Cleaning under SIB Ali floor

chriswood · 21 August 2014, 13:58

Bit of advice needed - what do you guys do re cleaning under the Ali floor where sand and other crap gathers? Do you deflate, remove floor and clean / dry, re assemble and inflate etc (sort of defeats my plan of keeping it on a trailer to avoid inflating / deflating etc) or just deflate the keel and try and flush through via the hole in the front floor panel?? The second idea was my plan with the boat on a slope to drain but will it dry? noticed under floor is still wet from use over 3 weeks ago. Have concerns how long it will take to dry and if very long period of time will it cause any probs. Thanks

Also is it normal to loose air in tubes? Prob lost 10 - 15% air in all tubes over a 3 week period. Appreciate any comments. Thanks

John Kennett · 21 August 2014, 14:27

If you're getting loads of shingle and stuff in your boat then it's worth taking it apart to clean properly. I wouldn't expect this to be needed every outing, but you'll need to make a judgement call on it. I wouldn't worry about whether or not it dries under the deck, but a thorough cleaning and drying occasionally would probably be worth the time, if for nothing else just to check the condition of the fabric at the edges of the floor.

Ideally tubes will hold pressure indefinitely, and it's only normal to lose air if the tubes have got holes in, or if the valves leak. Having said that the amount of leakage you're describing isn't uncommon, especially in older boats, and isn't normally any cause for concern.

chipko · 21 August 2014, 14:34

We leave ours inflated on a launching trolley all season. It gets a good hose down after a weekend/weeks use on the trolley with tubes and keel inflated to get as much sand out as we can. Let water drain out of bung with bows elevated although always remains wet under the floor. Gets a good clean and dried before deflating and stored in warm garage over winter.

Not noticed any loss in pressure but always leave tubes at half pressure (0.15 bar) and keel deflated when not in use/stored and boat covered.
Pressure readings will vary dependant on ambient temperature though.

chriswood · 21 August 2014, 15:07

Many thanks guys for your thoughts on this one - greatly appreciated. I think I will follow your suggested routine and give it a good flush through after each use then take apart and do a proper clean / dry before winter storage. Re air loss, boat is only just over 1 year old but it is a Seapro from Bill Higham so prob explains the issue. Oddly all tubes seem to loose same amount of pressure so prob down to Seapro using not the best quality valves during manufacture. Not an issue for day to day use but annoying as I will have to keep topping it up every month whilst on trailer. Cheers

Peter_C · 21 August 2014, 20:46

I do my best to keep sand out of my boat, but it gets into it enough when beach launching. I just hose as much as possible out of the elephant trunk, but most smaller boats don't have that option. It gets sand under the floor and about once a year I take the boat apart, typically to fabricate something, and clean it at that time.

Since I store my boat with zero psi in it, as in half deflated, I have never noticed a loss of air. Most likely it is the valves leaking.

Johnny5vikk · 21 August 2014, 20:53

Air temp is cooler at the moment so you could be noticing the deflation related to that, as opposed to the very warm weather previously which would expand the air. Just a thought.

chriswood · 21 August 2014, 20:54

Cheers Peter.

chriswood · 21 August 2014, 21:07

Did think that could be the case but had this issue throughout the earlier summer months when temp was more constant. Def more noticeable this time as lost much more air - just come back from 10 days away to find the boat very very soft so drop in temp has made it worse. Difficult to tell I suppose whether it's just outside temp or valves but I'm sure it's leaking some air through the valves.

TRevor Lawson · 21 August 2014, 21:36

Hi i keep my rib ,and the honwave sib i used to have in a garage so to stop tubes over inflating when temp rises always let a bit of air out , only take a couple of pumps to get back to pressure, but piece of mind,

chriswood · 21 August 2014, 22:27

Thanks Trevor. I also store in garage to minimise temp changes and also careful not to over inflate just in case. Prob will deflate and roll up over winter to avoid probs.

Seriously starting to consider getting a Rib so can leave it on trailer all year round but limited due to garage only being 5m long. Ideally would like a 4.8m rib but would need to knock a hole through the wall for the trailer drawer bar!! :-) :-)

Peter_C · 21 August 2014, 22:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by chriswood

Thanks Trevor. I also store in garage to minimise temp changes and also careful not to over inflate just in case. Prob will deflate and roll up over winter to avoid probs.

I would not recommend rolling it as that is often hard on the PVC and can create folds. Sometimes causing glue to fail. Drain it down to where the tubes are 3/4 full of air and let it be.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chriswood

Seriously starting to consider getting a Rib so can leave it on trailer all year round but limited due to garage only being 5m long. Ideally would like a 4.8m rib but would need to knock a hole through the wall for the trailer drawer bar!! :-) :-)

There are options.
http://www.rib.net/forum/f8/what-boat-to-buy-63755.html

chriswood · 21 August 2014, 22:44

Cheers Peter - will follow your advice. Interesting options re trailers etc

kaman · 21 August 2014, 23:11

I keep mine trailered and use a galvanised pole in the jockey wheel clamp to lift the bow and let gravity do its thing.
Give it a right good hose out and let the crud out the drain hole.

I use one of these cheap siphon pumps to extract the stubborn stuff that doesn't come willing out the drain hole.

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/131103913541?nav=SEARCH

TRevor Lawson · 22 August 2014, 08:17

Chris now have a rib for exactly same reason , I have a valiant 450. My garage is also 5mts long, after a lot of carefully checking befor purchase (with the boat I was buying) I found that if I moved front snubber post forward on trailer and moved boat forward I could just (touches door and front wall ) get it in garage, I move mine back to use but prob don't have to ,only takes a couple of mins to do, also very easty with a roller trailer, would be harder to move on bunks, hope giving some ideas.

chriswood · 22 August 2014, 08:51

Thanks Kaman for the siphon tip - would be useful to have around as there's only so much you can get out of drain hole - will be looking on eBay later.

Valiant 4.5m would be a good option and could see it workable with a 5m long garage. I've only used my SIB a few times (week in cornwall and week on Norfolk broads) so really need to get out more often. Not so easy as land locked in Northampton!! Maybe get another year's use out of SIB and then look at upgrading to a 4.5 rib Thanks for the info Trevor.

TRevor Lawson · 22 August 2014, 18:28

Hi Chris, land locked?i live in Hertfordshire, not too far from you but a min 2hrs from sea, also have a mate who lives in Coventry ,can't get much more inland than that, do you have face book, if so log on to team scooby or rhibs and outboards, we are a friendly lot all well into boating and meeting up for trips in company, camping etc, some have sibs and all sizes or rib, give us a try we don't bite. Trevor

chriswood · 22 August 2014, 21:45

Many thanks for the contact info. Def interested in getting out on the water more often and meeting up with some fellow Sib and Rib owners. I am on Facebook so will log on to the suggested groups and go from there. Cheers Trevor.