Repairing the RIB ( Rubbish Inflatable Boat) - Page 3

Nos4r2 · 29 December 2006, 19:03

That looks really smart.

I wonder if Ollyit's boat would benfit from this?

pathalla · 30 December 2006, 00:53

stephen, it really sucks to have problems such as you are facing, good luck with your repair, hope that it turns out positive!

jyasaki · 30 December 2006, 06:51

I've held off responding to your posts, Stephen, as there was very little positive, and I ran out of suggestions on the negative stuff.

I really hope things come togetherfor you, though.

Always hope in the New Year, I suppose...

Best wishes;

jky

BogMonster · 30 December 2006, 12:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyasaki

I've held off responding to your posts, Stephen, as there was very little positive, and I ran out of suggestions on the negative stuff.

I really hope things come togetherfor you, though.

Always hope in the New Year, I suppose...

Best wishes;

jky

Looking on the bright side, it is unlikely that my 2007 boating season will be any worse than the 2006 one

Happy New Year to all!

Robbins · 30 December 2006, 15:18

Stephen,

Just an idea....... i am from an HM Forces background, and have always found that by asking around, a decent bloke emerges from the ether to offer some help with a technical problem.

Do you know anyone in the forces who could put a "wanted: help repairing RIB tubes" advert on the BFFI intranet for you. There simply must be some marine, airman or other serviceman there who has experience of RIBs and how to repair them -either professionally, or as an enthusiastic amateur.

The only other help I can offer is to say that perseverance will pay off. Understandably you are getting wound-up by the nightmare. But ultimately, the task is do-able if you keep at it. I say this because my old tornado burst a few seams during the summer (no pressure relief valves!), and I am slowly sticking them all back up together. I was really dispondent, but inch by inch I am winning.

Good luck for 2007

Phil

DM · 30 December 2006, 21:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by BogMonster

The contact area inside the old tube is only about a foot long.

That should be plenty enough for a permanent fix. You could reinforce and tidy it by gluing a 1 1/2'' strip along the seam and then mask and add a thin bead of black sikaflex to the forward facing edges. Warm the sikaflex first in hot water and smooth it with a finger dipped in thinners.

BogMonster · 01 January 2007, 19:38

Not quite there yet I don't think

Today was pretty rough and everything got a good thumping around, it looks like under those conditions the sausage will move inside the tube as the tube flexes with each wave, photo is not very good. It probably won't happen with the full length one but I don't think a mini sausage is a permanent repair even though I did pump it up pretty hard. I'll have to deflate and reseat it every so often I guess.

Tim M · 02 January 2007, 14:49

Stephen can you not glue that mini sausage in place?

BogMonster · 02 January 2007, 17:00

I did but it still seems to have moved somehow. Got to deflate it some time and try and figure out why. It is glued in with lots of Sikaflex (to try and make a seal, not entirely successful!) around the end of the old tube, the Sikaflex I used before stuck like sh&& to a blanket. Further investigation required...

Tim M · 02 January 2007, 17:13

I would be inclined to cover the main part of the sausage all the way down with glue - that would stick it for life.

BogMonster · 02 January 2007, 19:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim M

I would be inclined to cover the main part of the sausage all the way down with glue - that would stick it for life.

Only problem I can see with that is that if you get a puncture in the inner sausage you then need to get it out to fix the hole.

For that reason (and knowing my luck with tubes...) I'm wondering if it will be better to not glue them at all. Of course with it being a double thickness it should reduce the chance of a puncture from floating debris anyway

jwalker · 02 January 2007, 19:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by BogMonster

Only problem I can see with that is that if you get a puncture in the inner sausage you then need to get it out to fix the hole.

Why?

BogMonster · 02 January 2007, 20:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwalker

Why?

Because if you put a patch on the outside layer the inside layer will continue to leak...

jyasaki · 02 January 2007, 21:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by BogMonster

Because if you put a patch on the outside layer the inside layer will continue to leak...

With a decent glue job, the joint should act as a single, double-thick layer of fabric. A puncture should be able to be patched at the point where the air escapes (ideally, where it goes through both layers of fabric.)

