Tube Fading??

Lancecover · 12 September 2011, 08:40

Anyone have any experience with coloured tubes fading over time? I'm about to purchase a RIBCRAFT USA 4.8 and was going to go with orange tubes. The company says dark grey would wear better as coloured tubes tend to fade. Thoughts?

Dry Run · 12 September 2011, 10:51

I guess it depends on how you intend to store it and how well you're going to maintain it. We have ribs with tubes of all different colours here at the Dry Stack and I can't say that I've ever noticed any particular colour tube being worse than another. I'd go with the colour YOU want.

Poly · 12 September 2011, 11:18

Orange v's grey is quite a jump. Most people who want orange want to be highly visible for some reason (safety boat etc). I think I would take some convincing that a "good reason" for wanting orange was outweighed by a risk of fading.

Stored outside 24/7 in bright sunshine then orange tubes do tend to go a bit pink over time. This can be partially or totally reversed using a product like rib revive, and then the rate of fading reduced using a protectant coating. Searching here for "traffic film remover" or "TFR" will also reveal alternative cleaners. If it is really bad then wiping down with "gun wash" (spray gun cleaning thinners) is supposed to help too.

Obviously though prevention is better than cure and keeping the boat covered when not in use would be wise, particularly with sensitive colours.

Lancecover · 12 September 2011, 13:47

Thanks folks. Very helpful. Intent would be to garage the boat in the off season and cover when not in use for any prolonged period. I'm after max vis just for safety reasons (orange hull and console as well). We get a lot of fog, mist and choppy seas in my area and anything grey is normally extremely hard to see.

achille2124 · 19 September 2011, 21:27

It might be surprising, but when we need to restore a faded hypalon tube, we use Fast Orange. This trick was tought to us by Zodiac Hurricane itself...

Fast Orange is a slightly abrasive hand soap that you can use when you do mechanical repair. It can be found in Canadian tire or other automotive shopps.

You just need a sponge and some elbow grease. The final result is quite impressing and if you finish the job with some Revival paste it looks like a brand new tube.

Hope it helps.