Tube leaking.

Pirate Lady

Pirate Lady

Well-Known Member
Jun 2, 2020
7,533
Chesapeake Bay, Middle River
Boat Info
Sundancer 250 ‘91
Engines
7.4 Bravo 1
Suggestions? Port tube losing air, pvc inflatable, sprayed everything with soapy water, nothing showing bubbles. takes about 4 hours to show signs of deflating/collapsing. Do not recall impacting any piers, poles etc on that side. Anyone got ideas of how to find this leak? Its only 1 year old and is always covered, so not age or sun damage.
 
Ha, ya tried that. Nearest inflatable repair place is an hour away, Annapolis. Wife said, figure out how to fix them and open a shop. A bazillion of these in north maryland and not one shop around here.
 
Pirate Lady said:
Thinking of coating the whole tube with Flex-Seal.
Click to expand...
Do it. Mine was the expensive Ft Meyers rubberized paint, and touch up has been with Lowes/Home Depot white Rubberized paint. Early and often......
Real leaks got the 3M yellow trim adhesive treatment. Best fix ever.
 
So now that i got the main super yacht running after a month, time to focus on deflated zodiac. So today we get it of the rack and on land. I had ordered 2 new valves assuming they universal. Wrong. Mine are 8 slot, ordered 6 slot, so my wrench doesn’t work. Cursed!
 
I'm really surprised you couldnt find it with the soapy water, because air has to be coming out someplace. That method has always worked for me.

Is the leak limited to just one tube or just one compartment of a tube?
 
Its the left tube. So i got this idea today, in morn i am going to swap the valves from left to right. If the right tube deflates, its the valves. If the left tube still deflates, it a leak in the tube.
Problem is i cant find with soapy water. It takes 4 hours before it starts to show signs of deflation. Very weird. And i dont ever recall hitting a pier or anything on the port side. That thing stayed on the rack all winter at the marina inflated no problem, then suddenly 2 months ago it decided to bust my balls.
 
Assume you are soaping the whole tube, and not just the seams? I had one that was permeating where the Hypalon was thin and sun damaged. Never saw them until I painted the tube with the rubberized paint. Then I had a bunch of bumps where bubbles were forming.
 
Pirate Lady said:
It takes 4 hours before it starts to show signs of deflation
Click to expand...
You would think that would be easy to find at that rate... getting it on the hard should help. Swapping the valves is a good idea. Let us know what you find.
 
We got off rack and on land. Removed and reset the valves. I was sure that would fix it. I was getting ready to leave and something told me just take another look. So i started eyeballing the port side. On the black rub rail i saw what appeared to be a tiny knick. Really tiny. Sprayed with soapy water and it bubbled like crazy, found it. Tomorrow will repair.
 
Funny thing is my previous zodiac i abused bad, ran into everything, dragged across sand on the beach. Never had a leak. Baby this one, one year old and i get a leak. Go figure.
 
Question for y’all. The leak on rub rail has ridges so its not flat enough to lay a patch, if i clean good with alcohol then squirt vinyl repair goop into hole (tiny), it should hold. Right?
 
When I picked up my Nautilus Rib, it had been sitting in the cradle on the bridge with a hold down strap that rubbed a big area over the rub rail of the tube. I tried many different things, but they would eventually leak out the edges of the rub rail. Now, I'm not a picture perfect boater, but more of a practical one, so I wound up removing some of the rub rail so I could get a flat patch on it, and I used 3M yellow trim adhesive, clamped for a week. No more leaks from that area.
Yours may be small enough that you can get away with filling the hole. Do it at weak tube pressure, so it doesn't blow out. I still swear by 3m yellow. It has held patches where the most expensive Hypalon glue would not, and yes I know how to prep a patch.
I know yours is PVC, so not sure how the yellow will react with that.
I am purely a shade tree expert. (oh, and fully YouTube certified mechanic)
 
Thanks for reply. I got this vinyl patch stuff with it, so it’s compatible with the pvc. Last summer i got a small leak in the floor. Squirted this in hole, set a day, no more leak, figure if I squirt in hole when deflated, no pressure it should hold.
 
Went today, squirted the goop in hole then built up a little spread with a plastic knife. Tomorrow after a 24 hour set, i will smear more on top of the dried patch. Monday i will inflate tube, tuesday i know if fixed.
 
I’ve got a leak in our starboard pvc zodiac tube now too. Deflates over the course of a week. I’ve got 6 years out of it so I can’t complain but I’m going to try and track it down as well. Let us know how you make out
 
Pumped up, holding, no bubbles when soapy sprayed. I used Permatex vinyl repair blue / silver tube. Will let it sit another 24 hours under pressure pumped up. If still holding tomorrow, i am going to apply another layer of glue. Wait another 24 hours to set and put motor on and go for a ride.
 
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