Ok, so FCS fins *do* break

So does the f**king plugs. The center fin broke with one tab left in the plug and the other plug broken in half. What's worse is that one half of the plug is kind of jammed in under the glass creating a really nice dent.

Surf yesterday was not all that big, waisthigh with occational headhigh sets. But the waves had incredible punch for the size and gave some fun rides, although I had a really bad session. All the 'elite' locals was out + a group of swedes that was pretty good too. The good crowd and the extreme current and the backwash off the beach made it hard to catch waves. After waiting for a set I sometimes found myself a 100m down the beach and maybe 50m further out. Really weird, because I was looking for landmarks that wasn't where they was supposed to be.

I didn't even notice that the fin was gone until the end of the session. I noticed the board kind of dragged to one side when I paddled out at one point. I had a board hit mine when someone dropped their board just outside of me to dive under an incoming wave. I also think the board hit the bottom when I wiped out on one wave, the waves was breaking in very shallow water. One one occation I was sitting just outside a peak and when a wave passed and I was in the bottom of the sine my toes touched the sandbar. I did at one point notice that turning was easier, in particular backside. I might ride without the centerfin in small surf from now on.

So how do I replace a broken FCS plug? Btw. I think the FCS plug design is flawed, you have the circle with a rectangular cutout leaving next to nothing material in two areas. The plug should rather be of an ellipse shape to keep it from breaking. This would one the other hand create stress point where it's connected with the glass...

<snapped out>

I replace a broken FCS plug?

A 1' (or, if you can't find 1', try 26 mm) hole saw, using the busted tab as a center. make sure the pilot drill is plenty sharp.

if you have the screw out, then a Forstner bit will work, same size. Use a slow turning drill with either one for more control. .

Pour a fair amount of resin - filler powder mix in, then replace the plug leaving the top of it about 1/16 (call it a bit more than 1 mm) above the bottom of the board. Use an FCS fin to align the plug(s). When the resin mix has gone off, sand the plug flush with the bottom of the board. Then you're ready to go surfin' again.

Well.... an ellipse has a couple of problems, not least that it complicates putting the damned things in. A 1' hole vs a tricky little ellipse that ya gotta do with a router...you see what I mean..... one very simple jig versus a very complicated jig.

Now, a larger diameter plug would be an improvement in several ways, or building the plugs themselves with a little more strength.

As that's not gonna happen, you might want to score the tabs with a fine bladed (jeweller's or coping) saw where they meet the fin or use a fine file for the same purpose. That creates a weak spot that will break away when it hits something instead of taking the plug with it.

Hope that's of use

Well, asuming the ellipse max size was no more then 1' you could still drill a 1 1/8' hole and just fill the rest with resin. A larger plug would have exactly the same effect tho. Just reinforcing the plug on the right spots would do the trick too. Still, it might actually be better that the plug breaks like that if the tabs fail to break and the alternative is ripping out the plug. I guess that would take a fair amount of glass and foam with it.

Yup, thanks doc. I also found this when searching the web: http://www.suncure.com/dingrepairguide.html#fcs plug repair