Best way to attach a weed guard

Hi All

I am planning to pick up a weed guard/deflector for my V7. The store says it is attached with a double-sided tape. I am not sure I trust the tape there....should be proactive and use marine epoxy or silicone right away? Don't want to lose it first time out on the weedy little lake I go to often. I pick weeds off my rudder stem almost every time out.

Thoughts?

Thanks.

Not many glues that stick to plastic. Epoxy will be temporary. Recommended tape may not be bad idea.
Polyurethane adhesive sealant is a possibility. Probably what I would use. I would not use silicone.

I used "3M Marine Adhesive Sealant Fast Cure 4200" for a camera mount base on the front of the boat. It holds well through regular swims. The tape that came with the mount did not hold at that location (while it did hold well at the rear deck where my second foot is attached).
It is polyurethane.

I put one on my V7 a couple of weeks ago, 3 or 4 days before the Blackburn Challenge. I peeled the tape off, lined everything up, stuck the guard onto the boat, and then applied Gorilla Super Glue (gel) along the border of where the guard meets the boat. I worked the gel into that gap/border a bit and then pressed the guard down against the boat for a min. or so to let the glue bond. Wiped the excess off with a rag and it's been 100% good to go ever since (about 100 miles of paddling, all of it ocean, including Blackburn race).

If you peel and stick the epic weedguard you are guaranteed to lose it. Their adhesive is high quality, but you are trying to mount a flat surface to the round hull of a boat, so there is very little actual contact area. I have used foam mounting tape for the past decade. It conforms to the round hull and is extremely strong. Get the 3M extreme kind:

www.amazon.com/Scotch-Extreme-Mounting-1...=3m+vhb+tape+extreme

I attached mine with silicone and it seems pretty solid but I have no real history with it. Looking forward to more replies.

I have also used silicone and it works fine as well. I think it would stick to plastic much better than epoxy would.

I think I am going to stick with (pun intended) with 3M Marine adhesive. It's moldable and works well on slightly curved surfaces.

Hot glue works and sets quickly. Easy on / easy off.

I've used Goop, too, and it works fine - I think it's silicone based. Takes a day or so to set.

Definitely don't rely on the sticky tape that comes on the Epic weedguards. Rub that off and use something else to attach it.

I've had a couple of failures with hard/brittle glues over the years. I suspect the glue didn't distribute evenly or didn't have enough gel-like "mass" to mold to the round hull.

EBorgnes

I don't like Goop. It's good in small quantities but it there's any area involved it cures on the outside edge sealing the uncured area inside. I swear I had jobs that didn't cure in two weeks.

www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000AY6AC/ref...ilpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Has anyone used this for GoPro or weed guard?

sski wrote: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000AY6AC/ref...ilpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Has anyone used this for GoPro or weed guard?

Not quite the same, but I used this for a GoPro mount with success:
www.amazon.com/3M-05260-Marine-Adhesive-...=3M+Marine+fast+cure

Also same for my weed guard, it's drying right now so hasn't been tested yet.

I highly recommend the "Loctite Plastic Bonding System", which is a super glue specially formulated for hard to bond plastics and comes with an activator that you paint onto the plastic pieces just before applying the glue. I've used it for a weed guard on my nelo 510 (plastic) and it hasn't come off despite many encounters with "stuff".

When I first read this thread, I wasn't sure of the idea of using anything other than the double sided tape already on the weed deflector, because I felt a very strong bond may end up with a hole in the bottom of the ski if that gives before the weed deflector. I had one in place for years without issue until heavy conditions had it sheer off on a sand bar late last year. I finally re-installed another one early this week. Last night, on a flat water inland lake, first paddle since installation, I finished the session and upon loading, I notice that I lost the new one. Seriously? One would think that the standard double sided tape would hold up to....water..........

The tape the deflector comes with has no thickness to it so the contact with the rounded hull us poor. Besides I have no trust in the Epic tape after my seat pad came off.
Had similar trouble with a camera mount specifically at the front. The thing was detaching until I used the 3M adhesive. Same tape holds fine at the rear deck where the surface is flatter.

Another advantage of hot glue is that if you glue on the weedguard right in front of your current rudder, and at a later date decide to use different rudders with a different rudder post placement, then you can pop off the weedguard and set it up to fit the new rudder. I've done this with Goop, though it takes a bit of time to cut the weedguard away. Trying to do this with a superglue that dries really hard isn't easy.

I haven't tested the durability of hot glue in direct sunlight in the hot sun if one should leave their ski hull-side up. I suspect it'd be fine on a non-black ski, though.

So "3M Marine Adhesive/Sealant Fast Cure 4200" has kept the deflector on through 6 days of plowing through lilipad fields on a river and a shallow weedy lake. Knock on wood, good so far.