Your statement would be true if air could escape the inner sausage, creep along between voids in the glue between the sausage and the outer tube, and escape at the point where the old tube ended; a good glue job wouldn't allow that (Not saying a "good" glue job would be easy to attain, of course.)

jky

Stephen-RIB · 02 January 2007, 21:42

Hi Stephen,

I think you could probably hold the inner tube in place with some 1 part glue which would easily be pulled apart should you need to but would probably be enough to hold it together to fix your current problem.

Just a thought?!?

BogMonster · 02 January 2007, 22:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyasaki

With a decent glue job, the joint should act as a single, double-thick layer of fabric. A puncture should be able to be patched at the point where the air escapes (ideally, where it goes through both layers of fabric.)

Your statement would be true if air could escape the inner sausage, creep along between voids in the glue between the sausage and the outer tube, and escape at the point where the old tube ended; a good glue job wouldn't allow that (Not saying a "good" glue job would be easy to attain, of course.)

jky

True if you could glue the whole thing properly I guess. Part of the appeal of sausages though, is not having to use any glue because I have had enough of gluing expensive bits on crooked

The guy here who came up with the idea didn't glue his and told me he never had any problems (this was using full length ones that filled the whole aft chambers, which is what I will do, the aft chamber will be 1.7m long instead of these mini ones at about 30cm long contact area). He has had them in for a few years, not sure how many hours he has done though. I think once the full length ones are in there it will be fine, its just the last couple of feet of the tubes that take the battering from the water so I think the bit nearer the front of the chamber must hold the rest in place ok.

Stephen-RIB, how mobile is your mobile repair service?

jwalker · 03 January 2007, 00:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by BogMonster

Because if you put a patch on the outside layer the inside layer will continue to leak...

I was under the impression you were talking about your mini sausage which is now glued into the end of your tube, albeit with Sikaflex which you used as a glue.

BogMonster · 03 January 2007, 10:04

I think we're sort of talking about both at the same time!

I don't want to make the mini sausage too permanent because it is a temporary repair - the tube ends don't match as the tube ends Paul uses are different to the ones Humber used on my boat (though they appear to be the same as Humber use now from photos I have seen of new boats) so it looks a bit lopsided at the moment. The other reason is that the original tube fabric has this delamination problem, every time I have tried to peel anything off with a hot air gun the fabric has delaminated and big chunks of the top layer come off with the glue exposing the nylon (?) weave underneath, so a lot of un-gluing inside the end of the old tube is likely to ruin it to the extent it can't be "sausaged" and the final repair will need a reasonably sound tube to lay inside, it won't be good if it is only half as thick as it should be in lots of places. So if I get too carried away with unsticking things it'll probably bugger up the tube beyond further use and then I'll be back to having no boat again. It's not ideal but under the circumstances its the best of a bunch of not very good options - unless somebody decides to give me a new boat

On top of that I am virtually certain from the slightly stressed appearance around the seams of the starboard tube, that this is going to go the same way and it is just a matter of time, so for a robust repair I need to do both sides anyway. A 1.7m set of sausages complete with inflation valves and relief valves, landed here, will set me back about £500 or so if shipped by sea, and I can just about bear that extra cost, but I've not ordered them yet as I am waiting to see if another kind offer by a RIBnet member bears any fruit but I'll not say anything about that yet

I basically need this repair to last me till about April because the next ship heading this way closes on 10 Jan which is too early to get them made, the following one about mid to late Feb which will mean I don't get the sausages here until April. Sending them by DHL will add about another £350 so not really a sensible option if I can make this last.

Tim M · 03 January 2007, 14:13

If the other one is going to go the same way this one did why not glue this mini sausage in properly and then replace the other one with the same sort of thing later on so they match

I would have thought that would be a lot cheaper than buying a big sausage now and then another in a year or so....

BogMonster · 03 January 2007, 14:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim M

If the other one is going to go the same way this one did why not glue this mini sausage in properly and then replace the other one with the same sort of thing later on so they match

I would have thought that would be a lot cheaper than buying a big sausage now and then another in a year or so....

It would, but I want to do it properly so I can (hopefully) forget about it, or sell it with a clear conscience that I'm not selling a dud to somebody.