bit of a let down

[joetheweed]

now the cold has come my rib is sitting waiting for the warm weather to come back. the tubes have lost a bit of air over the last month and have gone soft (not fully deflaited). can i leave them like this or should i keep topping them up over the winter months????
Joe

[martini]

Best off having enough air in them to keep their shape, careful as the weather warms up though if you haven't got pressure relief valves

[Erin]

It's not so much that they've lost air, it's more to do with cold air shrinking in volume. As soon as it warms up again, they should be back to the same firmness as before. Boyle's law says pressure = volume x temperature. Halve the temp and the pressure also halves.

[Polwart]

Originally Posted by Erin

Boyle's law says pressure = volume x temperature. Halve the temp and the pressure also halves.

But that's on an absolute scale. In reality they've maybe come down from 20 deg C to - 10 deg C so about 10% drop in pressure from "shrinking" the air.

[Chris]

If your going to take the boat out then pump them up. Never good to run with soft toobs.

If you are not a winter ribber then leave them.