Zodiac MK5 keel tube

[KINGHIT]

G'day fellas,
I have a Zodiac MK5 HD military boat seen in the back of this pic.(yes a shark showed up while i was hunting Kingfish and ruined my day) Anyway as most owners of these know the center inflatable keel tube deflates and leaks all the time. Well i've given up on patching/pouring latex into it/leak stopper ect and it is just too old to keep trying to fix. Zodiac has quoted me an astronomical price for a replacement.

What have others done? Can i stuff it with poly styrene? can i make it ridgid with a roll of rubber or carpet? any success stories?

Also the floor pieces (4 aluminum sections and side rails)endlessly pop out when i'm in big seas and cause a nightmare time to pop back in. Has anyone simply glued the side rails on? or made the floor one big long piece of marine ply?

Thanks you in advance for any advice from those with experiance

Dave

 

[Sea Rider]

Zodiac MK5 keel tube

Hola Dave,

Take all aluminum floorboards out of sib, inflate keel to 4 psi with a gauge, pour soappy water all around keel to see exiting air bubbles to spot leaks, probably whole fabric no good due to much mini abrassions against under alum floorboards and lot's of bubbles outting. In that case will need to replace complete keel. Also check air valve, pour soappy water inside as well and see if there are bubbles.

Alum floorboards should not pop out at all, 3 issues: (1) maybe you're under inflated, all sib chambers must be inflated to 0.25 bar or 3.5 psi for correct engine/sib performance, (2) maybe lateral alum side joinners are at a (incorrect position) thick flat portion must be on bottom floor fabric or (3) a combination of both (1-2) issues, check.

How much $ is a Zodiac new keel ?

Happy Boating