RIB repair

[playspot1]

Hello all!

Need some help on how to repair my rib. Any online info out there that is readily available? The tubes are fine at holding air, no patches needed, but other work needs to be done. This RIB had been sitting for some time before purchase, and had gone un-used for about 3 years.

At some point a patch to the rubber protection, and tube on the underside of the Hypalon tube had been done. I think this repair was shoddy. After several uses, about a 4 foot section of this thin (about 2mm thick) by 12 inches wide came unglued where the patch was. I also have two rubber strips (one on each of the tubes) that came unglued. These are about 2 inches wide but perhaps 6mm thick, and only gled to the other rubber protective pieces. One last piece came undone, and this is probably the hardest. It is a rubber coated fabric material that attatches the tubes to the fiberglass. The tubes are attached on both inside and underside of the hull. The section that came off was very small, about 1 foot long. But of course it needs to be replaced and glued back to the fiberglass. How is this accomplished? Besides the short section that goes to the fiberglass, everything else is just tube protection. I had taken a local recommendation to attatch the rubber strips (they previously had pulled off about 2 foot each) with cleaner and shore adhesive, but that pulled off immediately once in salt water. All the tubes joints seem super strong, with no leaks, and the only stuff to come apart seemed to be where there was a previous repair. Being unused for 3 years, perhaps the glue was not previously correct or able to age as well as the rest of the boat. ????

The local inflatable boat place wants $70.00 US per hour for repairs. Should I just have them do this, or can I fix it myself adequately? The boat manufacturer said to used Bostic glue. Is this common? Any help would be appreciated.

P.S. we still managed all our dives in the boat with no problem.

Thanks again for any help!!!!

playspot

[thewavehumper]

Playspot,

Regrettably we have put a hole in our Rib and my grown up Son repaired it with no problems. Our Rib gets a hammering and was in the Marina and used throughout the winter. There are far more knowledgeable people than myself on this forum and hopefully they can give you some additional (better) advice.

In my opinion after watching the repair closely, is that its fairly easy and most of the work is in the preparation. We still have the special glue that was used which was basically a two part contact adhesive. So I'll dig outthe specification and send them to you. seventy bucks an hour seems like nice work if you can get it.
I'll also get Jasper to explein the procedure to you.

Regards
Stuart

[mccabe]

Hi,
I would assume that Bostic 2402 was used.It is a two part adhesive and the hardener is BostikureD.10 I agree that a clean
working environment and good preparation is essential.You may need to use clamps to get good contacts.
Best of luck!

[playspot1]

thanks for the replies....

I think you're both right, preparation is most likely the biggest issue. Humidity is what I've now found to really effect the cureing and a good adhesion of the material.

The Bostik 2402 is what I've been looking for, but so far I've only found it in one place stateside here. Now to track down the rubber components.

Thanks, and anybody else that has comments, please keep them coming.

[Brian]

You may find it useful to contact Nick Gilbertson (Nick on this forum) of Sealion boats.
Top class man on everything to do with tubes.

[Nick]

Thankyou for your comments Brian.
Playspot, as for your repairs, the other replies are all correct. Bostik 2402 is one adhesive to use, but contact Randy Whittaker in the states inflatableboatguy@hotmail.com for alternatives (there are several) which may be easier to obtain locally. He will also be able to give advice and point you in the right direction for materials.
You will need to clean off all the old glue and abrade the area to be bonded with 60 or 80 grit sand paper and thoroughly clean with TOLUENE before applying the adhesive. Use masking tape to mark the area to be glued and prevent a messy job. Follow the instructions on the tin, but generally apply a very thin coat to both surfaces and allow to dry. (may take up to 20-30 minutes depending on temperature and humidity.) It does not matter if you leave it several hours between coats as long as the glue is out of the sun. Apply a second coat of glue, again very thinly , I use a paint brush with the bristles trimmed down to about 3/4" to spread the glue. As soon as this second coat has stopped being tacky (test using the back of your hand rather than your fingers) press the two parts together. You only get one go at this. as once the two parts have touched , thats where they will stay. Press the parts together as hard as you can using a scraper which has been blunted and smoothed off, or a hard wallpaper roller. Clean off any excess glue from around the repair using the blunt scraper or wipe off using toluene. Gluing to the glassfibre is exactly the same, though for a stronger bond it should be primed first. I use Dunlop 2002 primer.
I hope this is helpfull to you , If you have any other specific qestions please ask either by p.m or Email or on this forum if you think the answers will interest others

[thewavehumper]

D moore this is the Nick that Brian was mentioning, as you can see Nick has enclosed a very useful description of how to fix a tube