Firewire Surfboards turn Yellow
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- Опубліковано 9 гру 2020
- Sadly, as the title implies, all white firewire surfboards turn yellow. I know I probably ramble too much in the video and don't communicate as smoothly as I'd like, but in a nutshell, firewire surfboards and maybe all white surfboards, turn yellow because of three reasons.
1) Aging
2) Heat accelerates the yellowing
3) Sun (but not UV rays, rather, the heat that the sun imparts on the board)
to some small degree, the UV probably plays a role but not as much as one would think.
Anyways, let me know what you think.
#firewiresurfboards
#firewireseaside
#firewireglazer - Спорт
Your seaside is helium, your go fish is lft. Different constructions and materials.
Also Firewire has two factories in Thailand, and they changed their resins. They use Entropy bioresins. Awesome company, look them up. All epoxies will yellow. So will polyurethane and polyester, some shaped blanks are spray painted white, which helps keep them looking new.
Firewire ocfers resin tints and custom laminates too. We have been getting a lot of cool ones.
You can always paint your boards to freshen up old uv unstable boards.
Firewire gave my friend a brand new board in exchange to giving the splotchy red/yellow board back to them. He had a seaside, and swapped it out for the glazer in Feb 2023. No charge.
Good info and breakdown on what every Firewire owner has wondered. Really looking forward to the glazer review!
I don't like them going yellow either but I do like how they retain their performance and spark for the life of the board. A good enough trade off for me.
yeah, as much as i hate yellowing, i hate deck pressures even more. haha definitely a good trade off. One crazy thing, my last poly board was a DHD pistolwhip. I had it for 5 years, surfed as my dialy for 3 years. After 5 years, it was as white as the day I bought it. I gave it away to some kid who was so stoked cuz he thought it was new. :) I wonder what they did to the poly board to keep it white. so weird.
@@ThomyeSurfs Correct, I had the exact same experience with a DHD (forgot what model but way too performance orientated for my skillset back in the day). Pearly white for 5 years until I gave it away. Would be interesting to know what construction they use, I always felt their glassing was different compared to Firewire.
Been enjoying your videos, surfing a seaside myself, here in Europe. What was the board in the back? Was that the new Dominator? Saw a squash tail :)
@@KorneelCools yes, the board in the back is the new dominator 2. Although the one I bought does not have the new paint job with the black rails. I personally like mine better, all white that is, or all yellow soon. I just saw a few DHD's that I like, I might just try one out to see how it goes. Will post if I end up getting one.
@@ThomyeSurfs you should try the pheonix. I ordered one for the summer waves. I wanna try out all the fin configs for mushy waves, or maybe steeper running waves. Feel like it would go good on the channel.
@@noahg-123 if i get my hands on one, I will most certainly try it out. I want to review as many boards as possible but budgets make it difficult. I will definitely keep that one on the list so that if it pops up on the used market, I will give it a good look.
Great info. My GoFish(LFT) is pretty yellow and the Seaside (Hellium) has some spots here and there but mostly on the bottom. The Glazer (LFT) is still white but I only surfed it 10 times over the last 6 months. The Seaside and Beyond (LFT) is still white as well which I surfed non-stop for 6 months. May be they changed something in the glassing process recently and the witness is gonna last longer LOL. That's why @Boardporn mostly get the boards in different colors. You won't really notice any discoloration. Can't wait for your review on the Glazer surfing in Californian beach breaks!
The sales guy in Brave New World surf shop in NJ told me that the fluorescent lights also turn FireWire brown. They have a bunch of boards that have been there for over a year that never saw sun or surf, but are directly under fluorescent lights. And they are as yellow as your fish.
I keep my FireWire boards out of the sun, l cover my boards when in the car, and in my garage that has regular light bulbs. And it seems to prevent discoloration.
There are many factors. All resin turn yellow, Epoxy and polyester. In most of my build I noticed that the spackle turns yellow as well if they are epoxy.
100% agree with you, its a combo of age, heat and lesser extent UV, I had the same thing with some white FW boards left them in Indo in rafters of my friends house where gets quite hot, opened my board bag the following year and they looked like they had been sprayed yellow.
BTW. other epoxy brand boards do do it too.
Bit disappointing, seems the yellowing will happen anyway! Great video though, very scientific, methodical & considered! Very interesting to see the 3 boards side by side too! :)
I used to have a seaside
Interesting video. Thanks. Not sure about the heat theory but agree with the aging theory. I live in Santa Cruz and my boards don’t get much heat. My guess is that epoxy and sunlight don’t mix well. My XTR (white) board has yellowed just like your boards. Anyway, thanks for the video and thoughts.
thank god you made this video. I bought a go fish at the same time as you. Best board I had and made me buy a bunch of other firewires... GOFISH/ MIDAS/ GAMMA/ OMNI. All turned yellow with in a year or two... I commented on fireworks instagram like 2 years ago and tons of people replied to me claiming the same thing. My theory is that it has to do with the organic epoxies, in combination with heat/ UV come clean Slater
Am I the only one who always liked the yellowing? Adds character, no board being the same.
Lol. You might very well be.
I gotta say I prefer them a little broken in versus brand spanking new and white too
Same problem with my Firewire Pyzalien and Tomo Fish. Pretty annoying for sure, especially when it's not just in exposed areas and because these boards can last a long time. I'm thinking of doing a spray paint job to approximate a resin look that would at least look better than the yellowing.
