Painting Hypalon

[Pura Vida]

I've got an old Avon hypalon dink that cost me a couple of hundred bucks and works great. It also looks pretty bad which may deter theft but I would still like to paint it. The previous owner had the boat in Florida and both Florida registration numbers and name of his boat are painted on the side and I would like to cover those. The white water crowd is telling me that painting a hypalon raft is no big deal and in fact it even helps seal seams and pinholes. The local inflatable dealer has told me that not only is it a bad idea but I will certainly be bound for the theological place of eternal punishment simply for considering it. Their stated reason is because they know hypalon better than I do (or 'because I said') and that I should use patches (sold expensively by the square inch or 'because I sell them').

Has anyone had any experience painting a dink used in salt water?

[Rick]

The paints tend to flake off after awhile, especially if you deflate the dink. I've had good luck with careful application of ordinary contact cement and reinforced vinly patches. I completely covered the inside bottom that way and it lasted for a couple of years more. It was difficult to get a good uniform contact, tho, with such a large single piece.

Other adhesives seem to work also. Haven't tried Gorilla Tape yet you might try that for a quick patch. Just have to be careful to have the hypalon clean as possible and dry.

Had a hypalon kit but it dried up and, geeze, if you read the directions it appears that if not applied EXACTLY then it might not work and, even then your kidneys and liver will not like the materials.

[Wahoo Sails]

I have seen first hand the results of using the paint West Marine carries for dinks. Looked absolutely great at first .... within 6 months (here in FL) looked far worse than if it had been left unpainted.
Bob & Lynn

[defjef]

Antifouling dinghy paints works fine in LIS. You might get some slime which is easy to remove.. but no rasta growth or barnacles.

[hellosailor]

I can think of a couple of problems. Hypalon is after all a "plastic" material and paint solvents can remove plasticizers causing rubber, plastics, etc. to crack and age prematurely, so you would want to make sure that any paint you use is compatible with hypalon.

Then there's whether it will bond to the hypalon. There are special adhesives (IIRC Bostich makes one, a urethane base with a special primer) for hypalon, and rubbers in general will stick, so you could buy a bottle of the special glue and a sheet of rubber (from McMaster, etc. if not locally) in a variety of colors (red, white, black) and glue something on. Paint can be removed or painted over--but gluing on something large...well, they won't be able to get that off, either.

[Sunspot Baby]

If your going for appearance, not patching, consider making canvas chaps for it. There are ready made units available or make your own. These protect the dink from UV and abrasion and can be removed to wash.

George

[Pura Vida]

I've given the chaps some thought. I've been sewing alot lately and I'm not sure that I' ready to take on another project of that size. But it is a good solution.

[Pura Vida]

Well I was just down at the old Werst Marine where they are having an inventory clearance and found some waterbased hypalon paint. I'm as skeptical as the next guy as to its coverage but I can't make this dingy look worse than it does today so I am going to give it a try. I plan on spending July until ... sailing so I can get an idea of how well it works.

[HeyMoe]

I have an 89 Achilles. The thing is perfect except for it's faded appearance. Did you use the West Marine paint? How'd that go? How do they recommend preparing the substrate?

Thank you.