Tube/Cone repair

[olekils]

2. This photo shows the access hole cut to place the internal patch across the tube/cone joint. This was pretty difficult to get down flat as the tube is obviously deflated when it goes in.

3. Two additional patches to fix little leaks that my internal patch did not reach. This could and should have been avoided had I sized the internal patch correctly.

4. Drawing the pattern for the large black triangular patch. These patches have been really nice because they go over the whole area and can deal with degraded hypalon in the immediate joint area by just patching over it and bonding onto good material nearby.

[jpn]

nice.....hope it works out fine....thanks for the pics..

[bosun]

Amazing !
Much respect.

[olekils]

Well...hate to say it, but the port-side repair with the internal patch did not last very long. The v-shaped overlaid patch came off in several areas, with the failure occurring between the old outer hypalon and the fabric, essentially delaminating the old material. I am now trying to decide if I should go for another cone replacement, get some stubbie tubes made, or put the boat away for the rest of the summer until I can afford some new tubes...

[olekils]

Well, I have gotten some really good advice from Paul T. He recommended cutting the glue with toluene and painting it right onto the exposed fabric, putting on a few layers, letting it cure for ~24hrs, and then repairing on-top of that. I didn't really have the highest expectations of success, but alas, it worked and has been holding up really well for 5 trips now! I think it is absolutely paramount to have and maintain full pressure in the tubes when running the boat. All three times I broke a cone, I had another slow leak somewhere else that caused pressure to drop, and I was too lazy to top it off before heading home. I think that running w/o adequate pressure causes the tube to be thrashed about much more, putting additional peel stresses onto the overlaps and tearing it apart. Thanks Paul!!

[jefflee2k]

Olekils,
Very informative. Great pics. Could you look at the pics in this link and offer any advice? I like the idea of making an access cut in the top and repairing from the inside, then reinforcing with wear patches on the outside. Thanks,
jeff

http://rib.net/forum/showthread.php?t=37813

[olekils]

Final post to this thread.
After a few successful outings, the entire cone which was replaced blew out once again. Failure was in-between the old hypalon and the old inner fabric. All the joints which I glued held reasonably well, but the underlying material is past usable life. I guess that's to be expected from a 34 year old boat which spent most of its time in the southern california sun.
Going with a re-tube now, but I am happy I was able to keep it going for a while with the repairs described above. I think with slightly newer tubes, the job would have held just fine, so it may be a good option for some.