PVC Repair Adhesives to Rubber? And some Valve Qs

User name · 13 June 2023, 11:52

Hello everyone.

This is my first post here, but I've been lurking in the background, soaking up the knowledge where I can for while now.

I was hoping I could get some advice on adhesives for repairing a PVC boat from some of the knowledgeable folks here.

I'm looking to repair a slightly tired old Yam 300 from the early 2000's. My specific issue is that the transom mounts have a little separation from the tubes and from the transom itself. I already have some of this PolyMarine 3026 for the PVC, but it appears the transom mounts are made from rubber. Would this be correct?

I've read on the PolyMarine instructions that their Hypalon 1 part adhesive can be used to prime rubber items before sticking with the PVC glue I mentioned above. I can pick some of this up too, but I guess I just needed reassuring from someone more knowledgable that my mounts are indeed made from rubber before I proceed with my assumption.

Unfortunately this is the only image I have access to at the moment.

https://imgur.com/PyGf78E

On a separate note, I figured I should probably service the inflation valves, though they are not giving any trouble at the moment. I did a little Googling and became overwhelmed with the variety of valves on the market so I figured this would be the best place to ask for help.
Not sure how helpful this image is, but can anyone ID the valve from this image? Are replacements easily available? I also lack the removal spanner for these.

https://imgur.com/aChsqtR

Many thanks in advance for any help!

Edit: Seems my images aren't working correctly.

User name · 13 June 2023, 13:59

So a little more research suggests the valves may be "Bravo 2000". I should really have spotted the "B 2000" marking beforehand...

Now I just need to sort out the transom gluing issue and who knows, fishing might happen this weekend!

Fenlander · 13 June 2023, 15:22

Hi and welcome to the forum. I wouldn't assume those flanges are rubber, there are plastics available that act a bit like rubber and if I were the manufacturer I'd be looking at material compatibility for easy build.

Hopefully someone will know how to check. Perhaps how it behaves if tested with acetone or something??

Peter_C · 13 June 2023, 15:53

I would recommend a two part glue like Stabond (My preference in the USA), Weaver, or? They are designed to glue both rubber and PVC, including together without two types of glue being used. Prep is everything.

My other recommendation would be to remove everything and re-glue it all. If the glue failed in one spot it is failing all over. Possibly including the entire floor. I can't imagine having a transom come loose in rough water. Typically the PVC tubes are thermobonded and will not fail.

There are a bunch of threads available on transom repairs.

User name · 13 June 2023, 17:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fenlander

Hi and welcome to the forum. I wouldn't assume those flanges are rubber, there are plastics available that act a bit like rubber and if I were the manufacturer I'd be looking at material compatibility for easy build.

Hopefully someone will know how to check. Perhaps how it behaves if tested with acetone or something??

Hey, thanks for the reply.

I was indeed thinking along the same lines, hence my hesitance to just go ahead and use the PVC glue I have. I'd be very interested to hear if anyone else has any indication on whether these are rubber or not. I haven't been able to find any detailed specs online, unfortunately.

User name · 13 June 2023, 17:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter_C

I would recommend a two part glue like Stabond (My preference in the USA), Weaver, or? They are designed to glue both rubber and PVC, including together without two types of glue being used. Prep is everything.

My other recommendation would be to remove everything and re-glue it all. If the glue failed in one spot it is failing all over. Possibly including the entire floor. I can't imagine having a transom come loose in rough water. Typically the PVC tubes are thermobonded and will not fail.

There are a bunch of threads available on transom repairs.

Hey Peter. Thanks for the info.
I'm not familiar with those brands but I'll look them up. It seems PolyMarine is the go-to stuff in use where I am but I'll dig a little deeper.

I don't need to worry too much about the remaining seams, as this was actually damage caused by improper folding of the boat. The rest of it is still really strong.

User name · 15 June 2023, 10:13

So I got the Hypalon 2990 from PolyMarine today and I'm going to go ahead with that as a primer on the transom mount to see how it goes. Hopefully all will be good.

I've done a lot of reading online and found some alternative adhesives that stick to both rubber and PVC (Zodiac Z7096, Stabond UK-148, Weaver etc), but it seems none are available where I am. Wish me luck.

jeffstevens763@g · 15 June 2023, 21:54

As fenlader says dought it’s rubber just pvc made to look like it talk to poly marine or rib shop for advise

Peter_C · 16 June 2023, 00:11

Stabond is a USA company, and one of the few that supports rubber to PVC. Still most 2 part glues should work well enough. I bought straight from the manufacturer as it was a large 5 gallon bucket, but because of the chemicals it must be ground shipped. Point being anything from the USA will probably be unable to be shipped. Is Clifton adhesive available there?https://www.nrs.com/clifton-hypalon-...e-fa-4844/p459

willk · 16 June 2023, 10:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by User name

So I got the Hypalon 2990 from PolyMarine today and I'm going to go ahead with that as a primer on the transom mount to see how it goes. Hopefully all will be good.

