filling tube with foam?

[sye68]

can anyone please tell me whether its true than a tube can be filled with expanding foam.
i have a small leak of which i cannot locate...looking for other options i can use.. innertubes....foam....call the repair man (are they reasonably priced??)

[Matt]

I absolutely would not use expanding foam.

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by sye68

can anyone please tell me whether its true than a tube can be filled with expanding foam.

Well of course it's true. The question is whether it would be an improvement or not. I suspect it would not.

Best bet would be to call in a professional (if you're not up to tackling it yourself.) Plenty of inflatable boat shops there (not so much in the US); shouldn't be too hard to get at least an estimate.

jky

[soley1]

stick some sealer in through the valves,same sort of stuff you fix car tyres temporaly with,that should find and stop the leak,theres a thread running about it at the moment

[thornbackflound]

Suerly once its pumped up,just spray some soapy water over it ,eliminating each section untill you find the puncture bubbling up.

[Bighag7]

Yep,
You definitely can fill them up with foam. It's a trick that works well with totally knackered tubes that are beyond viable financial repair or so badly damaged that it's not worth the time.
Whack some foam in and you have a boat with a couple more years of life left in. Don't use them in swell though they snap! I know from experience.
Get the tube filler. I think there's a thread on here somewhere about specific maritime grade stuff, not unlike innertube liquid called "Slime".
Don't do the foam thing!!!!!

[cgoing]

I just bought a rib that the owner tried to fill with expending foam. Well he did not try , he did fill them and it expanded to the point it pulled the longitudinal seams apart. Not a bright idea from what I can see. Although there must be a correct amount at which it would work.

[thornbackflound]

would nt do it, full stop,INFLATABLE thats what it means,if you gonna fill it up with foam,might has well buy a Hard boat?

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by thornbackflound

would nt do it, full stop,INFLATABLE thats what it means,if you gonna fill it up with foam,might has well buy a Hard boat?

I see your point, but there are advantages to foam collars: solid fendering, no punctures on sharp stuff, and buoyancy to boot. But they're not made by filling an inflatable with foam...

jky

[SeaSkills]

Originally Posted by sye68

can anyone please tell me whether its true than a tube can be filled with expanding foam.
i have a small leak of which i cannot locate...looking for other options i can use.. innertubes....foam....call the repair man (are they reasonably priced??)

I agree with the advice you're getting above about expanding foam, and I don't think it would do any good in your circumstances either - you wouldn't have cured your leak, so you'd end up with a tube filled with waterlogged foam.

Fix the leak, that's the answer