2018 Sea Doo RXT-X 300 - Crack in Hull/Bilge

[pro10is]

guys this is not normal. My 19 hit hard as Fk coming down from about 6ft in the air at 76mph. If you're going to repair it you need to cut the damage into a v and fill it with epoxy resin and cabosil(butter). Grind about 1" on all sides with 60 or 80 grit after you cut the v. Anything can be repaired. We had the Drambui On Ice after it got hit by a train. Carbon kevlar sammich and we repaired it.

Yes, anything can attempt to be repaired, but like many such repairs, it'll most likely never have the original full structural strength and integrity because the original superior molecular level bond, only achievable during the continuous fiberglass curing process, is gone for good. Replacing it with a weaker mechanical bond, dependant upon friction adhesion of discrete surfaces, as you describe, is a patch that may or may not work with CM-Tec depending upon the skill and quality of the repair among many other things. It would need to be continuously and carefully monitored for the life of the ski which would be very hard because you can't keep pulling the motor to properly inspect it.


Fiberglass is kind of like concrete in a way, it bonds as one molecularly once and only once during the original curing process. If it cracks and you apply a patch, the fault lines will always exist and it'll be fully dependant upon the patch to adhere the fault lines together. Basically you're kind of "gluing" it back together as opposed to welding it as with metal. Welding is a molecular level bond where the fault lines effectively disappear if done properly. You can't "weld" broken fiberglass, the best you can do it try to adhere a patch to it. That's why you need to first properly grind it out, to increase the area for the friction bond as much as possible, try to trap the bonding material into a pocket, wedge, or groove where it can hopefully interlock, and often try to use chemicals to etch out even more surface area for the adhesive friction type bond. Same as concrete. This type of repair is fully dependant upon the friction of the patch to the fault lines. It may or may not be enough with CM-Tec to contain all the forces acted upon it. It's rarely, if ever, going to be as strong as the original cured bond where the material was bonded at the far more intense molecular level. You can use thickening agents such as Cabosil or exotic materials such as carbon kevlar, but these will only strengthen the patch itself, not the strength of the adhesive friction bond to the fault lines which is where it could likely fail again.


Such repairs are often fine for traditional boats and earlier skis if done properly by skilled people, but CM-Tec is a unique case because the fiberglass layer is considerably thinner than many other boats and also because there is no wood or other inner core base structure as is commonly found on other boats where fiberglass structural repairs can be successful. Comparing it again to concrete, it would be like having to structurally repair a much thinner layer of concrete with no internal rebar. It was just barely strong enough to begin with, and now it needs to somehow successfully be repaired when there's not a lot to work with. If the original full-strength hull structural integrity was not strong enough to stop it from cracking, then you can be sure no lesser adhesive repair of the fault lines is likely to do better. Not to mention the forces on a PWC are often greater than other boats, especially a 300 HP PWC.


We're blazing new ground here with CM-Tec repairs, I don't know if even BRP has enough data yet to prove it can be done successfully, reliably, and safely long term. Typically, BRP may use their customers rather than research to find out. They sure don't seem to like to talk about it much as we've not really heard anything reassuring from them about it and they seem to do their best to stop others who have had such issues from reporting back here.

If it were my ski, and BRP refused to replace the hull, I would have it repaired and then try to sell it to someone who was ok with such a repair if possible at a lower price than usual. I, myself, would never trust it with my life again.

[2018 Sea Doo RXT-X 300]

I have two RXTX 300’s. 2nd one still in crate. Overall issue sucks. But BRP covering all the repairs. These machines are most fun you can have with your clothes on so just need to bake that all into the deal when get involved with these high HP skis.

[2018 Sea Doo RXT-X 300]

The Spark has a part number for hull. No others do so you can’t legally replace it. Nor does BRP sell hulls. If crack was on outside I would be beyond pissed as my skis are flawless with ceramic coat.

[DR2006RXP]

The Spark has a part number for hull. No others do so you can’t legally replace it. Nor does BRP sell hulls. If crack was on outside I would be beyond pissed as my skis are flawless with ceramic coat.

like this one.

[Scott]

like this one.

Seems normal