Zodiac Air floor leaking

Peter2673 · 19 April 2019, 20:42

Hi, I have a Cadet Fastroller 2.85, which is exactly 4 years old

It spends summer inflated, but I deflate and put it away for winter.

This morning I blew it up intending to start the season today, but was dismayed to hear a loud hissing from the corner of the air floor.

The welded PVC tape at the edge seam has lifted where it wrinkles at the corner of the floor. There is a line of blisters under the tape, and one blister reaches the edge which is where the leak is.

I phoned Barnet Marine to ask about claiming under the 5 year warranty, or failing that a repair.

They said the 5 year warranty covers the main tubes but the air floor is only warranted for 2 years, and that air floors are not repairable, and that a new one costs £600, which is more than the boat is worth. They suggested that a new Quicksilver SIB for £700 is the best option.

I'm dismayed to say the least.

Ha anyone had success claiming against Zodiac for their shoddy manufacture?

Is the air floor really not repairable?

Suggestions please

Pete

dave3235 · 20 April 2019, 11:12

Hi
Photos would be a great start

Peter2673 · 20 April 2019, 13:41

Picture as requested. The black dots in pen show the area where the edge of the tape has lifted, but the photo just shows that it is extensively blistered. the question is how to stick the surfaces of all the blisters together as a repair of the tape edge will only sort things until another blister works its way to the edge.

office888 · 20 April 2019, 16:20

Totally fixable. I’d charge 1 hr of labor and about $10 in materials.

Sounds like Barnet Marine is a bunch of thieves

Peter2673 · 20 April 2019, 17:10

Thanks Richard, If I was in South Carolina I'd bring it straight over to you :-)

I may try a repair myself. The questions are: Do I remove and replace the blistered section of tape? Do I just stick a big new patch over everything? Could I inject some MEK solvent in to the blisters and clamp together? Could I heat weld the tape back down (Making a better job of heat welding than Zodiac did in the first place)?

Pete

office888 · 22 April 2019, 16:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter2673

Thanks Richard, If I was in South Carolina I'd bring it straight over to you :-)

I may try a repair myself. The questions are: Do I remove and replace the blistered section of tape? Do I just stick a big new patch over everything? Could I inject some MEK solvent in to the blisters and clamp together? Could I heat weld the tape back down (Making a better job of heat welding than Zodiac did in the first place)?

Pete

Around here, I'd use a little Aquaseal to seal the leak and fillet the edges. Then, I'd patch over it to reinforce and protect the location from UV.

"Fenlander" on the forum here tried this stuff, it seems to be close to the same as Aquaseal ; https://www.stormsure.com/index.php/...-15g-tube.html

Same process, use some of this to seal the location, then patch over. It's not UV stable, so it will turn yellow / gooey if you don't protect it from the sun. However, by itself, it'll last about a year before that happens. If you store your boat inside when it's not in use, it may last a very long time by itself.

Let it cure for about 3 days before you put any air in the floor. It's not a humidity sensitive adhesive, so it can be applied in any environment.

The two part glue for the patch would be moisture sensitive, so that needs to be applied below 65% relative humidity. Otherwise, the moisture reacts with the isocyanate in the crosslinker (Part B reactant in the vial) and causes foaming / a reduction in bond strength.

Fenlander · 22 April 2019, 18:14

Yep see this thread Pete... still holding tight after 7mths...

http://www.rib.net/forum/f50/challen...air-79857.html

Sadly around 4yrs ago Zodiac were in a muddle and some sub-standard work was seen.

Peter2673 · 22 April 2019, 21:34

Thanks again, all.

It's not obvious from my picture, but the leak is on the underside of the floor, so UVmay not be an issue, which could make it a simpler repair that I imagined.

Fenlander- just curious- Are Zodiac in any less of a muddle these days? Thinking about an upgrade at some point I'm keen to know which are the manufacturers that can be relied upon.

P

Peter2673 · 22 April 2019, 22:06

Fenlander- thanks for the link to your other thread which was very helpful.

Just to share my top tip regarding syringes and needles with viscous liquids- you can press the plunger hard and get no flow, and if you press even harder you risk shooting the needle off and getting contents in your eyes.

However, if you apply gentle pressure to the plunger for a minute or two, you will get a surprising amount through the needle.

Many gloopy liquids are non Newtonian- their viscosity reduces once they start moving

Pete (don't know much about boats but have injected a few gloopy medications in my time)

Fenlander · 23 April 2019, 16:07

My feeling is to buy on specification, features and price while keeping to major brands such as Zodiac/Bombard, Honwave, Quicksilver etc.

I'm not sure where Zodiac are now in their build quality and reliability. If I could find a Honwave that did exactly the same for me as a Zodiac I'd probably take the saving and have the Honwave.

But in my case for example with the Aerotec that "exact" design is what we want and it's not available elsewhere so happy to pay for the design rather than the quality if that makes sense.