Sealing airbags

[watermonkey]

Has anyone ever used Toobseal, Flexseal or the Inland Marine internal sealant to repair leaking/porous airbags? These are products regularly used for inflatables/rafts to stop slow pinhole leaks, porosity issues and some seam leaks, for use on PVC, hypalon, urethane, etc. They are a thin liquid that goes inside the air chamber and is evenly distributed after inflation. These three products all state that after curing, the sealant does not adhere to itself, so the chambers can be deflated and not glue shut. Cheapest I've found is about $55/qt, but that is enough to rehab a 12ft raft, should work for several sets of bags depending on size. For you Mtn Bikers out there, I started out by looking into the sealants used on UST tires and rims, but these compounds stay tacky, don't really cure solid, and would glue airbags shut on deflation.

[Deuce]

A buddy and I just treated his criminally abused Star (came from an outfitter) with the Flexseal kit. Turned out okay and would probably work for your intended purpose, BUT, there are some things to consider. First, you have to keep the stuff off the valves. This would be especially critical in your case since replacement isn't an option. The instructions say it can be cleaned off, but I can't imagine that would be easy. Second, the process requires you to inflate, pour the stuff in, deflate, make sweet love to the boat (or bag in your case) to distribute the compound, then reinflate and roll it around until your arms are on fire. Once that's done you can leave it alone to cure, but you have to exchange the air several times over the following 24 hours in order to release the solvents, and they are some wicked solvents, so you'll need to be vigilant when reinflating all those times. Otherwise you'll have two lungs full of raft sealant, which doesn't seem like a good thing. Third, I don't know what the shelf life is once you've opened the cans, but I suspect it's not long, so I would think you'd need to be set up to do a bunch of bags in a fairly short period of time. With all those considerations in mind I say go for it.

[gumpy]

hey PAC, could be a new beginning for the old shredder?

[PAC]

Thx Joe! Have that in flight! Using recomemded sealant and need to paint the exterior once the weather is nicer! The issues is that the shredder is so old the holes are no longer just pin pricks! And are everywhere! We'll see if it works!


As for the air bags - for a short term fix I used green slime with okay results. Bags were at the end of life and it was last ditch. Worked for about a month of high use but the bags finally died. They do that!

[Todhunter]

Slight hijack, but any way to prolong the life of a shredder? Mine is 2 years old and I don't want my $2,000 boat to fall to pieces any time soon. I store it partially inflated hanging up in a shed.

[PAC]

Tod don't worry Shredders don't fall apart... period!!!
Mine is early 90 (may be lat 80s) and and I'm the third owner! The first being the actual builder.

All three owners pushed the boat hard ... real hard. Big water, big drops, boofs, rock slides, high frequency and often over loaded (sometimes supporting longer over night trips). My kids, when young, even used it as a jungle gym to get them use to being in a boat and love it... heck even my dogs love the boat. They see it and want to go too!

Tips would be to follow Tom's instruction - maybe talc it once a year and add a little water into the tubes to keep the insides from drying out every so often. Just use good common sense!

Biggest risk is heat (when in sun and over inflated), critters, sharp objects (in storage, during transit, and on river), and the boater!!

Paddle smart - learn to use the flow with it! Keep it protected in the car and storage. Critters - mice and the like will do a number on it if they can get to it. Just treat it with respect and you'll get 20 years out of it! Oh and have fun!

PS: I love the boat too!