Inflatable interior sealant?

[dabull22]

I just bought some sealant that seals the inside of a inflatable dinghy. In the instructions it says to pour the sealant in through the inflation valve. Do I need to unscrew my Halkey-roberts valves and pour it in or can I just pour it into the open valve??

 

[deejaycee_2000]

Re: Inflatable interior sealant?

unscrew the valve, otherwise it will clogg it, after it's all in you have to get a few friends to help you turn the boat so it spreads evenly on the inside all over .... sorta like making easter eggs (",)

 

[Luvinflatableboats]

Re: Inflatable interior sealant?

Hi,

I agree unscrew the valve. I did this on a number of occassions my neighbors thought I was totally daft moving the boat around but it was great exercise.

 

[foobash]

Re: Inflatable interior sealant?

Hi.

I have an 1983 13' Achilles in mint condition that I bought last summer. I always tested the chambers before I take it out. At the end of the summer I did a check before storing it inside at room temperature (70% inflated) and now the two bow chambers leak into each other.

Should I just apply it to the suspect chambers or all 5 (including keel)?

Thanks,

Rich

 

[Sea Rider]

Re: Inflatable interior sealant?

Sealant is for minor tube air leaks repairs, if it's a minor ungluing issue between chambers probably will work, would have my doubt if the ungluing portion is large. In any case, the internal repair is costly as lot of handwork and glue are involved, will need to live with it if keeping the sib.

Happy Boating

 

[foobash]

Re: Inflatable interior sealant?

Sealant is for minor tube air leaks repairs, if it's a minor ungluing issue between chambers probably will work, would have my doubt if the ungluing portion is large. In any case, the internal repair is costly as lot of handwork and glue are involved, will need to live with it if keeping the sib.

Happy Boating

How do I tell if it is minor?

I know the leak is from the seal between the port and starboard chambers on the bow.

Say I drain all the air out of the port (~ 0 psi). I then top off the air in the starboard (~1.0 psi). After about a half an hour the pressure is close to equal on both sides (~.5 psi). The amount of pressure in the keel, and the two champers in the stern (transom) have no effect.

I would test the chambers every time I take it out as this is what the manual states. This did not happen until I tested before winter storage.

I don't know if I want to live with this problem as it sounds dangerous. Say I get a hole in any part of the bow, I will lose the 2 chambers and boat will be sinking head first.

Do you recommend any sealants? I have something to hang this boat in the air by the transom. So I would inject the stuff in the two chambers and let gravity send it all to both sides to that seal. Something like the letter V. The leak has to be somewhere at the tip of the V, correct?

How much money am I looking at if I were to send this out to repair? There is a repair place about an hour and a half from me so I would like to know what a reasonable price would be.

I paid 650$ for this (no motor). The guy was the original owner when he bought it back in 1983. It was always garaged kept and cleaned and maintained very well. He babied it. I was surprised when he told me it was an '83. I had it out on the Delaware River with an Evinrude 25HP short shaft and trailered with custom made bunks for the last half the season in 2010. It is so much fun. I have been cleaning it mildly before and after every use, covering it and babying it like the original owner did. So I plan to keep it as long as I can.

Thank you for your time.

Rich

Philadelphia, PA

 

[Sea Rider]

Re: Inflatable interior sealant?

So we are talking about a 28 year old sib, that sib should have been in the waist basket long ago, with that time don't be surprised if complete sib parts begin ungluing at a fast rate soon, glue does not last that long, the fabric could be in opt state, but the repairs will overcome by far the initial amout payed.

It's mission impossible to have an idea of the hole size without ungluing leaking tube for visual inspection, seems a slow air flow to the other compartment, if the sealant is not that expensive and all other chambers are not leaking air, just seal both troubled tubes and see what happens...

If nothing happens and sib remains in same condition, take your pump boating wth you, definitely will lose both chambers if any one of them is punctured, the fast/slow deflation will depend on the hole size. West Marine, Defender has some good sealants, check with them. Or go for a quote from the place you mentioned.

Happy Boating

 

[foobash]

Re: Inflatable interior sealant?

So we are talking about a 28 year old sib, that sib should have been in the waist basket long ago, with that time don't be surprised if complete sib parts begin ungluing at a fast rate soon, glue does not last that long, the fabric could be in opt state, but the repairs will overcome by far the initial amout payed.

Agreed. However for the money, I thought it was worth it. The guy was not trying to profit, he was a doctor having a garage sale on craigslist. This sib (will post pics soon) was in better shape than all the newer ones I seen on craiglist that were listed for double the price. Also this is my first boat. (New to boating)

It's mission impossible to have an idea of the hole size without ungluing leaking tube for visual inspection, seems a slow air flow to the other compartment, if the sealant is not that expensive and all other chambers are not leaking air, just seal both troubled tubes and see what happens...

Any specific way do you think I should approach this? Do you like my hanging in air from the transom idea? I was thinking since it is most likely the seal. The chamber's bulkhead (not sure of proper term here) would be an O shaped? Assuming it is an O shape, the hole(s) should be on the edge and not in the area of the O. In other words, if this whole O idea is true, I could run the sealant through small custom tube(s) into chamber #1 and do some internal surgical gluing around the O. Then in the second chamber run small custom tube to my small wet/dry vac to suck it through. Wait a week, then the the reverse (suck through chamber #1).

If nothing happens and sib remains in same condition, take your pump boating wth you, definitely will lose both chambers if any one of them is punctured, the fast/slow deflation will depend on the hole size. West Marine, Defender has some good sealants, check with them. Or go for a quote from the place you mentioned.

I keep a towline attached to the metal ring under the bow at all times. So in theory, if I had a serious accident where I lost the bow, I could pull that rope tight in the direction of the stern and fasten to the transom. Adjust my motor to not plane. Then I could safely get a shore. This would just reduce my deck size in (almost) half.

Thanks,

Rich

Philadelphia, PA

 

[guajiro0192]

Re: Inflatable interior sealant?

I am sorry for just noticing this post. I posted a similar post. I went ahead and didnt remove the HR valves. I simply put the tip past the valve. As deejaycee_2000 stated, you will have to flip it a bit. It is easier with some help. The valves did stick a bit, even though i tried to clean off as much sealer as I could. I think though that it might have actually helped the valves in repairing any type of scratch that might have been letting air through. My valves show no more signs of leakage. The stuff that I bought was from West Marine, although there are a few places on-line. It was about $60 plus convenient. My rib is holding air now as if new. The sealer sealed a leak right on the edge of a patch, maybe a few inches long. I purchased my rib for $100. It is not pretty, needs to be painted, but floats well. Good luck. Keep us posted.