Batten repair

[RJJ]

Hello. One of my full-length battens broke and I propose to repair as follows - gleaned from a windsurfer site - does this make sense? The break is only partial and extends some way along the batten; so there are two parts with several inches of overlap.

My plan is to use epoxy with silica to join the two halves and then carefully to wrap spiral of fibreglass woven tape along the length of the break, extending 8-10 inches either side. Wet it out and wait.

Sandpaper any rough edges. JFD.

The alternative is of course to replace it; I dare say not hugely expensive but delivery is the greater challenge, being much too long for the car.

Comments welcome! Thanks

 

[lw395]

Dodgy battens risk sail damage if they break again.
What sort of batten is it?
'Contract' batten is cheap.
Hi-tech battens can be very expensive.
How did it break? If 'normal use', then it needs to be improved, not just mended.
Contract batten will be posted as a coil.

I tried sticking one back together once, not a success, I think the material was damaged not just along the crack, but throughout the area of the crack.

 

[Catalina36]

You can't polish a t**d. You can't repair a batten either. It broke, buy another one.

 

[wilkinsonsails]

Don’t do it . It will only lead to further problems.

 

[William_H]

The problem is that a batten is intended to bend in a graceful manner from end to end. If you have broken it then either there was a flaw in the manufacture or it got damaged perhaps when sail was removed. In any case a strong repair will stiffen the batten in that area causing more bend stress at either end of the repair inviting a further failure. Ave a noo one. If you do decide to repair then taper the reinforcements at each end as far as possible. ol'will

 

[Ian_Edwards]

Whilst agreeing that a new batten is the best solution, if you are fully intent on a repair, then I'd use epoxy thickened with microfibres ( much stronger than thickening with silicon) to stick the bits back together, and I'd use unidirectional carbon fibre glues along the length of the batten with plenty of overlap over the broken bit. I'd use epoxy thickened with microfibres to laminate the carbon fibre to the batten. This will give a much less bulky repair and you don't need very much unidirectional carbon to make it very strong (and stiff).
To get a good repair you need to make sure that the batten is well abraded and completely clean, no traced of release agent, silicon, or anything that feels slippery.
Unidirectional carbon is relatively cheap, for example £6.50 plus VAT and delivery from easycomposites:

https://www.easycomposites.co.uk/#!.../carbon-fibre-spread-tow-ribbon-80g-15mm.html

I've used this technique to stiffen up full length battens, when I've been playing with sail shape, and to stiffen ice hockey sticks.