I also talked to a shaper at birds surf shed in San Diego about it. He said it’s from the clear coat they use on lft.
My no brainer slater designs did that
They go yellow in Airconditioned surfshops, prior to even being sold mate, so I doubt heat's a big contributor. As you said, age is, and they go yellow really quickly.
Like I said originally after you posted this up. UV and epoxy resins. I have a potatonater I just took a deck pad off and it is original and perfect white under. It exactly matches a much newer helium I have next to it. I would put up the photo if I could, says it all. By the way, there is a UV blocking clear spray sold under the 2X Rust-Oleum label I have used on a board I made. The deck pads have not tore it up, and it's held up well on my kite board. Worth a look and try for minimal weight cost on that brand new board. That said FireWire seems to have realized the boards yellow horribly and done a lot better with their newer products.
Edit. I think it's MORE SO the skin/laminate material under the fiberglass that's the problem in those older yellow firewire boards. It's good stuff tho takes a serious beating I agree just re cosmetic it and just go surf it
Epoxy catalysts (especialy cheap ones) are turning yellow then brown even if they are stored in a cool place protected from light.
thanks. i guess they just use different epoxy at times. I have some that stay white longer and other that turn yellow in 6 months. Based on comments, others experience similar things. Let's hope they can improve this.
@@ThomyeSurfs indeed. I have a 10 years old FW quad fish who turned a bit yellowish which normal but my FW midas has turned yellow within the first year ! For the price they have to improve.
The catalyst agent in most all epoxies is what makes the yellows. The quicker curing the resin, the more agent (5 min vs 2 hour for example) the quicker and darker the color change is. 5 minute epoxy repairs are awful, use solar res for example that has UV activated agents. The UV also makes for yellowing, you put your board upside down on the beach for example, and the go fish that the deck wax is less brown as potential evidence of this. There are less yellowing epoxies out there that have been designed to improve this situation, they are generally 24hr + hardening varieties. I've also noticed on some of my boards that UV yellow if you wet sand the deck with 2000 grit paper a lot of the white comes back! Another option is clear coating the entire epoxy board with a specific UV acrylic, I've done this with success myself. Thats all I know on the subject. Beautiful quiver !!
That’s why you buy traditional boards with tint or pigment. I have 3 boards 20-22 years old. Same color as when I had them made.
yeah, some of those tints look good. I am hoping to still get a CI Mid at some point. The orange looks good. I did notice that they are now releasing some firewires with a tint but they don't look as good as the poly tints.
A guy here in Honolulu, Joji, painted like a pro. Really like a custom painted board (sand it and prime it as supposed to)
Dig the 🇺🇸 stickers! Thanks for posting this video because I have often pondered why my old LFT EVO and my old LFT Sci Fi (1) both went yellow on me. Now I have a new Sci Fi 2.0 and it (for now) is a beautiful, pearly white
I know. White boards look so sick and I always feel like I surf better. haha I know it's only in my head but still. My brother and I are going to try and dye my GoFish using Rit. Hoping it takes and bonds just a little bit. A gray board will be better than a yellow board. :)
@@ThomyeSurfs outstanding! I’m sure we’d all like to see the finished result!
What is that thing with Americans and putting their flags everywhere?
@@marcvanderiet5592 Says the guy with the French flag as his avatar. LOL
I live in Los Angeles California, one of the more populated places in the United States. The strange thing about your comment/observation is that there aren't too many Americans that banner the flag these days. I would say less than 1 in 1,000. It's sad actually. I once had my US born cousin who was in high school at the time say to me as she spoke about one of her friends, "my American friend"... I was very puzzled because although she was born here, she thought of herself something other than American. :(
Anyways, I can go on for hours about this topic so I'll save you from my rant. I do like that you have the French flag as your avatar, I might have to do the same. It shows me who you are, it shows me that you are proud of who you are, and it shows me that we can be from different places and still dialog about something we love, surfing. :)
@@ThomyeSurfs My avatar has to do with a brutal attack in Paris a few years ago. I'm not even French. So it does not show you who i am.
I think your cousin is right.
Actually its a well known matter, firewire is applying new coats on the new boards, super nice finish (clear matte) and they will not yellow as much. (The yellowing is caused by the eco resin used during lamination). Keep stoking on these boards, machado gonna have something new for you these next year 🤙🤙✌✌
I am hoping he makes the seaside a little narrower and puts a pointy nose on it. 😊
@@ThomyeSurfs maybe it's something in those lines, who knows what that madman is thinking, be sure to stay tune 😏
I recently stripped the wax off my GoFish and although the board had yellowed, there are white spots all over where the wax bumps were...also peeled off a section of the tailpad on my Hydroshort and same thing, considerably whiter than the rest of the board. I figure it’s more UV than just heat
It's really strange because all my boards yellow under different conditions. The one thing or reason I was discounting UV was because two of my boards are more yellow on the bottom than on top. That was odd to me. Anyways based on all the comments it looks like the three factors are time heat and UV. And unfortunately none of those work in our favor 😥
It's not just Firewire boards. A custom epoxy that I had locally made and which I kept in FL in the garage, has only been used maybe 20 times (10 in NY and 10 in FL), went from pretty much white to piss yellow in one year after storing it in the garage. So heat is the culprit that is speeding up the aging of the epoxy resin and causing the yellowing. It now stays in the house :)
yeah. definitely epoxy boards have this flaw. but I will say that based on some evidence, it is specifically the hardener vs the epoxy resin. My brother had about a pint of epoxy resin in his garage for about 5+ years, still crystal clear. But the little bottle of hardener which used to be clear as well is now dark brown. Having said that, I have an surftech E2 that is almost as white as the day I bought it. I have had it now for about 4 years. same garage as the other boards. I need to sell my glazer before that thing turns yellow. :)
As long as the yellow doesn’t affect the durability of the epoxy or the performance it’s no big deal. I would suggest ordering them with color or spray painting them. That’s only if the color bothers you. I think yellow boards are fine if they perform well.
