water logged foam in x-2

[Scraggly]

well i am a ski newbie more or less, and my last few rides i noticed my ski sitting real low in the water a little more each time i go. and the last ride after i was out for about 30 min came back to the trailer for something and my x2 was just about sitting on a 45º angle to the left looking from the rear. i thought chit bilge is full of water i had just subbed 3 or 4 times, popped the hood and had very little in there. so im guessing i have water logged foam, so i guess what im asking is how do i determine for sure this is the problem and what i have to do to fix this problem. ive seen some SJ's on here that got re-foamed but im not sure how to do this on an x2. anyone that has done this i would really appreciate your input, and pics would be awesome.
thanks guys

 

[dbrutherford]

I chopped up an X2 hull for the garbage and it had water logged foam

I have seen people cut the tray out for scuppers and rear exhaust tubes. I guess that is your best bet.

If you do tear your ski apart, there are several holes inside the engine compartment where they fill the hull with the foam. Well all the foam behind those areas in my hull were soaked and obviously discolored foam from oil and dirty water. Kawasaki should have sealed these up to begin with!

 

[shawn_NJ]

I have had 2 x2 hulls crack in the winter due to water in the foam area/tray expanding and damaging the hull. This is nothing to mess around with if you live anywhere with freezing winters. I have not installed footstraps in my current x2's simply because I do not want water getting into the foam area. I am going to try the acorn nut method/epoxing instead of drilling anchor sleeves in, like I did before. I also 5200'd the holes that they injected the foam in the engine compartment. The main crack down the "rib" of the hull was caused by water in the foam area.
I might attempt to refoam one of them... or just have a practice hull for mods. You can drill a small hole in the bottom and see if water drips out. If you have alot (mine dripped for 2days) then you know you might have a problem.

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[Scraggly]

man that sux, and i do get freezing winters. its not Michigan but it does get below freezing for about a month. and i guess this makes since i didnt notice this prob till after i put straps on.

 

[dbrutherford]

Straps provide holes but on my old ski, it never had straps. I had a few places along a strake where it was hit and damages. It doesn't take much, that foam will soak up water just to make your life miserable. Shawn, that hull looks liek a good canidate for hull mods

 

[Scraggly]

so were exactly should i drill holes?? i was really hoping to remove all the old a redo it if i can without destroying the hull integrity

 

[shawn_NJ]

Refoaming is possible, but a major pain in the ass on an x2. I just bought new hulls and swapped everything.

 

[Vumad]

Shorten the hull a few inches, and take all of the foam out the back while you have the back cut out. It should work?

 

[shawn_NJ]

You would have to shorten it ALOT to hit foam. You would probably hit the rear anchors for the ride plate before you got deep enough to really have an opening large enough to work with. Although I may try this on said screwed up hull above.

 

[Surferchris1]

I am going to try the acorn nut method/epoxing instead of drilling anchor sleeves in, like I did before.

Go to a snowboard shop and ask for these. They are called T-nuts and snowboarders use them to hold their bindings on. Seems easier than welding nuts to washers.

 

[djyox]

I had an idea of cutting the tray open on one side and installing a scupper to exit into the pump cavity, and maybe cut open the other side, and have the exhaust exit out the back rear on the outside of the ski.. maybe use a 45* PVC angle and then glass it in smooth... I dunno, lots of ideas.... But I might not do either this year...

But I say this because if your in there replacing foam anyhow, maybe not a bad idea to just go ahead and doing one of those options while you have the room to do it...

 

[3wheelerdude]

so were exactly should i drill holes?? i was really hoping to remove all the old a redo it if i can without destroying the hull integrity

I would drill one hole on each side at the lowest and has far back has possible, making sure its in the thicker part of the hull where foam actually is. I would then tilt the front of the ski up and let the water drip for a few day. That way you will at least have less water in there and not have to worry about the frost bites.

 

[shawn_NJ]

Go to a snowboard shop and ask for these. They are called T-nuts and snowboarders use them to hold their bindings on. Seems easier than welding nuts to washers.

I bought a bunch of these with that intention. They are kind of flimsy though compaired to what I was planning on building. I will give the t-nuts a try though being I bought ALOT of them.

 

[BlueBreadTruck]

welding washers to acorn nuts is a good idea because even if water gets by the threads, it still cannot reach the foam!

 

[Scraggly]

well i got my new hull saturday and man i cant descibe the difference in weight.
me and my bud moved 4 different x2's around yesterday and everyone one weight differently. mine was by far the heaviest, it was all we could do to get mine on the trailer. so it is definitely soaked. my new hull feels like a feather in comparison. so i guess for now im going to swap everything over and then start cutting on the old hull. this sux cause my old hull is mint looking, im still trying to figure out why its soaked.

 

[cattledog]

what kind of foam do u have to use i was told u cant use the stuff in can have to go to mariana or specialty shop that handles chemicals?

 

[shawn_NJ]

Dont use can foam.

http://www.uscomposites.com/foam.html

 

[cattledog]

hey shawn thanks if found a company in toronto that handles that stuff going to buy it tomorow, hey on your ski u put on tubbies 2 is it worth it

 

[shawn_NJ]

Worth EVERY PENNY! I spent alot of time riding the non tubbied x2 yesterday, wow what a difference! TUBBIES = Effortless turning. I had my doubts when I bought them that it would even be noticeable....was I ever wrong.

 

[cattledog]

shawn did u move exhaust forward