Has hot weather burst my RIB?

Jacob555 · 13 October 2009, 21:15

Hi,
During the recent autumnul cooling of the weather I pumped up my tubes a bit as they were looking flabby on my Novamarine RH450. Then we got the recent warmer spell, and you guessed it the expansion has ruptured one of my tubes somewhere. It's not a fast leak, probably takes half an hour before it goes down noticably, so the boat is still usable, just incredibly anoying as The boat has zero repairs and I have not had to put air in it all summer.

Is there an expansion valve somewhere that could be letting the air out. I can't find the leak, where do they normally go when they are overinflated? I hope it''s not gone in the end of the tube thats not accessible where it butts to the other one! the inflation valve for the offending section is not leaking, nor can I find any other leak on the visible bits of the tube.

This must happen a lot to people. Do any ribs have pressure relief valves to prevent such damage?

Jizm · 13 October 2009, 21:29

They usually only fit pressure relief valves in warmer climates. Pump it up and go over it with some soapy water should be an easy locate and repair, if in doubt give kieron a ring at the ribshop, local to hamble.

PeterM · 13 October 2009, 21:57

I'd be amazed if it was caused by the 'hot' weather. I've dark blue tubes on both boats & while they get hot they never get so hot as to make me worry about the glue etc .........

There are some threads on here about this if you want to have a read.

Still , as suggested - get a bucket soapy water out & off you go - if you want it to look really good as a repair get a prop like RIBSHOP to do it .

Pete

Jizm · 13 October 2009, 22:13

Is it hypalon?

Lets go boating · 13 October 2009, 22:46

what hot weather

IBWET · 13 October 2009, 22:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jacob555

Hi,
During the recent autumnul cooling of the weather I pumped up my tubes a bit as they were looking flabby on my Novamarine RH450. Then we got the recent warmer spell, and you guessed it the expansion has ruptured one of my tubes somewhere. It's not a fast leak, probably takes half an hour before it goes down noticably, so the boat is still usable, just incredibly anoying as The boat has zero repairs and I have not had to put air in it all summer.

Is there an expansion valve somewhere that could be letting the air out. I can't find the leak, where do they normally go when they are overinflated? I hope it''s not gone in the end of the tube thats not accessible where it butts to the other one! the inflation valve for the offending section is not leaking, nor can I find any other leak on the visible bits of the tube.

This must happen a lot to people. Do any ribs have pressure relief valves to prevent such damage?

First place to check/test with the soapy water, is the valves themselves.

Mollers · 14 October 2009, 08:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jizm

Pump it up and go over it with some soapy water .

Best to get a couple of heavily laden bikini clad lovelies to do it, hands-free. Far more effective.

tonymac · 14 October 2009, 20:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mollers

Best to get a couple of heavily laden bikini clad lovelies to do it, hands-free. Far more effective.

I'd even bring a few patio heaters round to keep the temp up!

Ribshop · 14 October 2009, 21:02

Jacob

We are just up the road from you, if you want us to take a look or just need some advice give us a call or pop in.

neilda · 15 October 2009, 12:03

I pumped up my tubes recently as they were definitely looking a bit saggy - but the sun made them as hard as concrete.... I had assumed the valves would take care of regulating any over inflation. It seems from reading here that this is not the case...

jyasaki · 15 October 2009, 16:48

Quote:

It seems from reading here that this is not the case...

Nope, it's not.

I blew out a baffle on one side (4-chamber tubes), and opened a seam on the tube itself (probably in quick succession.) The seam was repaired; didn't feel like tackling the baffle. Might have it repaired when I have OP valves installed (whenever that may be.)

A buddy of mine has blown *all* the baffles on his Zodiac 16.

As an FYI, these both occured during not-so-hot weather here, with night temps in the low 50's or so and daytime temps in the 80's (degrees F). Both boats were situated on trailers in direct sunlight though, so the daytime temps may be a bit misleading.

To the OP: As far as I know, the failure point will probably be a seam (the fabric itself is much stronger than the seams are), so the soapy water thing should help you find it, unless it's buried alongside the hull or something like that.

jky

Jacob555 · 15 October 2009, 18:54

I've found the leak with the hot soapy water trick.
One of the reinforcing tapes that forms the edge of the blunt end of the tube at the back of the boat underneath has lifted in the middle and pulled the outer surface of the tube material with it leaving the porous scrim material beneath. The reinforcing tape is starting to lift on the other side too but not leaking yet.

Nothing to do with overinflation. More to do with 40 mph of water jetting up under the tape and lifting it. More to do with running the boat flat out with limp tubes before I pumped them up. It was an irritating flapping noise of the tubes which alerted me to it needing more air. That noise could well have been the tapes flapping in the water flow.

I have washed the area with fresh water and folded and clipped the offending tape back on itself so it is no longer tight against the tube and will dry out where I will have to glue it.

It's not going to need a patch I'm hoping as the extent of the leak is all underneath the reinforcing tape which simply needs gluing back down.

What glue do I use and where do I get it? Do I need to treat the bare area with something before I glue the tape back down or will the glue I use to stick the tape down also fix the porous tube undeneath?

I don't know if the boat is Hypalon or the other material. It's a Novamarine RH450. Anyone know what its made of? I'm assuming the glue relates to the boat material.

The glue that it was made with to hold the reinforcing tape down was black if thats any help. It's a white boat.

Jizm · 15 October 2009, 19:17

You need this glue from Kieron in eastlands yard, get him to quote you for a reapir first, you may be suprised.

http://rib-shop.com/product.asp?numR...For=&PT_ID=134

Jacob555 · 15 October 2009, 19:29

Thanks, I'll tow it up there in the morning, that way I can maybe get some advice and they can tell me for sure if its hypalon or PVC...

paul tilley · 16 October 2009, 07:52

if you reglue it the repair will not last it needs a wedge shaped over patch after repairing the leak .i would take it to kieron for a quote .pay a bit more than it would cost if you do it yourself but only pay once as it will be done properly