It's definitely a bit of a bummer they turn yellow, by dominator is pretty gross! But at the end of the day the boards perform, and that's all I really care about. Be interesting to see what my seaside looks like in a few months (just purchased).
I sort of figured out how to make it look new again which involves spray painting it white but only misting it. I'll have to do another video showing the method. it looks decent but requires a very good spray nozzle, one that can spray without speckling. Anyways, let us know how the seaside goes. My Dom2 for some reason is staying white. very strange.
Hi! thanks for sharing. Do know if that yellowing has influence in the stifness of the board? i had a Slater Designs Omni LFT about 4 yrs old (close to same yellow you have on your twin fin) and on a take off the board almost split in half (it is completelly wrecked). Very sad cause really enjoy the board.
wow. that is insane. you should write to FW too. I don't really know if Yellowing weakens or makes a board more brittle. Thinking it through logically, it almost makes sense that it would. Mostly because it is constantly curing. That is a very valid question. You really should ask FW. I had a very weird situation where they gave me a new board because a crack formed on my board that followed a painted line. They wanted to study it so they took it back.
Just picked up a dominator 2 recently and it is very easy to tell how yellow my 1st gen dominator is versus the new one. I wonder if the Helium 2 on the new one will yellow differently than the LFT on the OG
I'll definitely be paying attention to my Dom2. so far, it is still white but I have only had it a few months.
Hi thomye! Love all of your videos and was wondering out of these 3 boards which one would you prefer riding at bolsa as a daily board?
100% Seaside
But it does depend on skill level. Mid to high intermediate and up. I just bought the Firewire Sunday which might be good too. Stay tuned. 😀
Any chance they’ve corrected this with the new helium 2.0 boards? I hear the deck skin is new?
someone below commented that they did change the bio resin and that it will yellow less or slower. not exactly sure. But from experts who work with epoxy, it looks like epoxy yellows so not sure it will ever get corrected. Fingers crossed though.
I've had a chumlee for about 5 yrs and it is super yellow....Thinking of spraying it.
Yesterday I put masking tape on my board to start painting today. I used that green tape instead of the blue. Funny thing, I masked the bottom of my gofish, the black stripe with green tape but after applying it, the green brings out a cool vibe in the firewire yellow. So it actually looks cool now. I am wondering if I should just paint the stripe vs the entire bottom now. I was going to paint the bottom a burgundy and then paint the pin stripe and black stripe down the middle white. Seems like a lot of work. now I'm rather torn.
If you like these boards you should check out the RS surf Co. Love Capsul model. Best board I’ve even owned. Its if the glazer and the hypto Krypto had a baby.
I like the look of the Magic Box too.
Good video thanks.
Im interested to know which fins felt better on the go fish?
I have tried it with the K2 Keels and the Machado Keels. The Machado keels make it come to life. the K2's aren't deep enough for me. I felt like I didn't have control and I would lose traction.
great video and pretty informative. could you also comment on the durability of the boards? looks like the lft go fish has way more pressure dings than the helium seaside. does that seem correct? how often have you surfed each comparatively speaking?
That is correct. Here is the breakdown:
Helium - Seaside:
1 lbs EPS core (this is what makes it light)
super thin glass laminate
3mm High density composite skin (this is what makes it super strong)
then another glass laminate
bio resin.
LFT - GoFish:
1.5 lbs EPS core (makes it a tad heavier)
deck sandwich cloth
1mm Ultrlight skin (this is what makes it softter)
bio resin.
as you know, the helium has a parabolic stringer around the baord while the LFT has a more traditional "like" stringer down the middle.
To answer your question, I have surfed my Seaside, easily 10x more than my GoFish.
@@ThomyeSurfs Cool info Sir , I have a Helium Firewire with heavy delamination on over 1/2 the top , what type of resin do you use to fix dings ? Bio Resin best for repairs ? I am Testing Solarez on the dings but for the Delamination , what would you use ?
@@Alohatribe I've never fixed anything that big myself. I usually take it to a ding repair shop. Sorry I have no info on that
keen to see what your thoughts are on the glazer; also if you can please review the no brainer; cheers!
I just saw a used one for sale at the surf shop. Don't have any funds for another board but I will do my best. That is one I have been eyeing for a long time.
Likewise. Hopefully, happens sometime soon! FW boards are a bit steep on price here in Australia, would be nice to have an honest review before committing to it. Keep it up man, great content here!
