlar cloth, inside and out, to all 37 cracks in the hull. In my opinion, the Mad River Explorer, although not as good as new, was just as seaworthy, lake-worthy or river-worthy as before. [Note: Seaworthy is an actual word, as recognized by my spell checker. The checker, however, did not accept lakeworthy or riverworthy. That’s why I had to hyphenate those two words. I would have much preferred, though, to be consistent with seaworthy.]

So, after the job was completed, I returned to the house to boast of my success to Kathleen, knowing that she would be very impressed. “I can’t trust that boat anymore Michael. You say it had thirty-seven cracks all the way through the hull. What if it breaks while we’re on a wilderness canoe trip?”

“But it won’t break. It’s just as strong as before. Maybe even stronger. I put Kevlar cloth on the inside and the outside of every crack.”

“I don’t like it. I don’t want to take a chance.”

There you have it. Kathleen wasn’t happy. I had no choice. I had to buy another canoe."

We did buy another canoe - a Royalex Wenonah Prospector. I still have the Mad River Explorer. I still like it, but will probably never use it again. It's a lot heavier now, and unbalanced. Still, I can't part with it. Besides, who would want it?
 
Thanks for the responses. ...I haven't read them yet but will now. I see that my photos didn't come through..so trying again this way. IMG_0169.JPG IMG_0250.JPG IMG_0251.JPG IMG_0254.JPG IMG_0253.JPG IMG_0252.JPG canoe.jpg
 

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For what it's worth......I have an MR Explorer that has a serious encounter with a giant bolder that besides cracking both (wood) gunnels created a long crack in the hull just like a cold crack except more than 12" long.

I had the gunnels replaced, the people who did that just filled the crack (through both inner and outer layers of abs) with epoxy (probably Gflex) and nothing more. Although I haven't used the boat much since the repair I have done a few short tandem trips and there has been no sign of any failure or extention of the crack.

For the dings and dents, personally I would do nothing but if you are inclined fix them by filling with thickened Gflex and put a small circle of s-glass (or other) material over it.
 
Thanks to all who posted. I think i'l do a simple Gflex epoxy repair myself without a patch for starters. I'll drill a small hole at the end of the crack...and leave the aluminum gunwale on for the repair. Then use. file to chisel out a channel along the crack on the interior and exterior of the boat. Run a torch quickly along the ABS. Then pack the epoxy in one-side-at a time and lay packing tape over it while it dries. Then I'll do my best to sand using a series of grits to get the repair and subsequent paint to "blend in" as much as possible. I have a little Festool RO90 sander which does buffing nicely so I'm hoping this can look as well done as possible. Mike, I like your suggestion of replacing the two seats with thwarts and making the boat a solo. Could even afford to lay on some skid plates with all that weight savings!
Thanks for all the suggestions.
 
I think i'l do a simple Gflex epoxy repair myself without a patch for starters. I'll drill a small hole at the end of the crack...and leave the aluminum gunwale on for the repair. Then use. file to chisel out a channel along the crack on the interior and exterior of the boat. Run a torch quickly along the ABS. Then pack the epoxy in one-side-at a time and lay packing tape over it while it dries. Then I'll do my best to sand using a series of grits to get the repair and subsequent paint to "blend in" as much as possible.

Jason, I like that plan. If cold crack repair is possible while leaving the gunwales in place that will save a lot of time and effort. Drilling out the pop rivets, taking the aluminum gunwales off, filling/patching the cold crack up to the sheerline and reinstalling the gunwales would be a lot of dang work for a single cold crack.

After filling the crack I might still lay a glass & peel ply patch on the interior, starting just below the inwale. With such a linear crack you could just use a length of 2” E-glass “tape”, selvage edge fiberglass available in most automotive stores.

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/bondo-fiberglass-cloth-tape-00477-477/10551189-P?searchTerm=fiberglass%20tape

Now able to see all of your photos the Reflection appears to be in really good condition other than the cold crack and few dents. I wouldn’t paint it, at least not the entire hull, and probably not fill most of the dents.

If you do fill the (deeper) dents I’d use thickened G/flex and try to color match using a color agent pigment for epoxy, even if you had to make a “custom color” mix using two different pigments. If you thicken 650 G/flex with microfibers or colloidal silica the thickener will take up pigmented color more deeply than G/flex alone.

Maybe fill any deep dents with pigmented G/flex first and, if you can get the G/flex tinted right, then fill the cold crack using the color match mix.

I like your suggestion of replacing the two seats with thwarts and making the boat a solo. Could even afford to lay on some skid plates with all that weight savings!

Probably as easy as ordering a new center seat from Ed’s, maybe a new thwart or two, and reusing the existing thwart/kneeling thwart, drops and hardware.

https://www.edscanoe.com/canoeseats.html

I have soloized a bunch of tandems with a new center seat, even put both a seat and kneeling thwart opposite center on a symmetrical canoe, putting new thwarts fore and aft in the old seat holes in the gunwales and simply plugged with remaining holes with a plastic cap, or using some of the leftover machine screws & flange washers with a loop of webbing under the inwale as a stout tie down point. (The Reflection is asymmetrical, so maybe not both kneeling thwart and seat).

A center seat will require either a removable/clamp on thwart, and you could use the one you have. Or an always-there roll up strap yoke, which are easy to DIY with some 1 ½” or 2” webbing.

If you do add a skid plate while you are epoxy working it need not add much weight. Please do not buy/use an expensive kevlar felt skid plate kit. Use Dynel fabric and peel ply. Much lighter, far less gurgly thick, more abrasion resistant.

Search this site for “Dynel skid plate”, lots of how-to and photos.
 
Love my 89 dagger reflection (15 was the only length in the first year or two). Mine has the factory optional center/third seat. I could measure placement if you want. With dedicated solo options, I mostly use the R15 to take my kids out (so much primary stability) or on days when the rivers are super shallow. Great boat!
 
I too have repaired cold cracks in Royalex canoes without using fabric patches but I do create a small gap in the center of the crack and gutter out both the inside and outside to a 45 degree angle. The instructions cited by Canotrouge work quite well. The purpose of this is to make sure your epoxy gets into and fully fills in the crack itself and the beveling greatly increases the bonding surface for the epoxy. If the epoxy bonds well to the ABS the cured epoxy will be as strong or stronger than the Royalex itself and no fabric will be needed. Of course, it doesn't do any harm to back up the repair with a fabric patch if you really feel the need, but in that case I would patch the interior only, not the exterior.

A hacksaw blade (removed from the saw) is about the right thickness to create the central gap you want. You can get this into the crack by drilling a series of closely spaced holes through the crack using a bit the same diameter as the hacksaw blade is thick. I thicken the G Flex moderately by adding colloidal silica powder (which West Systems calls cab-o-sil) to the mixed epoxy. If you have a Dremel or similar rotary tool it can be used to gutter the crack using an appropriate bit.

Be careful with the flame oxidation as you will have exposed foam core that melts very quickly. You can do it, but you need to be very careful. G Flex will bond fairly well to ABS without the flame oxidation pre-treatment IME. G Flex sands quite nicely when fully cured. Just find any paint that is a reasonable color match for your hull and cover the cured epoxy when done.
 
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