Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: Rapidfire Alternator crease/buckle repair

  1. 01-27-2012, 04:14 PM #1
    auburnham
    auburnham is offline
    Certified
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Posts
    4

    Rapidfire Alternator crease/buckle repair

    I creased/buckled my quiver workhorse 5'8" Alternator this morning. I buckled a FST Dominator about 2 years ago and had it repaired. Repair of the FST was an easy call since I could see the balsa rails had not cracked and the rocker was unaffected. However, the Alternator is Rapidfire construction, so I don't know the condition of the carbon rods. The Alternator crease is only on the deck and rails. The bottom looks unaffected. Could you guys take a look at the attached pics and let me know your suggestion: repair or trash? Any special notes on repairing the bamboo deck of a Rapidfire board? I've only had this board for 6 months and it is my new favorite go-to board for most conditions, so I'd hate to lose it.
    Thanks,
    Shawn
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  2. 02-02-2012, 01:24 PM #2
    auburnham
    auburnham is offline
    Certified
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Posts
    4
    I'm about to drop $120 on this repair. It would be nice to either get some reassurance from Firewire that I'm not wasting my money, or to cancel the repair.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  3. 02-02-2012, 01:37 PM #3
    iggy
    iggy is offline
    Elite Firewire Liaison iggy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Montreal, Canada
    Posts
    1,799
    Hey Auburnham, Chris should be jumping in here soon. Did you take it to the repair guy??? Is he familiarized with Firewires?
    165cms 89Kgs dry...working on that at the moment...but not working!!! :)
    Potato 5'2" /Vanguard 5'6"/Potatonator 5'8"/ Spitfire 5'8" / Quadraflex 6'0" / Flexflight 9'0"
    Fins: Elevons, Solus, Controlllers, Jordy,AM2,
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  4. 02-02-2012, 01:42 PM #4
    prjwebb
    prjwebb is offline
    Elite Firewire Liaison prjwebb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Cornwall UK
    Posts
    2,654
    Does the rocker look intact? If the carbon rods are still solid it should still feel pretty rigid. Can you bend the board at the buckle easily ?
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  5. 02-02-2012, 04:41 PM #5
    auburnham
    auburnham is offline
    Certified
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Posts
    4
    Hi iggy & prjwebb, thanks for the notes. I dropped the board off for repair at a shop that sells Firewires. They outsource their repairs, so I don't know anything about the repair guy. This shop has a good reputation, so hopefully they have a good guy to do their repairs. I had my Dominator crease repaired at the same shop, but it was about half the price, which has me a little worried about the extent of damage to the Alternator. They said they recently switched repair guys and the new guy charges more, so that might explain the price difference. The rocker and bottom of the board looked unaffected, but I didn't try bending the board to see if it was weak at the buckle for fear of making the problem worse. Hopefully I'll hear something from Chris or another Firewire rep soon so I can call off the repair if the stick is busted and it will just be a waste of money.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  6. 02-03-2012, 08:24 AM #6
    Chris
    Chris is offline
    Administrator
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Carlsbad, CA
    Posts
    2,357
    hey auburnham,
    So looking at that, it seems there is some integrity left in that the board didn't break in half. I feel an experienced repair person would be quite able to make this board work for you again. The one thing to keep in mind is that obviously a crease has a higher likelihood to re-break in the same spot for obvious reasons. If your quote is only $120, I would go ahead and do it because that's really not a terrible quote for such a big repair with as much glass work as there will be.

    I think in the end, you want to make the call. The board will for sure work again and work well, but the possibility exists that the board could break in the same spot on your next surf if you wind up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

    Its not a direct answer but I am not sure how to better answer it.

    Cheers
    6'0 - 175lbs - 29yrs - SoCal -
    503 TG Baked Potato - 506 RF Potatonator - 506 WRF Vanguard - 510 FST Unibrow - 600 FST Michel Bourez - 600 FST Alternator - 602 FST Alternator Round - 603 FST Artillery
    Firewire Social: Facebook - Twitter - Vimeo - Youtube

    Hey All, use my Firewire email, [email protected] for emergency issues, not my forum inbox. However, please avoid contacting me directly with questions on choosing a board, just use the glorious forum. Cheers!
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  7. 02-03-2012, 01:47 PM #7
    auburnham
    auburnham is offline
    Certified
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Posts
    4
    Thanks, Chris. That's the info I needed. I've buckled a few boards in the past with varying degrees of repair success, but this is the first Rapidfire board I've buckled, so I wasn't sure how to evaluate the structural integrity. Maybe you guys could start an insurance program for suckers like me.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  8. 02-03-2012, 01:50 PM #8
    core personal training
    core personal training is offline
    Elite core personal training's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    oz
    Posts
    776
    mate, even if you get a new board, for $120 i would fix it and keep it for dodgy barrel days...
    INSTAGRAM .... corepersonaltraining

    6ft..90ish kg..35+ years surfing

    WHERE'S MY VANGUARD, WHERE'S MY VANGUARD, WHERE'S MY VANGUARD, WHERE'S MY VANGUARD,*WHERE'S MY VANGUARD.... ETC
    IT'S GETTING SPRAYED, IT'S GETTING SPRAYED, IT'S GETTING SPRAYED, IT'S GETTING SPRAYED, IT'S GETTING SPRAYED, IT'S GETTING SPRAYED,
    IT'S BEEN SPRAYED, IT'S BEEN SPRAYED, IT'S BEEN SPRAYED, IT'S BEEN SPRAYED, IT'S BEEN SPRAYED, IT'S BEEN SPRAYED, IT'S BEEN SPRAYED,
    IT'S IN TRANSIT, IT'S IN TRANSIT, IT'S IN TRANSIT, IT'S IN TRANSIT, IT'S IN TRANSIT, IT'S IN TRANSIT, IT'S IN TRANSIT, IT'S IN TRANSIT,
    IT'S HERE, IT'S HERE IT'S HERE, IT'S HERE, IT'S HERE, IT'S HERE, IT'S HERE, IT'S HERE, IT'S HERE, IT'S HERE, IT'S HERE, IT'S HERE, IT'S HERE,
    IT'S HAD A BAPTISM OF FIRE, IT'S HAD A BAPTISM OF FIRE, IT'S HAD A BAPTISM OF FIRE, IT'S HAD A BAPTISM OF FIRE, IT'S HAD A BAPTISM OF FIRE

    SWEET POTATO--- R/F -- 5'4 -------------------------- fins controllers
    VANGUARD -------- WRF -- 5'6 ------------------------- fins futures ea blackstix..may test something a little bigger and stiffer
    HELLFIRE ----------- R/F -- 5'10 ------------------------ fins futures SA3,SA4 honeycomb
    FLEXFIRE ----------- R/F -- 6'2 x 18 3/4 x 2 1/2 ------ fins futures JC honeycomb
    MICHEL BOUREZ------------6'2 --thick then thin ------- fins futures JC honeycomb, AM2 techflex heavy chop, ea b/stix at 84kg, now testing AM2 hex
    ALTERNATOR ------ R/F -- 6'4--for bad back days---- fins futures JC honeycomb

    and countless others (mostly nev's)

    youngest grommet 45kgs throws my hellfire around with SA3's or in mush uses EA (techflex "cuz they look da bomb") and deviant
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
« Previous Thread | Next Thread »

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Forum Rules