The only boards that stay white are the painted boards like surftech and various chinese boards that are painted with automotive paint
I have 2 fire wires. One I bought in Florida. Super yellow. One I bought year. Still white
I’ve got Sweet Potato, Baked Potato (timber tech) Chumlee, Cymatic & Seaside.
I actually have a board room, inside my house. I live in Florida, so if I’m not surfing they’re all in a bag, inside my house, in 70-72 degree temp.
My Sweet Potato bought it used & have had it for 5-6 yrs now, it eventually became so yellowed, that I painted it. My Chumlee is going to need to be painted here, in the near future as well. The Chumlee is Helium, not LFT. The Cymatic is LFT & has some slight yellowing, basically in the same place as your own Seaside. I was like I take such good care of these board’s, all ranging in the mid to high $700’s each. Why the hell are they turning yellow at all???
Thanks for bringing this up.
At least I know I’m not the only one dealing with this annoying issue.
You ever look at Lib-Techs? I'm about to buy one just to test and compare against Firewire. I heard they are super durable. Maybe they stay white too. We shall see.
@@ThomyeSurfs No I haven’t. I’m going to try & ask around & see if anybody has one I can try out. I have a NB2 Spinetech & everything else is PU.
I have a sweet potato same to thing what spray paint did u use bro? And does it chip off??
Pet peeve for me too! Over here in Australia they get nuked really quickly - my new Dominator 2 is just over a month old and already starting to yellow...
Nooooooo!!! That sucks. I was hoping the new ones were a bit better. Real bummer.
@@ThomyeSurfs yeah unfortunately not :(
@@StokedForTravel this sucks was hoping helium 2 would yellow less
You should see my no brainer. It turned way more yellow/brownie in less than one year. Plus, it is starting to turn into a really weird shade of red (we thought it might be the red pigment of a colored wax). The reddish thing passed through the resin and now is underneath it. i use my board only in Italy, which is not actually super sunny and hot in the waves season 😅 the board has always been cleaned with unsalty water and kept always in its fcs bag. I can regognize on the red thing that coloured my board the pattern of the interior part of my surfbag. I don't know what the crap happened, but it's really weird and frustrating. The board does work perfectly tho. What do you guys think happened?
that is interesting about the red and taking on the pattern of the board bag. very strange. My brother had red discoloring on his seaside.
Hey, just wondering if you ever got any feedback on this. I’m curious if their new helium design was a result of the original turning yellow. My seaside is definitely less white???!!
no feedback. I don't think FW even considers it a priority. Their sales are better than they have ever been so makes no sense for them to fix it. I heard second hand that the new boards stay whiter longer but not sure if that is true, because those who have gotten the new helium with the black rails still complain about it as well as complain that the black rails fade/scratch off, which I thought was weird.
@@ThomyeSurfs yeah...which is lame because I LOVE Firewire...and I love the boards. My quiver is not a Seaside, Twice Baked, and a Dom 2...so I guess I am all in. I love how they surf, and that is most important. But I would prefer my board not to turn yellow so fast...oh well. thanks for the response!
@@radfro77 same. I have way too many Firewires. haha
What fin setup did you dig with your go fish?
The Machado Keel. I guess any big fin would work. I started on the K2 keels and hated them. I think I'm going to try the big keel on my toe side and do a more upright pivot fin like the MR on my heel side.
What does Firewire say about it? After buying 7 of them I’m fed up with the yellowing. Tomo’s Fish, although I love it, will be my mast Firewire unless they do something about it.
they have said nothing. I personally can't do the price point anymore. I am testing Sharpeye boards for a bit from Surftech. So far, very happy. Hope to post some reviews soon.
hey man! my seaside is turning dark around the rails and not yellow. is this normal? love your content btw thomye!
doesn't sound normal to me.
How old is it?
is it turning dark in certain spots or all around?
if it isn't that old, you may want to take some pics and let Firewire know. they have really good customer service. if it is not normal, they will likely address that. Of course if you are leaving out in the sun and the entire board is yellowing and the rails are just darker, that might be a difficult case. Anyways, hit them up.
I’ve been thinking about getting either the go fish or the seaside. What’s your take? And what fins did you end up using for the fish?
Cheers!
I don't think you can go wrong with either but for versatility, I think the Seaside is a tad better. Also, in all the comparable sizes, the seaside is floatier. For example, the 5'3 GoFish is 27.4L while the 5'3 Seaside is 28.2L. Also, because the Seaside is in Helium construction, it will be more buyout. It will feel more like a 29 if not a tad more.
In the GoFish, I run the Machado Twin Keels: futuresfins.com/products/machado-keel
These fins have a lot of hold and drive. But because it is a twin, When I do an off the lip or anything at the top of the wave, it gets super loose and squirrely.
In the Seaside, I run the Machado Quad Seaside Fins: futuresfins.com/collections/surfboard-fins/products/machado-quad
These fins have great hold and drive as well. They don't release as much.
Having said all this, it is a hard decision so it would involve your type wave and how you want to surf. Me having ridden both, I would want both of them in my quiver but if you told me right now, which would you rather surf more, it would have to be the Seaside. It's more versatile and an all-around board.
I love the GoFish but I'm intrigued to try and surf other twins such as the Fishbeard and Black Baron. The Seaside is a staple and I will always have one now and forever.
