Repairing / working with the glue
First of all, a few words about glues in general. The glue you are going to use should be appropriate for repairs on the inflatable boat’s tubes. Depending on the type of the fabric your boat has been made of you will need a different type of glue – for PVC or HYPALON. Glue can be one-component or two-component – the 1st is mainly used for very easy momentary repairs without access to a proper service and will not provide a long lasting and strong adhesion(especially in hot climate), while the 2nd one has the “hardener”, as its second component, that stimulates the polymerization of glue and sufficiently increases the strength and temperature stability, and should actually be the main one anyways. To find a proper glue you should either contact your inflatable boat dealer near you, or just go to any marine shop.
Use the following technology of glue application in case of repair, or installation(gluing) of extra fittings and parts:
- STEP 1. Locate the place of repair and choose or cut out a proper patch.
- STEP 2. Prepare the glue mixture: add the exact quantity of a hardener to the glue and mix them. The ratio of a hardener is always mentioned in your glue application instructions and usually is 4 – 5%. Use the mixture within 1 hour max as it hardens quickly.
- STEP 3. Border the gluing area on the boat with the masking tape in order to minimize the glue excess.
- STEP 4. Carefully clean, dry and degrease both surfaces to be glued. In case it is a HYPALON inflatable boat, it’s absolutely necessary to carefully roughen the fabric and the patch with sandpaper to make the surfaces 100% mat.
- STEP 5. Apply the first thin layer of the mixture on both surfaces and dry them for 20-25 minutes.
- STEP 6. Apply the second thin layer of the mixture on both surfaces and dry them until it is tack-free (about 5 minutes).
- STEP 7. Take off the masking tape, put the patch onto the previously marked place and press it.
- STEP 8. Place the ready joint onto any flat and hard surface, and press the joint, AS HARD AS POSSIBLE, using a metal roller or any other hard round thing (glass bottle, scissors rings etc.).
- STEP 9. Leave the ready joint to cure for 2 days without moving before you inflate the repaired part.
In case of an emergency repair, leave it for 2 hours without moving at least, and then inflate the repaired chamber slightly below the nominal pressure. In 2 hours the seam reaches about 70% of its strength, which should be enough to reach the place of destination, if driven carefully.
