Repair of rubber boats with their own hands

None of the avid hunters and fishermen need to explain that an inflatable rubber boat is a wonderful and comfortable thing. However, despite all its indisputable advantages, the "rubber band" is a rather unpractical thing. Any snag sticking out of the water, a strong overheating in the sun - and your favorite "rubber girlfriend" turns from a helper and a breadwinner into something formless and useless. That's why the topic of today's article is repairing a rubber boat with your own hands. After all, unfortunately, not every novice angler knows how to do it correctly and without much expense.

Inspection boat

Self-repair of a rubber inflatable boat begins with a thorough inspection for damage. First you need to thoroughly pump all the compartments with air and carefully inspect the boat, listening to the probable hissing of the air coming out of the gap.

If the sound could not be detected by damage, it is necessary to cover the boat (all) with a thick soap foam step by step: where there are holes, the soap "is bubbling". If a damaged location is found, circle it with a marker or a ballpoint pen.

Repair of rubber boats is a simple matter, but very laborious. Even if it seems to you that you have already found all the damage, do not rush. Examine the entire surface of the boat - there may be scuffing, scrapes, seaming tapes and other damages, which may just about disable the inefficiently repaired boat. So if you decide to repair the rubber boat yourself, the sewing seams and bottom should not be left without your attention. Once you are sure that you have found all the possible damage, you can "bleed" the air and start repair.

What you need to work

To repair it was easy, and the boat served for a long time, you will need:

• A piece of patch material similar to that from which the craft itself is made;
• Fine-grained "nazhdachka" for cleaning surfaces;
• Adhesive for the repair of rubber boats - 4508, 4NBU, 88NT, SV-1-5M, 4010 and others;
• Clean brush for applying glue;
• Solvent for degreasing the surface (alcohol, acetone, gasoline "Kalosha"); Attention: motor gasoline can not be used - it contains oil;
• scissors;
• Ruler;
• Nylon threads;
• A thick needle;
• Pencil, marker, or chalk;
• Hair dryer, building or household;
• Roller for rolling or any other round object - spoon, knife handle, bottle, etc.

Seal the punctures

As already mentioned, the repair of rubber boats begins with a thorough inspection and detection of damage. If a small defect is detected in the form of a puncture, then you need to act as follows:

• We measure the diameter of the damage with a ruler and cut out the appropriate size of the board; Pay attention - the size of the lacquer should be at least 2.5-3 cm larger than the damage site and have rounded corners;
• Apply the patch to the damage site and draw around using a marker;
• Fine caulking gently, but carefully cleaned the marked place and the lining itself;
• Carefully remove all formed debris and dust and thoroughly degrease the surface;
• We glue both parts together.

There are two ways of gluing together - hot and cold, let's look at each of them.

Hot:

• With the help of a brush, carefully apply glue to the patch and the puncture site; For a patch it's best to put a sheet of paper or cardboard, then its edges will not roll into a roll;
• Wait 15-20 minutes until the glue dries a little, and apply a second layer;
• Again we maintain the prescribed time, usually 10-20 minutes, and warm both surfaces to 50-60 ° C;
• Now we connect the heated surfaces with each other and strongly press them to each other;
• With the aid of a roller or any round object, we roll the entire surface of the patch in order to eliminate excess air;
• Clamp the repair site in a clamp or crush it with any smooth and heavy object and leave it for a final drying for at least 24 hours.

Cold

This method is almost no different from hot, except that the surfaces do not heat up, but are glued to each other by cold ones. This method is used only in cases where it is not possible to produce heating.

Sew the cuts

As you can see, the repair of rubber boats is really a simple matter. However, if your rubber assistant was severely torn, then a little more will be needed to "cure" her.

In the event that the gust or cut on the boat is quite large, then after sanding it must be carefully sewed. At the same time, care must be taken to ensure that the edges of the cut are not tightened too much.

If the rip has lacerated edges and it is not possible to sew it, the gluing must be carried out both from the outside and from the inside. How to impose an external patch, we have already understood, but with the internal will have to tinker. To work it was more convenient, you need to do this:

• We do not spread the lacquer completely, but only up to half - this is done in order to make it more convenient to introduce it into the hole;
• Accurately place the patch inside the gap, after which it should be pressed, and the place of gluing roll with a roller;
• After a while with the help of a brush we smear the second half of the lacquer; So that the edges do not interfere - they need to be carefully raised and held with a ruler or knife;
• Repeat the gluing procedure;
• Now we paste the top cover in the usual way.

We paste the oarlocks

No repair of rubber boats can not do without a thorough revision of the oarlocks. The point is that this node is subjected to the greatest load during operation and, in time, starts to peel off a little.

The process of gluing itself is exactly the same as patching, but there are some subtleties here:

• In order to easily tear off the oarlock, it must be heated with a hair dryer;
• To stick a new spare part it is necessary with the balloon down, otherwise the connection will be loose and will not last long.

Replace the tape

In order to repair a rubber boat on the seam you will need a special tape. It is also not difficult to paste the protective tape on the cylinder. This is done in a hot way to better bond the surfaces. Here, too, has its little tricks:

• The rubber boat repair tape should be cut at an angle of 45˚ and made of rubberized fabric ;
• To replace the tape is best with a filled cylinder - this will avoid deformation after drying, and the seams at the boat will not "lead".

We repair the bottom

Sometimes it happens that your "rubber friend" requires a serious, thorough "treatment". Repair of the bottom of a rubber boat can be attributed precisely to such works. We divide this rather laborious process into several stages:

1. First of all, it is necessary to fully pump the cylinders and mark the place where the tape is pasted by the marker and gently remove it from the outside and from the inside.
2. The same marker mark the location of the bottom and carefully remove it. To make the process as efficient as possible, you need to start from the bow, and for easier separation of parts, you can use a hairdryer.
3. Now you need to gently clean and degrease the surfaces marked with a marker, preparing them for gluing.
4. We turn the filled bottles "bottom side" upwards and begin to glue the new inner tape. Please note that only half the area between the marker marks is needed to spread the glue. Since the boat is inverted, you need to start from the bottom mark and apply the adhesive strip to the middle. By the usual technology, the glue is applied twice with a break of 15-20 minutes. To begin to stick a tape it is necessary from a bow of a boat, and to do it only on half of its width.
5. Now we begin to attach the bottom. Since you need to glue together a fairly large surface, you can divide the work into several stages. First we connect the surfaces on the nose and the stern of the boat, and after that we pass to the sides. Clay, as you remember, is applied twice, with a short break. There is one more little nuance - when gluing the bottom, you need to carefully monitor that part of the inner tape left free, too, is glued to the bottom.
6. The last step is the gluing of the protective tape from the outside. Here it is necessary to ensure that the boundaries of the adhesive layer correspond to the width of the tape.

Minor subtleties of the process

As you can see, repairing a rubber boat with your own hands is not such an impossible task, nevertheless there are some nuances about which you should remember:

• Work should be done with good ventilation, but do not do it on the street - there will always get dust and dirt on the place of bonding, the quality of repair in this case will not be too good;
• Do not start repairs when the humidity exceeds 60%, and the temperature is 25 ° C; If the temperature drops below 15 ° C - the room needs to be heated in addition;
• If the repair has to be carried out in the field, move the boat into the shade, or better build something like an "operating room" from the tent - this will help to protect the place of damage from dirt and dust.