How can you get rid of the yellowing?
no real way other than to buy either a tinted version or paint it. Epoxy will do what it will do. :(
Having said that, their newer boards seems to stay whiter longer but eventually, they turn yellow too.
Wow, that is strange. Even my cheap boards are still relatively white after owning them for 7 so years.
I think they figured something out on PU boards. my PU's stay white now but all my epoxy boards, Surftech E2, Firewires, CI Spine-Tek, all seem to yellow. I think based on comments, epoxy just has a yellowing factor. :( which is why I'm buying stained epoxy from now on. :) I might try varial to see what it does.
EPS boards yellow. The same thing happens to FCD boards.
i have an EVO that always in a board bag in a garage and love the board but its not my go to board and its yellow
it is really strange cuz some that have their boards in a bag like you and me, our boards turn yellow while others say they stay white. Putting all the factors together that people have responded about, the one constant is that Epoxy boards turn yellow and you can't do anything about it so that basically is "time". Then there are factors that speed up the process and I think that is heat and UV/sun. Not sure what part of the sun since one of my boards is more yellow on the bottom than on the top. I'm certain the bottom sees way less sun. All in all, very inconsistent data.
Don't you have better things to tend to? The only way to make it stay pristine white is the gelcote used in boat molding, which is not worth the weight on a surfboard.
wish I could post a pic in my response. about to paint my gofish. I think it will look really good when i'm done. :)
I can see exactly where I sit on my Hydroshort - perfect outline of butt and legs! I also had a piece if a sticker recently come off and it was super white under the sticker - this was with helium not lft - I have plenty of both and all are super yellow but still seem strong
Where did you get the stickers?
I got them on Amazon. They are vinyls made for cars. Some are better than others. Sort of hit or miss. I have ordered from the same company more than once and got different stickers each time.
What's cool about fire wires is you can just paint um.
its weird such a big compeny using advenced tech couldnt find a sulution for that issue🤷♂️
yeah, agreed. I do know now that it is the hardener for the epoxy. Oddly, I have the surftech Sharpeye Modern2 which is also epoxy but that board is staying super white. so I know it's not impossible to avoid this. strange.
So weird !
Yeah my vader went yellow. Didn't notice until I got the new cymatic.
will the helium 2 boards yellow less does anyone know?
Someone said in one of the comments that firewire change their bioresin and that it should stay whiter longer.
If you could only keep one then which one stays?
out of these three, the Seaside.
Happens to all the lft boards. They look like crap even when taken care of.
Are we talking about polyester or epoxy?
Thanks bro
Epoxy.
Lent my white 4 year old Evo to a friend for a weekend, he left it in his car and it came back to me golden brown...
LOL. sorry, didn't mean to laugh cuz I feel your pain but the word golden brown just put this image in my head. haha
@@ThomyeSurfs The Stranglers?
All boards go yellow dude 💚💜🖤🐿
:(
about to paint my gofish.
@@ThomyeSurfs sin allways burn boards it’s good signal .... you surf lots
No clue why they keep making white boards when they turn yellow all the time. Must be so it gives them a life span and most people will upgrade =more coin for firwire
yeah. that is my theory too. it would be pretty easy I think to tine all boards a solid color at no additional cost. I could be wrong though, I don't glass boards so I'm not really sure.
I have the same thing with a brand new Al Merrick MOD POD By TORQ, less than a couple of weeks using it, never hot weather bc I live in Chile and always in a board bag right away, never left in the sun and the edges are Turning slightly yellow, Ironically on the bottom of the board.... Is what it is I guess with Epoxy boards...
Yeah, Firewire gets a bad wrap since it's basically all epoxy boards. Doesn't matter who makes it. It is the hardener for the resin. My brother had batch of resin and hardener in his garage for 10 years and the resin is crystal clear. The hardener however, was brown. haha
Epoxy resin isn't UV stable...all surfboard resins will eventually yellow
Are all those in lithium construction?
haha
Out of those 3 boards, which one is your daily?
Seaside. I just got the Glazer and haven't ridden it yet. Will let you know if that changes.
@@ThomyeSurfs I had a Glazer, I think it's for when the waves get little better...I sold it...I think the seaside is better suit for my surfing... plus I surf average waves for average surfer.. haha..
in less than one year my sweet potatoe turned yellow and red patches appear on the bottom...despite I didn't use it more than 15 sessions and always rinse it and put it in a strond board bag...not really serious
i would hit them up. that doesn't sound right. my brother's board turned Red too. To be honest, if the entire board turned Red, that would actually be better. LOL but the splotches are ugly.
Same same here in Western Australia mates
Very sad to see this comment
Firewire and its linked surfshops should hang their heads in shame for selling top-dollar surfboards and they're so obviously flawed (for starters supposedly strong Helium boards are snapping all over the place). In Australia we have the Dept of Fair Trading which prevents companies and individuals selling products which are going to have issues. I'd say America would have the same sort of government protection.
BUT the board companies get around that by saying oh well it's a volatile sport full of danger, impact and weather so the buyers just have to be willing to accept it. BUT Firewire and surfshops don't tell you the top-dollar board you're buying is going to quickly deteriorate to a dull colour so bad you won't be able to re-sell it, or even if you can you won't get much for it.
