large hole honwave air floor

duggie12 · 16 April 2018, 16:18

Hi folks I recently got a honwave air floor as a project boat

It has a large hole in the floor 50mm wide. I was hoping to patch the inside but it doesn't seem like it will work due to all the strands within the air floor. If I just patch the outside do you think it will work? I wondered if it would bubble due t

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o pressure? I don't mind a wee bump - just not a massive lump. Any other ideas?
It also has another large tear - 90mm - but think that should be okay with an inside/outside patch

Thanks very much

Fenlander · 16 April 2018, 17:50

I think the air floor repair could be OK. Where they fit the valves into air floors the cross threads are unable to connect for an area very similar to the repair size you need. On Zodiac/Bombards on the opp side of the air floor to the valves you see a slight bulge in this area of unconnected threads.

Re the larger tear I think you should really do and inside then outside patch.

duggie12 · 17 April 2018, 07:03

Thanks fenlander I'll give it a go and let you know if it works !

duggie12 · 17 April 2018, 09:43

Fenlander (or anyone else)
Do you think it would make sense to glue a thin layer of material to the inside of the air floor to help with any potential bubble issues? I have a thin flexible plastic chopping board in my kitchen which looks perfect for the job! I know it won't do the job in terms of sealing air but the outside patch will do that. The inside of the air floor is a fabric sort of material so I'd just use some gorilla glue.

Can't do any harm?

Thanks

Fenlander · 17 April 2018, 10:11

I think the problem is the threads might prevent getting anything in or allowing it to stick??

>>> inside of the air floor is a fabric sort of material so I'd just use some gorilla glue.

Are you sure... not PVC? With the air floor pressure that patch will need to stick very well.

Office888 is the repair expert on here... hopefully he might spot the thread.

jeffstevens763@g · 17 April 2018, 14:57

you could stitch a patch on from the outside using 180 degree needles and glue then put a bigger patch over that which would give strength preventing push off with the high pressure

duggie12 · 17 April 2018, 17:38

Fenlander, yeah the inside is a tightly woven material. Yeah it might not stick - but if it doesn't I though nothing really lost so might as well give it a go....

Jeff that's a good shout about stitching a patch I might try that instead

Thanks

duggie12 · 07 May 2018, 17:12

Just to let anyone know reading that then bit of plastic glued to the inside part of the upper layer of floor combined with a normal patch on the outside seems to have done the job
There is a bit of a bulge when it's inflated but nothing too bad. Without the plastic glued to the inside I'm sure it would have been worse

Fenlander · 07 May 2018, 19:43

Sounding good Duggie... is this a test on the water or just in the living room!

duggie12 · 07 May 2018, 21:23

I've tested it on the water and it seems good !

I also take back what I said about these honwave 3.8 airfloors.
My friend Simon had one and he sold it after a couple of uses due a 'wave' which would ripple through the floor - which I know some people seem to experience.

However this honwave seems to be fine. I had no issues at all. I don't know if Simon had a dodgy boat or if it because the loads or something else was different. The pressure was definitely okay though.

But anyway very impressed with the honwaves and I can now see why people rave about them.

Fenlander · 08 May 2018, 06:42

Great result and probably the best value SIB you’ll ever have... ha ha! For years whether folks have wanted air floor or alloy floor I’ve so often advised a Honwave because they offer so much for the money. Particularly for folks just starting out or perhaps on second SIB where they aren’t yet 100% sure what they are looking for. Something like an Aerotec or Frib are so expensive you need to be absolutely sure why you want one to justify the outlay.

Jamie_B · 10 May 2018, 18:11

I’ve had my Homwave a little while now and have only launched from a trailer. Last weekend I deflated it for the first time and put it in bags. On rebuilding it, when looking underneath it seems the hull material is under lots of pressure and sort of stretched over where the ally deck meets the front curved deck board on the corners (if this makes sense) I appreciate a picture would have made this much easier to understand but I forgot to take one! It may well be that this is normal and I just didn’t notice it before. Im certain I have put it together correctly (as far as I know) but was wondering if anyone could shed some light on this. I can take a pic tomorrow if this makes no sense......all help is appreciated

Fenlander · 10 May 2018, 18:43

Yes really hard to say without a picture.

But on my Honwave 3.5m alloy floor the alloy floor stringers and front floor section nestled into the joint between floor material and join to tube. Then as the inflatable keel pulls the floor material to a shallow V there was no "imprint" of the hard flooring on the outer floor material when it was all fully inflated.

Yep get a pic tomorrow so we can see exactly what you mean.