I've done a lot of reading online and found some alternative adhesives that stick to both rubber and PVC (Zodiac Z7096, Stabond UK-148, Weaver etc), but it seems none are available where I am. Wish me luck.

Hi User name,

Just saw your post - welcome and it looks as though you're well on top of the job. For future reference, you have two great resources here in Donegal - Atlantic Marine Supplies in Killybegs - the life raft people, and Atlantic Composites in the north of the county. Advice and adhesives galore.

*sniffs*

User name · 16 June 2023, 15:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by willk

Hi User name,

Just saw your post - welcome and it looks as though you're well on top of the job. For future reference, you have two great resources here in Donegal - Atlantic Marine Supplies in Killybegs - the life raft people, and Atlantic Composites in the north of the county. Advice and adhesives galore.

*sniffs*

Excellent info, thanks!

The job is going well so far. It's just the cleaning up of the glue that's drawing it out a bit more than I'd like.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter_C

Stabond is a USA company, and one of the few that supports rubber to PVC. Still most 2 part glues should work well enough. I bought straight from the manufacturer as it was a large 5 gallon bucket, but because of the chemicals it must be ground shipped. Point being anything from the USA will probably be unable to be shipped. Is Clifton adhesive available there?https://www.nrs.com/clifton-hypalon-...e-fa-4844/p459

Thanks Peter.
I don't think that is available here, unfortunately.

The PolyMarine adhesives are also 2 component, but they have detailed explanations on their site about how the PVC adhesive should be used in conjunction with the Hypalon adhesive when joining rubber to PVC. It would be so much handier if I had a single (yet still 2 part) adhesive to cover both, but it seems PolyMarine are the go-to guys here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffstevens763@g

As fenlader says dought it’s rubber just pvc made to look like it talk to poly marine or rib shop for advise

I had a chat with a guy who used to repair these things back in his day and he swears that it's rubber. I feel like it must be rubber, but there's always that lingering doubt.

User name · 16 June 2023, 15:59

Can't delete this post, for some reason.

User name · 16 June 2023, 17:37

While I was chipping away at the glue clean-up, I took a couple of extra photos to hopefully get a solid answer on what these transom mounts are made from. Hopefully this helps.

One of the things that's confusing me a little is that PolyMarine have an article on doing a similar job here here on their site. https://www.polymarine.com/advice/zo...ransom-repair/

Their mounts appear to be the same type of material as mine (visually, at least), yet they mention them being PVC. They also detail how Hypalon adhesive has to be used on the transom itself so that the PVC mounts can bond to it.

P.S. For the benefit of anyone else who's researching to do the same kind of job, I found it very hard to find M.E.K solvent in Ireland/EU until I realised its just Butanone, commonly used as a PC pipe solvent/adhesive and I happened to have a 5L drum already.
It's kinda goey so it lingers around and does a much better job of breaking down the glue than acetone did. The acetone was simply flashing off too quickly before I could work the glue.

Fenlander · 16 June 2023, 21:22

Try testing with your butanone on a cloth. If they are rubber I bet other than a cleaning effect they will not be affected. If PVC they will feel sticky on the surface. I still lean towards PVC being the logical material.

User name · 16 June 2023, 23:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fenlander

Try testing with your butanone on a cloth. If they are rubber I bet other than a cleaning effect they will not be affected. If PVC they will feel sticky on the surface. I still lean towards PVC being the logical material.

Yeah, good idea. I do get a bit of a tacky feel from it when cleaned down with the butanone so maybe it is indeed PVC. I might just give it a try with the PVC adhesive on one side tomorrow and see how well it sticks. The instructions say PVC adhesive won't stick to rubber so it should be fairly clear whether it's sticking after an hour or so.

User name · 21 June 2023, 14:19

Not sure if anyone cares but I thought I'd do a little update post.

It's not 100% finished yet but I primed the transom with hypalon adhesive and then used the PVC adhesive on the transom mounts to bond them to the transom. It seems they are made from PVC afterall and the bond was really strong so I'm happy with that.

I still need to bond the transom mounts to the tubes, but I had a couple of small leaks at the seams that I had to address and allow to fully cure first. It seems when someone previous to me was doing repairs, they had been levering on the transom mounts and caused a couple of little splits at the seam on either side and it leaked really slowly from here.
Quite a theraputic job, but removing the old glue was really hard work. It's 100% air tight now and I'll be able to bond the tubes again pretty soon.