The reality probably is the EPS core and epoxy resin both go off in colour, regardless of UV or heat. It's a chemical ageing thing. So how can Firewire sell it without warnings? Especially for top-dollar surfboards?
I do agree with all of what you said, I think the good thing is as these types of videos are produced and people complain, technology will adapt. The good thing I see with firewire is that they are making efforts to change. I like the fact that they went volcanic although I haven't tried it yet, I'm hoping those boards don't have the color issue. I also noticed that they went thunderbolt red on the Sundays so maybe more of their boards will go in this direction as well. Although I fear that going too far in this direction will make the board stiffer but I could be wrong.
That's crazy. I guess that's what you get when they are made in Thailand. I have a 5-6 year old superbrand surfboard which mainly stays in it's board bag and it's still nice and white 😉
I’ve got a glazer not even 6 months old going bloody yellow top and bottom already, shit I reckon not happy.
That's a bummer. I wonder if it has to do with how much hardner they use or if they use different epoxies. I painted min: ua-cam.com/video/9z-3fNY8Sx8/v-deo.html
but watch the part where I put the green tape on it. I am going to paint a green strip on my seaside to see how it looks. I don't recommend painting the entire board, someone mentioned weight and now it is in my head. I can slightly tell mine is heavier but then, if i can feel it, maybe its a huge difference.
@@ThomyeSurfs will do, thanks. Didn’t think about the extra weight, but that may make it sit in the water more like a pu board, which I would mind at all
You threw a board in the trash just because it was yellow? You could have painted it.
sorry for the late reply. but there were other factors. first thing I noticed was that the yellowing is actually chemical reaction of the hardener in the epoxy resin. The board didn't surf the same, it lost its elasticity and spring. And only after 2 sessions, I noticed that there was a small buckle starting to form at the nose of the board about the 12" mark. Bottom line, the yellowing is a clue that the structural integrity of the board is compromised. More recently, I buckled my GoFish, the one in the video in fact. I was badly yellowed so I painted it. I have a few videos about it. I ended up buckling that one between the feet. Anyways, I'm not that crazy to throw away a good board but with yellowing, I believe the good has left the board and it's just a board at that point.
I have blue patches on a Sweet Potato 2 after using it once. Which I guess is one of the layers showing through. A friend has a Dominator 2 which has orange patches after being used a couple of times. My Twice Baked looks like it has been eaten away by salt ( I rinse my boards down after use ). Firewire Thailand quality control sucks.
My last few have been really good. They seem to stay whiter. Will know after more time
I'm just wondering if it's down to where it's made. I'm based in Hong kong and my boards came from Thailand. Does Firewire still produce boards in the US?
@@troppotardi no, I think Thailand
Definitely, I think batches matter. some of my boards stay white for a much longer and others don't. My Sunday is still white even though it has been hanging in my hot garage while my seaside and beyond is yellowing. I may buy a tinted version next time.
@@ThomyeSurfs Likewise!
Good I got a blue colored seaside
those tinted ones look cool. my buddy has a olive green color.
funny i just took off my traction pad from my 10 year dominator...wish i could send the photo on this comment but for some reason putting a photo on here is harder than rocket science.... i copied and paste i dont know but anyway video of a firewire quiver makes me wanna surf LOL
also what did you buy the glazer for? i gonna sell my seaside at my local surfshop for store credit whats the lowest you would go? surfed it 3 times...looks like it has a small scratch or 2
I got the glazer for $650 off craigslist. I bought my dom2 for $500. I just saw a used No Brainer for $550. I have found that it is hit or miss. If you can connect with a guy who really wants that board, you can get probably $700 for it. They save on tax and traction and get a nice discount. But, the odds of finding someone that wants your exact board is much harder than it seems. You typically get the guy who sort of wants that board, it might be on option for them. Those buyers seem to need heavy discounting.
I know after tax and traction pad, you are usually in about $850 to $900. So getting $700 would be nice but I personally have a really hard time spending over the $600 for a used board. I went $650 on the Glazer because I wanted to review it. Anyways, I would start high and see what hits. no matter what you list it for, they will always low ball you anyways.
btw, was it white under the traction? Mine was whiter but still yellow. I wonder if my garage is too hot.
@@ThomyeSurfs It was whiter under the tail pad but still not as white when first bought....I think new epoxy boards are whiter than new poly boards too...I was attracted to how white they looked and chose a stealth firewire over a flyer just cause I wanted that bright white board forever...I always wanted a flyer epoxy dream board back then.
omg bro thats true
Buy a Chilli surfboard. They can make the bomb proof.
I've been keeping my eyes out for one. 🤙
You could always paint over the white....
Yeah. I bought a bunch of paint and need to plan out my project. I will post it.
Is it only FireWire that do this
No. All boards will do this over time. It just seems to me the firewires do it much more quickly. A lot of my recent pu boards stay White so I have to believe they figured something out. Also the epoxy boards that surf tech puts out, at least the one I have, has stayed white for the last three and a half years.
Doesn't pretty much every board turn yellow?
