PVC Tubes

[jack.watts]

Got a set of orange PU Tubes, quite faded in some areas, been advised by someone who knows quite a lot about ribs and their tubes that leather restorer or similar will bring a lot of colour back into them and make them look decent again, anyone have any info on this?

Many thanks

[office888]

Originally Posted by jack.watts

Got a set of orange PVC Tubes, quite faded in some areas, been advised by someone who knows quite a lot about ribs and their tubes that leather restorer or similar will bring a lot of colour back into them and make them look decent again, anyone have any info on this?

Many thanks

Post pictures? Faded is one thing. Uv degradation is another.

[jack.watts]

Heres a pic of tubes, havnt got a great one as its mostly at the front

[ShinyShoe]

So first thing is those are PolyUrethane(PU) Tubes not PolyVinylChloride(PVC)

That means things that work on PVC or Hypalon may not always work on PU. Far fewer PU boats than PVC or Hypalon so you may need to try some things on inconspicuous areas first

On PVC the plasticiser migrates to the surface - you can remove it to make it look better but the plastic is loosing plasticiser and becomes brittle and cracks. I gather PU is less prone to that but the bow being affected and not the rest makes me wonder if your bow has been sat in the sun more that elsewhere on the boat...?

Your choices are something abraisive (obviously not something to do more than a couple of times in a tubes life time) or somethign purely cosmetic that puts some sort of shine on the surface. Tube polishes are available.

[jeffstevens763@g]

I was going to say hi but

Hello jack.

Not a good pic but looks like uv damage if it were me I would look at having the bow covered with heavy duty strake to cover up and reinforce it,it will look more meaner too worth it as it looks a nice boat.

Cheers

[jack.watts]

Hi guys, yep it is PU, my mistake in the title haha!

I plan to cover most of the top up with grippy stuff as on the back of the tubes, would like to give it a bit more shine however.

Cheers for the replies

[jeffstevens763@g]

Aerospace protecterant is good but very slippy not a problem if careful

[jonp]

Why not use the specially made cleaners and UV damage restorers for inflatable boats. The last thing I would be trying is something not designed for the job, My boat manual warns of exactly this.

Jon

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by jeffstevens763@g

Aerospace protecterant is good but very slippy not a problem if careful

If you're talking about 303 Aerospace protectant, it's a lot less less slippery than something like Armor All.

303 is (as I remember) pretty much a straight UV blocker; it doesn't have all the conditioners and oils and stuff that Armor All and similar products have (which, incidentally, have been theorized to compromise long term material health, at least with vinyl car interiors.)

jky

[jeffstevens763@g]

Originally Posted by jyasaki

If you're talking about 303 Aerospace protectant, it's a lot less less slippery than something like Armor All.

303 is (as I remember) pretty much a straight UV blocker; it doesn't have all the conditioners and oils and stuff that Armor All and similar products have (which, incidentally, have been theorized to compromise long term material health, at least with vinyl car interiors.)

jky

Not sure jky I bought it purely for UV blocking applied twice a year.

Cheers

[cgoing]

303 has been tested to be safe and is recommended by many manufacturers at lest here in the US. If it is applied properly you will not end up with a slippery finish on most boats. Tends to be a bit more slippery on a polyurethane tube.

[MatFromPoland]

Originally Posted by jyasaki

If you're talking about 303 Aerospace protectant, it's a lot less less slippery than something like Armor All.

303 is (as I remember) pretty much a straight UV blocker; it doesn't have all the conditioners and oils and stuff that Armor All and similar products have (which, incidentally, have been theorized to compromise long term material health, at least with vinyl car interiors.)

jky

I use 303 Aerospace Protectant very often - after each boat wash - ones per week I can say. I can confirm that it has almost not any slippery.

I have used yachticon for tubes and it was something like ice ... shine and slippery like hell.

303 Aerospace Protectant is perfect for me. It looks like it can even a little clean tubes.
After implementation tubes looks like new ones. So I have bought biggest possible bottle of 303 Aerotec Protectant (I'm not a dealer of chemistry ...)

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by MatFromPoland

I use 303 Aerospace Protectant very often - after each boat wash - ones per week I can say. I can confirm that it has almost not any slippery.

I have used yachticon for tubes and it was something like ice ... shine and slippery like hell.

303 Aerospace Protectant is perfect for me. It looks like it can even a little clean tubes.
After implementation tubes looks like new ones. So I have bought biggest possible bottle of 303 Aerotec Protectant (I'm not a dealer of chemistry ...)

In 30 years of RIB ownership I've tried just about everything for cleaning & protecting tubes. It boils down to TFR for cleaning & 303 for making them look nice.

[MatFromPoland]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

In 30 years of RIB ownership I've tried just about everything for cleaning & protecting tubes. It boils down to TFR for cleaning & 303 for making them look nice.

What is it: TFR ?
I have bought some multipurpose boat cleaning shampoo valid for PVC also and it works.

[Pikey Dave]

TFR = Traffic Film Remover. It's the detergent used in carwash's & pressure washers.

[Nick Hearne]

Have a look here http://www.rib.net/forum/f8/tube-polish-55176.html at Nuget's post works great and +1 for 303