mark poulson Posted June 3, 2014 Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 My name is Mark, and I am a Solarezaholic. There, I said it! Hahaha Seriously, in the interest of full disclosure, I want to report something. I opened a crank box today that I had left on the boat deck under a cover since Saturday, and found that one crank, a home made one built with AZEK PVC trimboard, painted with Createx, and dipped once in Solarez, had the top coat split down the back and start to peel back. I think I didn't dry the paint, especially the first white base coat, well enough before I dipped it in the Solarez. None of the plastic cranks that I painted one day and dipped the next had any problems, but none of them had a thicker paint scheme with a white base coat. This one I had painted and dipped the same day (you know how impatient I am), and it cracked and peeled. I had another similar crank, one I had painted and dipped the same day as the one that cracked, tied on and I fished it a lot on Saturday. It shows some signs of wrinkling, but it didn't crack, so I'm guessing the crank box on the deck got so hot some trapped paint moisture expanded and caused the cracking. Probably operator error, even though I heat dried each coat with a hair dryer. In the future I'll be sure and let my paint sit and cure overnight before I dip it, or keep the crank box out of the sun from now on, or both. I have another PCV trimboard crank lying on my work bench waiting to be painted. I'll be more careful with this one. Several other cranks in the same box with crackle finishes had the same kind of problems. They were dipped in SC 9000 urethane. They were built pre-Solarez. They all had thick layers of Elmer's white glue that I used for the crackle medium, and it is a water-based glue. I'm guessing there was some moisture still in the glue layer. Even though I painted them several years ago, and have fished them a lot since then with no problems, evidently letting them sit in the hot sun all day, which I never ordinarily do, is the culprit. It was blowing pretty good, I was fishing alone, and I got lazy. Shame on me! So be warned! Don't be lazy! Hahaha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jdeee Posted June 3, 2014 Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 Hope that the not dry paint is the cause. I have been using solarez as my sealer and then painting before I top coat with Etex. Haven't had any problems yet. Anyone else try this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted June 3, 2014 Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 Does Azek expand and contract with exposure to heat? I've heard of many instances where guys stored plastic cranks in the boat in hot weather and found them blown up and cracked. They have solid plastic shells and are sonically welded. Should our custom cranks to stand more extreme conditions than that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted June 4, 2014 Report Share Posted June 4, 2014 (edited) Seems like I remember you had a problem a year or so ago with some Lucky Craft rattle baits blowing up like a toad frog when you left them in a hot compartment. And my mother always said I was hard headed. On the bright side I bet the paint finally dried. Ben Edited June 4, 2014 by RayburnGuy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted June 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2014 (edited) Seems like I remember you had a problem a year or so ago with some Lucky Craft rattle baits blowing up like a toad frog when you left them in a hot compartment. And my mother always said I was hard headed. On the bright side I bet the paint finally dried. Ben Ben, Hahaha...You'd think I would have learned by now! Seriously, those baits have been in the same crank compartment as the box of lipless baits that blew up, and haven't had a problem until now. In fact, I caught a nice smallie on one of the swollen baits back in March, and it was fine. I made a cast in front of some steep rock, stopped for ten seconds or so to "adjust" a professional overrun, and, as I turned back to begin my retrieve, I got blown up on. So I got a topwater bite on a DD22! I peeled the paint off three of the four swollen Normans yesterday, and it came off all the way to the bare blank in one thick sheet, so it seems like the swelling caused a failure of the bond to the lure body, and was not a result of the top coat having a problem by itself. The fourth lure wound up with stretch marks, but the paint seems sound. So I touched up the marks with a sharpie, and I'm going to put a coat of Solarez over it today. The worst thing that can happen is it will not work. I have two other DD22's with the same type paint scheme and top coat in that box that didn't swell and crack. I'm guessing they were shaded, and never got the direct sun exposure. Oh, well, another of life's little mysteries to solve. Edited June 4, 2014 by mark poulson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted June 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2014 (edited) Does Azek expand and contract with exposure to heat? I've heard of many instances where guys stored plastic cranks in the boat in hot weather and found them blown up and cracked. They have solid plastic shells and are sonically welded. Should our custom cranks to stand more extreme conditions than that? Bob, I know it gets soft if I machine it too fast, or put too much pressure on it when I power sand it. And I do a slurry coat of epoxy or super glue over the finish sanded blank to keep it from bubbling the paint when I heat set my paints. So I'm guessing it does react to heat and probably does swell. It may also have to do with thermal mass. The PVC baits that swelled were Wiggle Wart knockoffs, so they are 1 1/8"X1 1/8"X2 1/2". I had several smaller, 1.5 sized PVC lures along side the wrinkled bait on the deck, and they had no problems. So size may matter. Who knew? I considered heating the lures before I dipped them, but I figured the shrinkage when they cooled would be just as bad as the swelling from the heat. The Solarez isn't the culprit in this case. It is the idiot who left the baits in the sun to bake! Edited June 4, 2014 by mark poulson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted June 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2014 Hope that the not dry paint is the cause. I have been using solarez as my sealer and then painting before I top coat with Etex. Haven't had any problems yet. Anyone else try this? Jdeee. Since Solarez is used primarily for surf board coating and repairs, it is some pretty hardy stuff. I've even used it to make some very detailed soft plastic molds of commercial baits with deep rings, and the hot plastic hasn't bothered it a bit in a dozen pours so far. But, having said that, I wouldn't leave my baits in the sun like someone here did. Hahaha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted June 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2014 Bob, Here's a link to a gallery picture of the mag warts: http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/index.php?/gallery/image/13382-20140602-173019-resized/ They are pretty large, so maybe they absorb more heat and expand more than the 1.5 lures. I am not interested in doing a test to failure again, so I'll be monitoring them when it's hot, and keeping them in the shade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted June 4, 2014 Report Share Posted June 4, 2014 One thing to consider is that crankbaits are similar to eggs, or to bridge arches. Their curved structure can withstand lots of external force but can easily be broken from internal force. Otherwise, birds chicks couldn't get out of them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted June 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2014 (edited) That makes sense. I guess the logical solution would be to use Etex or some other decoupage epoxy that allows for movement, but I'm too spoiled now to ever work that hard again. My lure turner is up in the rafters of my garage, gathering dust. RIP! I had to laugh when I realized what had happened. I'm sure it would have happened if I were using D2T or any other rigid glue epoxy/top coat, too. So my "dream" combination of AZEK PVC trimboard and Solarez does have limitations! I'll just have be a lot more careful to keep them out of the direct sun from now on. Being able to make a fishable lure so quickly and easily is a hard thing to give up on. Edited June 4, 2014 by mark poulson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted June 4, 2014 Report Share Posted June 4, 2014 Funny you should mention a top water bite on a DD22 Mark. That was a tournament winning strategy on Rayburn a few years back. The guys doing it would reel the bait just fast enough to make it wiggle, but not dive. It was deadly on big fish when pulling it over the tops of the hydrilla before it reached the surface and matted up. You might try it if you've got some good grass beds where you fish. You wouldn't normally catch a lot of fish, but the ones you did catch were usually bruisers. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted June 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 Funny you should mention a top water bite on a DD22 Mark. That was a tournament winning strategy on Rayburn a few years back. The guys doing it would reel the bait just fast enough to make it wiggle, but not dive. It was deadly on big fish when pulling it over the tops of the hydrilla before it reached the surface and matted up. You might try it if you've got some good grass beds where you fish. You wouldn't normally catch a lot of fish, but the ones you did catch were usually bruisers. Ben That sounds like a big, fat wake bait bite. I'm fishing a grass lake next month. I'll give it a try if the grass is down enough. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