Lol. Yes except lately I've noticed my pu boards stay white so they figured something out. Also surf tech has the e2 construction, my sharpeye modern2, doesn't seem to turn yellow as quickly. I have had my modern2 a year longer than my Seaside and it is still White. I am wondering if it is the bio resin firewire uses. I know firewire is doing everything to be eco-friendly. Which is great. But comparing that to the surf tech epoxy board, I have to wonder is their epoxy resin not eco-friendly?
@@ThomyeSurfs ok cool, I didn't know almost any of this 👍🏼
You’re like me... prioritize surfboards while there’s junk all over garage that needs to be put away.
haha. i need to clean the garage. If my wife finds out this went public, she would kill me. All my things are nice and tidy except for my Kayak. Board are arranged by height, wetsuits by size and season, skateboards all orderly, etc. Then house hold stuff, all tossed around.
you threw a surfboard in the garbage because it was discoloured?????
Lol. It was old too and damaged. Zero pop. Age does that to boards.
I can tell you that I buy a Gamma helium new about 4 years keep it in the fcs board bag in my garage , today I want to know how is my never used board , ITS YELLOW, with NO EXPOSURE TO LIGHT AND VERY FRESH GARAGE it blow my mind last week I sell a board with more than three times age more white than the FireWire it’s a scam , I think it’s for renew surfboards more quickly, I am speechless…
it's the chemical reaction in the hardener. I have a bottle of epoxy resin for repairing boats and a small bottle of hardener. you have to mix the two in order for the epoxy to turn hard. The hardener after about 10 years was dark brown but the epoxy was crystal clear. Definitely not a scam, at least not deliberate. All my epoxy board have turned yellow. Firewire, surftech, my old varial. It is sad but it is what it is. :(
Oh one thing for sure. I would rather have a very strong helium firewire that does not dent that turns yellow over a white PU that looks like a golf ball. LOL
Wait
Is there a class action lawsuit #firewire
Haha. I consider the yellowing a pet peeve but as you can see from my quiver that it doesn't stop me from getting firewires. At the end of the day the pros far outweigh the cons. Stronger boards that last longer, lighter, and great shapers behind the label, and lastly something that gets overlooked is customer service. I switched to epoxy after breaking three pu boards in a row and going back to the shaper and him telling me "oh well". Whereas if firewire deemed it a defect they will replace it which they have done for me once. My local shaper said tough luck pretty much even though it snapped on my first wave doing a simple off the lip which I had on video. It was my belief that the stringer was already broke. Anyways we all have our reasons.
That’s just one of those reasons that make run out of this construction. Firewire is trash . Simple like that. I made my transition back to PU constitution and hand made. Got a Christenson fish, and ho boy!!! That’s real stuff.
Thanks for your review
It sucks hey, it’s the only problem with Firewire boards, you would think with all their tech they would have solved that issue.. you take a board out of the bag and it looks like it’s been in there chain smoking cigarettes. Timbertek is good though..
lol. yeah, still a decent trade off though. they last much longer and still feel pretty good, flex and spring that is. not as good as PU but getting closer with all the tech.
Could be the inferior products used in Firewire construction. Check any ding repair guys Insta, and you'll see stacks of Firewires and other popouts.
not sure. I personally haven't had any construction issues over the years having had 10 or so different firewire boards. Except 1 which they replaced with a new board without question. As for the yellowing, some guys who work with epoxy say that all epoxy turn yellow. In fact, I have evidence now that says it's the hardener that turns yellow. I bought a repair kit some years ago and it has the epoxy resin and hardener, the resin is still crystal clear and the hardener now is a deep brown now. It was clear when I bought it. The repair kit isn't a firewire repair kit, just a standard epoxy surfboard repair kit.
I guess there is a chance that both firewire and the repair kit both use inferior products. for me now, it's a trade off for the durability. I like how my FW's last a long time and I get to support Rob Machado. hope he is making a good dime from all this.
Yeah all white surfboards get Jaundice come time lol 😂
Own a sci-fi in Brasil, and that thing looked horrible in maybe 1.5 years, not only yellow but unevenly yellow, so really ugly. Nice that performance still good but loses value if you want to sell it. Why don't they make colored boards?
Didn't think about the resell value. That is a good point.
Spray paint it white...
I did that to one of my other boards. If you have a good sprayer, something a little better than a can, it comes out great, you just mist it so it's not a blanketed white. Then clearcoat it, it is passible as stock. On my GoFish though, I think I am going to paint the bottom a really dark red, maroon or darker and then pent the top a really light blue. Make it looks cool retro.
I bought a bran new FireWire in Australia then took it to the phillippines after about two weeks it went yellow. How the fuck do they stay in businesses.
I figured out that what turns yellow is the hardener for the epoxy resin. I had a jug of resin in my garage for years and that was crystal clear, however the little tiny bottle of hardener was dark brown. So I have to believe it's the hardener that turns yellow. So then I wonder if different batches yellow at different rates due to how much hardener and what type of hardener was used. In any event, as much as I hate the yellowing, I love that they don't pressure as easy and last longer in other ways. Overall value, I think they are still one of the better brands. I have like 12+ firewires now. The only one that has fallen apart is my very first dominator which has to be over 12 years old. That one I pretty much dry docked on a reef a few times. haha still rides though.
do all boards not yellow
I think a they figured something out with PUs. My last two PUs didn't turn yellow. My dhd after 5 years was still bright white. Epoxy boards seem to yellow still
It also has to do with the resin. I spoke to Firewire directly and they said they had issues with the type of bio resin they used on older boards. It was known to cause yellowing. If you are the original owner and have proof of purchase, contact Firewire directly to see what they can do for you. They are very customer focused.
