Post 2020 Excel Volaire

[Pikey Dave]

Does anyone have a post 2020 Volaire? Apparently the floor construction was changed in 2020 & I’m curious as to what’s changed.

[Steve509926]

Are you contemplating a new one Dave?

Noticed they have recently come down in price £1159

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Steve509926

Are you contemplating a new one Dave?

Noticed they have recently come down in price £1159

Nah! Just curious

[Steve509926]

Hi Dave, did you find out what's changed?

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Steve509926

Hi Dave, did you find out what's changed?

Yup, they redesigned the internal structure of the floor after several failures. My floor went pop. I returned the boat to Excel last week & left with a brand new boat. To be fair to Excel, there was no quibble over the warranty, Piglet still had a year to run. I’ve now got a brand new boat with the remainder of the original warranty transferred over. The new models are a different material, a carbon fibre impression & I now have a grey SIB rather than a red one. The new material feels thinner, it’s certainly more cooperative when it comes to folding up. I just need to get it rigged now.

[willk]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

I now have a grey SIB rather than a red one...

I'm sorry to hear that - hopefully you won't find life in the slow lane too much of a drag!

[Fenlander]

Is this a variant of drop stitch construction or are those seams between chambers a weld?

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

Is this a variant of drop stitch construction or are those seams between chambers a weld?

They are glued baffles. The originals just had the top edge of the baffle turned over 90deg & glued. The new design has an additional tape glued on the on the back of the turn to form a “T” hence doubling the contact area.

[Fenlander]

Ahh OK thanks, just interested for the mental SIB database. Well despite being quite different to the more common drop stitch air floor seen in the UK the Russians have proved your floor design over many years and many shallow rocky rivers so the basic design must be sound.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

Ahh OK thanks, just interested for the mental SIB database. Well despite being quite different to the more common drop stitch air floor seen in the UK the Russians have proved your floor design over many years and many shallow rocky rivers so the basic design must be sound.

We were offered the choice of another Volaire or the air floor Volante with the traditional drop stitched floor. We decided to stick with the Volaire, as overall we’ve been very happy with it.

[smallribber]

Is the overall weight of the new Sib the same weight as the old one ?

[Brinormeg]

Sorry to hear you’ve had issues PD, and hope the new set up meets your needs once again.
I’ve still the exact same as you (your old one) but probably not done anything like the same hours.

How much hours do you figure you’ve done in total with the red piglet?

Looking online I can’t find any difference on the specs for the Volaire but it could be they just haven’t been updated.

But I do recall seeing something about the carbon fibre design on a youtube video from some boat show somewhere….perhaps by someone on the forum.

I see you feel it’s easier to fold…….Do you think there’s any difference in overall weight? We do struggle at times with the lump, and certainly would prefer if it was just a little bit lighter.

Any other upgrades/changes on the new model such as handle positions etc?
(Not that I thought there was much wrong with the design before except for the weight and stiffness of the strake etc when folding and of course the totally crap bag)

The now retried Terry did sort any issues I had (once I finally got hold of him) so it’s good to see the new Management have continued to give good support on their earlier products.

Look forward to seeing it all set up again…..maybe with new wheels….as it would be a shame not to

Sorry Dennis I just noticed your post.

[Steve509926]

Good to hear that there was no problem with the warranty, especially with new owners.
With hindsight, I think I would choose any other colour instead of red. Redneck is now a misnomer, she's now a lovely shade of orange!
Be interesting if the new volaire is lighter.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Steve509926

Good to hear that there was no problem with the warranty, especially with new owners.
With hindsight, I think I would choose any other colour instead of red. Redneck is now a misnomer, she's now a lovely shade of orange!
Be interesting if the new volaire is lighter.

On paper the new boat is the same weight as the old one, but it definitely feels lighter. Also, the old floor pressure was 0.4bar, the new one is supposed to be 0.7bar which seems very high to me. I’ve questioned this with Excel & have been assured that 0.7 bar is correct. I’ve inflated the new boat floor to 0.4bar & it feels plenty, so I’m sticking with that. The new material doesn’t feel as thick & robust as the old style, but time will tell.

[smallribber]

6 or 10 PSI. That is a very big difference.

[Steve509926]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

On paper the new boat is the same weight as the old one, but it definitely feels lighter. Also, the old floor pressure was 0.4bar, the new one is supposed to be 0.7bar which seems very high to me. I’ve questioned this with Excel & have been assured that 0.7 bar is correct. I’ve inflated the new boat floor to 0.4bar & it feels plenty, so I’m sticking with that. The new material doesn’t feel as thick & robust as the old style, but time will tell.

If it helps Dave, the airdeck on my SD360 is suppose to be 10psi and I tend to inflate it slightly higher than that. I inflate the keel to 6.5 - 7.00 psi depending on the water temperature.

[chipko]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

Also, the old floor pressure was 0.4bar, the new one is supposed to be 0.7bar which seems very high to me. I’ve questioned this with Excel & have been assured that 0.7 bar is correct. I’ve inflated the new boat floor to 0.4bar & it feels plenty, so I’m sticking with that.

Wow that’s some pressure for a lilo style floor, most drop stitch floors are only at 0.7 to 0.8 bar.
One would like to think Excel know best but reckon PD is right to be wary, especially if it worked ok at 0.4bar. [emoji106]

[Fenlander]

This interested me so I looked around for info on the Russian Solar brand which are where I'd first seen the floor type. There is a Youtube Video of a guy inflating to 1bar and letting it settle down to about 0.8. But yes it does seem really high.

In another video a guy inflates the floor to 4.5psi after awhile on the water.