Hellrazor

[prjwebb]

I think it's usually done on a case by case basis. I doubt a complete snap would be repaired, I think that's something that would happen with a minor buckle or small delam etc.

See what Chris says, he's been back East lately I think and out of office so hang tight if you don't get a reply right off the bat.

[Chito]

Here are some pics because I know those are usually always asked for. I figured I would be a step ahead. Think I covered every angle IMG_2428.jpgIMG_2429.jpgIMG_2430.jpgIMG_2431.jpgIMG_2432.jpg

Let me know what you think. The waxless area around the break is from me stripping it off to see the full extent of the damage as well as trying to find some reason for the break.

[prjwebb]

Nasty break that's for sure. Forward them on to Chris along with the serial number and see what he gets back to you with.

[Magnet]

In sandwich construction the damage will often happen several surfs prior in harsher conditions, causing one of the inner layers or laminates to fail but still goes unseen, then in a later surf, the angles line up and it goes ping.
Feel for you mate, it's a bugger with you being so isolated. Likewise I've had about 10 fire wires over 10 years and no issues, in fact some boards still look like new after 3 years use. Every now and then though the forces of nature conspire...

[Fritzkat]

Chito, Thats why I order mine in Rapid fire now. maybe less ding and dent proof, but tensil strength is better in my opinion. I have two in Rapid fire and two in FST. my daily boards Dominator and Activator are rapid fire. I have not broken a Firewire yet, only PU's on small days in a weird close-out spot on the wave . All it takes is the right board snapping energy condition at the right moment on the wrong day. The board may have already had a stress in the sandwich layer a few sessions back and finally let go. See if you cannot repair that board. Its a challenge, but you may surprize yourself.

Hey Chito, who is the guy on the blue board boosting airs in the Mambosurf video? Note if you are doing airs and landing hard, or going for close out waves you may want to reinforce the deck with a patch. I tend to not compromise my boards, I may be the least likely to win a contest with that in mind, but am happy to surf the board another day. I have seen plenty friends snap PU and EPS boards, 2 to 4 a year snapped. they do airs and go for close out barrels. no pain no gain?:

[Chito]

I was looking more at the board last night trying to figure out what might have happened. And I know before I said that I did not want to say the board was defective due to uncertainty, I am fully aware of how boards can break in the most unpredictable situations, but I saw something that caught my attention and now has me a bit flustered. In the break, the section of fiberglass laminate that is sticking out is completely dry. Dry in the sense that it has no resin on it, I can pull out individual strands of cloth and bend them over completely on themselves without any breaking, they have no resin on them which is making me suspect perhaps a fluke in the lamination process. In normal circumstances a single strand of fiberglass when thoroughly coated in resin and allowed to dry will have some flexibility but will be unable to completely fold over on itself and than return to its original form with no signs of stressing. In this case however I am finding just that.
I don't want to jump the gun and start crying wolf but the concept of a defective board is starting to dawn on me. Going to take a video and post it so you can see what I mean.

[Chito]

Fritzkat, Thats my freind Elijah Guy. Local surfer down here that does the national circuit and competes on the Costa Rican national surf team. He was at the ISA world games in panama this year representing. Rips and is great to surf with as well.

[Chito]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYS_P...e_gdata_player

The link to the video where you can see me pulling some fiberglass strands out of the break and rolling them around in my fingers while doubled over on itself.
The strands I pull out after are in the same state, absolutely dry and fully maleable. Sorry for the somewhat sluggish movement and bad camera work, I had to hold the camera in the other hand while balancing on my knee's on the matress.

[Chris]

Hey Chito,

FYI what you are doing there does not indicate lack of resin. In fact just the opposite. If cloth had no resin, it wouldn't have had stiff sections to it, it would have looked nice and silky as fresh glass does. I understand you want to examine your board to try to provide yourself with answers, but fishing for ultra technical reasons that you can't really substantiate one way or another really doesn't help your case at all and your statements will forever misinform people on the forum. Please know that the fact that you can bend the fibers is a testament to the precision to which our vacuum bag process works and the quality of the epoxy that use. Yes, more resin would have been more brittle, but this is on the inside of the board where extra resin is not the goal.


TECH TALK: The layer of cloth used in the sandwich construction is not the same "weight" as what you see on the deck, bottom and rails of the board and therefore it holds less resin. Over the length of that board, that layer of glass helps with flex and durability, but the primary structural integrity comes from the external glass job, the multiple layers of foam and the balsa rails. We include internal layers of glass to add some durability, but also to help create the positive flex characteristics of the FST tech.

I appreciate your candid approach, but Chito, please ask rather than insinuate defective build. Its better for everyone if we talk through before jumping the gun!

Thanks!

[Chito]

If you note in some of my previous posts I do leave room for doubt, I was not making statements but more observations which I was providing and asking what others thought of. I asked originally what people though of the break and in the post where I mentioned the dry cloth for the first time you can read in the last sentence where I said "I don't want to jump the gun and start crying wolf but the concept of a defective board is starting to dawn on me. Going to take a video and post it so you can see what I mean." note that I said it was starting to dawn on me, meaning that I was not fully convinced that it was defective but more that the concept was crossing my mind, by no means was I dead set on that being the cause for the break.
When it comes to something like this where I have had the board for a month and was unable to surf for the first 2 weeks really due to a torn MCL and than surfed it for about 2 weeks and have it snap straight in half with no previous damage to it you have to understand my frustration. There is no insinuation intended I just find that in situations where the answer is not definitive it is a good practice to go about exhausting every possible circumstance, and than through the process of elimination eventually arrive at a conclusion.
Please get back to me privately or publicly so I can get an idea of what is going to happen and where we can go from here.