Hypolon Tube Repair and Problem
 

Older 5 meter Bat Boat 1980 question about repairing leak and other possible areas of concern.
1. New leak under water, where the top coating has completely peeled off about a 3cm X 10cm area showing the material underneath. Not sure how to repair this properly. Put a patch, repaint area?

2. The cause of this peeling I am puzzled with but I have noticed that I have a few areas that are developing these tiny bubbles and they seem ready to break but are not leaking. I need to fix these and not sure how to go about doing this?

3. The boat spends a lot of time in the water (salt) here in La Paz, Mexico. I am having to clean the tubes often and have to scrub hard with a light green scrubber most of the time but try to use just carpet and do it daily. Is the bubbles just a sign of the Hypolon wearing after so many years or may there be something in the water that is causing these bubbles? I made panniers for the topside so the tubes are covered well and have not had sun exposure or leaking just the underside in the water. I have also painted the rib with bottom paint so growth is controlled but no bottom paint on the tubes.

If any one can help me out with any of these I would appreciate it. Nancy

Do you have a photo?

Seems to me that if the hypalon (outer coating) is peeling, and it's leaking (the inner neoprene layer should be airtight), then the material is pretty much toast.

You can probably get a little more time by patching the problem areas, but you'll be putting patches on material that will likely peel away anyway. Just a matter of time before the hypalon peels off patch and all, I'd guess.

Just my opinion; hope it's not as bad as that.

jky

I will take a photo, Kubcat. I don't think it is as bad as you are thinking jky. The boat is Orange and just the orange is peeling away. It is the orange color that is developing small bubbles not the tube.

Yeah; that's the hypalon layer separating from the fabric. Fabric is 3 layers: Neoprene (airtight), fabric (dimensional strength) and hypalon (environmental protection - sun, chemicals, etc.)

Should remain airtight until the neoprene layer is compromised, but exposed fabric will eventually weaken, possibly causing ballooning of the underlying neoprene. You should cover any exposed fabric with some kind of protectant material. How bad it is depends a lot on how widespread the separation is.

jky

JKY, thanks for your response. I ended out taking my inflatable to someone who does repair. He felt all it needed was patch and with the age of the inflatable possible a sealant to swish around inside.
Is there any sealant better than others?

He also wanted to patch an area that has these tiny bubbles in the skin, as said before they have not broke. I am looking at the Tuff Coat refurbish kit to possibly refurbish the whole inflatable.
Does anyone have any reports of this, too?
Thanks, Nancy

A few people on RIB.net have reported on Tuff Coat (as I recall.) A search through the forum may yield results.

I have no experience with internal sealants, so I can't help you there, either.

Hopefully somebody who has gone through similar processes will be along shortly to help out.

Luck;

jky