A squirrel (I think) got into my shed this weekend and punctured my front airbag multiple times. For the short term, can I use duct tape to repair or is their a better way you would suggest?
Is it pure vinyl? Or nylon/pvc?
Nylon/urethane? A pure vinyl bag is patched with more pieces of vinyl, and Vynabond. Fabric bags have the fabric outside, so whatever patching method you use, it has to take firm hold of the fabric. Check with you local boating outfitter and see if they have patch kits for your kind of bag. Often, even for fabric bags, they provide a little tube of Vynabond and some small pieces of the fabric. You work some Vynabond into the fabric of the bag (best to avoid slurping it through the hole because you don’t want to glue opposite sides of the bag together) and you apply Vynabond to the smooth side of the patch, let it dry some according to directions, and then press the patch to the bag.
I have used Aquaseal to patch bags around the inflation valve, and it has held well. My recent experience with Seam Grip indicates that it could be used to patch holes using almost any kind of patch fabric, because of its ability to soak thoroughly into the fabric, providing an air seal.
If you can kill about 250 squirrels and skin them, you can sew together a multi-cell float bag.
Marine Goop
– Last Updated: Apr-11-04 6:31 AM EST –
It is made just for that.
It is a contact cement.
If it is just small holes you won't need a patch, but if they are large, you will have to use the Goop with a patch of similar material.
Make sure you get the one labeled "marine". It is a blue tube
You can get it at Lowes.
I have also used the Aquaseal as mentioned above.
Cheers,
JackL
I used Vynabond on my
air mattress and the patch is still holding. Now all I have to do is to remember to keep my toenails trimmed!
If …
If I were you, and I was going to use the airbag for whitewater canoeing(I looked at your profile), I’d buy a new airbag. The cost of the bag, in my opinon, would be offset by the piece of mind I’d have, knowing that the airbag would be less likely to fail when I really needed it for floatation.
I have repaired a single hole in an airbag (the repair worked), but it sounds as if you are talking about multiple holes. I would never trust an air bag after repairs to multiple holes. On the other hand, the repair “might” work??? How long??? How well???
BOB