@@takadesigns I will say that they are really customer focused. Many years ago, I bought my brother a 5'10" dominator. it was one of the very few that had a paint job. It had this black pinstripe across the board. after about a year, my brother was surfing it in small waves and we noticed a crack. a crack that ran down the pinstripe from start to finish. It was really odd, almost as if it were weakened by the pinstripe. Anyways, firewire had us come down to the warehouse in SD and pick out a new board. it was awesome. Which is another reason why I still buy firewires.
@@ThomyeSurfs I too have a great story. I bought the seaside special edition woolight board and it had quality issues with the glassing. I spoke to them directly and they had me come down to HQ in Carlsbad and replaced my board with a brand new one.
@@takadesigns will the helium 2 boards yellow less does anyone know?
I painted mine go fish. Turn yellowish in 6-8months, disgusting
Oiiiii., from Montreal, Quebec, Canada 🇨🇦.... I get a GO Fish in 5’9” in 2016 (WHITE 100%) NEW ..... I never used in water , 🌊🏄🏽♂️..Not SUN 🌞 directly inside my apartment. YEAH .... my GO FISH look like your Board 🤬🤬🤬🤬😡😡😡😡😡 FUCK ..... and I think is Heat . Just waiting to travel 🧳 🌊🏄🏽♂️🛫✈️🛬🌞...after this pandemic 😷. 🤙🏽
Epoxy turns yellow plain and simple
FireWire seems overrated vs. the past i.e quality control.
everbody knows that if you leave your surboard in the sun it will stay yellow which is likely what happened here. nothing to do with firewire wtf are you talking about
I never leave any of my boards in the sun unless I'm surfing it. My dominator turned yellow as the chair in my video in 6 months in a storage container. It was in a day bag which was embedded in a travel bag. No sun what so ever. It went from the color of my seaside to literally yellow in 6 months. The fastest yellowing of a surfboard ever. So my point was heat is a bigger factor. Obviously the sun is a factor but my point was that it is the heat from the sun and not so much the UV rays.
@@ThomyeSurfs yes I'm a painter and our epoxy yellows in time
@@ThePokersurfer thanks. do you know if heat accelerates the process? The example I gave regarding my dominator happened in a time frame of 6 months. It blew my mind how yellow it got.
@@ThomyeSurfs UV rays are inevitable hence the yellowing factor as well as time as catalyst strengthens aka as you noted a biochemical reaction.
seems to me most epoxies yellow faster.
for sure. but heat accelerates that process. I recently thought to myself that maybe firewire did something because one of my boards seemed pretty white after some time but then after leaving it the car one weekend, I noticed it got several shades darker. But for sure, it does yellow faster.
Heres an idea to solve your problem: dont buy china boards! If you really like the shapes from firewire that much, please do yourself a favor and talk the design through with a local shaper. They will make you a board that works just as well if not better. You will get a quality construction, a relationship with someone who knows surfboards, and you dont need to deal with all the problems discussed in this video. Firewire’s success comes from marketing, not quality.
P.S. tinted boards cost more because it requires human labor and not a machine sandwiching boards together.
What do you consider a local shaper?
@@ThomyeSurfs Ive been told from people i respect in the industry that you cant call yourself a shaper unless youve made at least 2000 boards. I think thats some good criteria if you’re really looking for top notch boards. Chances are theres a few guys around you that have dedicated their lives to understanding surfboard design and theory. You can really separate the best from the rest just based off their answers to your questions. If they give clear, concise answers without mixing in jargon thats hard to understand, they can be trusted. If you find someone like this, they should be able to exactly copy any board model youve been looking to try, and might just make some adjustments that make it perform better for you. Ive been making boards for almost 5 years and i can make a replica that most people would consider exact. I hate to ramble but it was a rather open-ended question.
@@Psyched-Surf would you consider Rob Machado a good shaper? I know he shapes or has his own line of boards that's not firewire. I'm guessing as busy as he is, he has someone else shaping for him. I was trying to get a custom seaside and firewire told me to go directly to Rob.
Also, What do you think of Marcio "sharpeye". The great thing about his boards is that they seem to be less expensive which makes it easier for me when buying a pu board. I have the modern too which works fantastic but is also epoxy so it doesn't pressure as much.
@@ThomyeSurfs I would definitely consider both Rob and Marcio good shapers. Both have dedicated themselves to surfing for life, and i know at least Rob surfs way better than i probably ever will. I think all the shapers designing for firewire have proven their shapes over time, which is probably why they were contracted to work for the company. My problem with firewire is not the designs, because they have hired some of the best in the world and work with some of the best surfers around (like Kelly). Rather, it is the fact that they, and other overseas manufacturers, have taken business away from lifetime craftsman by convincing the public that pop-out boards made with cheap materials will perform better than a custom suited for a specific person, specific conditions, etc. My thought process is basically support the local guys that can do as good or better, when they might be barely scraping by, instead of a worldwide corporation that values profits over quality. Hope this helps shed some insight, and keep sharing your content you do a good job :)