AVON ripped bow in summer heat

[Crocker00]

I inflated my AVON dinghy up in the cool morning air. Ran it at the beach. Then left it inflated in the back of my truck. That afternoon I got a text "what happened to your boat!" from my neighbor. Front bow was ripped in two places.

I assume pressure increase in the afternoon heat was too much. Can this be fixed? If anyone could give advice on a product and technique I could use to repair this, my 4yr old would be very happy.

[prairie tuber]

Wow, sorry to hear of this.

You might want to PM Paul Tilley (Tidelbiz) with those pictures and see what he suggests.

[Fenlander]

Real bad luck. My Zodiac handbook warns a boat inflated in 10degC temps can double its pressure if left out on a reflective surface in strong afternoon sun... particularly darker colour boats.

[S4Simon]

Where the damage has been done is a really difficult place to repair. Mainly because an inner repair has to be applied before an outer patch panel can be applied. You can have a look at a website I created which has instructions for repairing large holes. That particular repair(on the site) was carried out on a PVC Zodiac, whereas the Avon I think is hyperlon - much harder to repair, different glues and processes.

Here's the link.

Inflatable Boat Hole repairs

[prairie tuber]

While making this repair, I'd highly recommend adding a pressure relief valve.

[prairie tuber]

Examples:

http://www.ceredinautica.com/eng/Val...edi.aspx?lnk=2

1080 Automatic Relief Valve

Raft & Inflatable Boat A6 Pressure Relief Valve by Leafield - Man of Rubber, Inc.

Inflatable Boat Valves and Accessories

[ribraff]

Wow, that's unusual for it to rip through the middle of the Centre strip like that, with heat it would normally blow out a Seam, was there any damage to that area prior to this?

[lightning]

That's pretty bad. Can a SIB really blow apart like that if inflated in cool weather and then left out in the sun?

[gotchiguy]

Originally Posted by lightning

That's pretty bad. Can a SIB really blow apart like that if inflated in cool weather and then left out in the sun?

Not in this country!

[Crocker00]

Thanks for the links. I'm going to give it a shot. I live in Texas (23C in the morning, 41 C in the afternoon). Yes, I will be putting a pressure relief valve.

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by Crocker00

Yes, I will be putting a pressure relief valve.

Note that you need one per chamber.

A shop called Man of Rubber in Tennessee has the Leafied OP valves in various release pressures. River Gear Online Store - River Store - Whitewater Store

jky

[C-NUMB]

Originally Posted by S4Simon

That particular repair(on the site) was carried out on a PVC Zodiac, whereas the Avon I think is hyperlon - much harder to repair, different glues and processes.
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Challenging repair, agree. Whit my limited experience on both materials, I rather repair hypalon than PVC. But that might be pure a matter of taste?

[jyasaki]

Caveat: Have no experience on PVC.

I don't recall seeing that the procedure is all that different; just the materials used. Different solvent (usually), different glue, different patch material. Everything else remains the same: Clean, sand, clean, glue, dry, glue, dry, glue, nearly-dry, and join with as much pressure as you can get on it.

Personally, though, I'd say the repair the OP faces is a send-to-a-professional type job.

jky

[Crocker00]

Considering I paid $150 for the boat (and nicer ones are for sale for $250 on Cragislist), it's probably not worth having a pro repair this boat. I bought $50 worth of glue, patches, rollers, sand paper, MEK.

This weekend should be fun, especially since it sounds like this has to be done inside the house for humidity control. I'll post some pics of the patch job.

[kelson]

Don't mess around with the heat and humidity. I have seen seemingly good bonds come apart while repairs that were made in better environmental conditions have held great. It is such a hassle to prep I go a little farther to ensure my repair holds. I bought a cheap hygrometer for $12 US and I have been amazed at how the immediate local humidity varies and doesn't seem to match how it feels. Moisture is not your friend

I'm cheap and have never paid for a repair. But it has sucked up a lot of my time!

My favorite repair guide.
http://www.shipstore.com/SS/HTML/INFO/INFOGLUE.html
http://www.shipstore.com/SS/HTML/INFO/INFOHYPNEO.html

[S4Simon]

A specialist repairer would be in the region of $200-$300. But most would not touch the boat due to the age. Take your time with the repair - it's all in the preparation. Usually I'd do the inner on one day and let cure overnight and then apply the outer repair.