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Old 20-01-2018, 16:29   #1
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Inflatable dinghy repair

Our 15YO (possibly more) Achilles inflatable dinghy spends 9 months of the year in its bag stored below and the other three stored upside down on the foredeck under a cover.

Over this summer the inflatable floor has detached and fallen away.

The dinghy has a tubular inflating keel that is showing signs of detaching from the main floor as well.

Have any of the wiser heads on this forum got any advice on an appropriate adhesive / repair method to re-attach the keel and floor

Has anyone replaced the inflating floor with a slat / solid floor?

Thanks in anticipation
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Old 20-01-2018, 18:42   #2
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Inflatable dinghy repair

Where are you located?
In Florida there are a few specialists that do dinghy repairs, one in St. Augustine, and another at Cape Canaveral that I know of.
I have followed the directions for the adhesives exactly, and use a good two part adhesive, and yet in a year or so most patches seem to fail at the glue joint.
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Old 20-01-2018, 20:13   #3
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Re: Inflatable dinghy repair

Quote:
Originally Posted by inspectr View Post
... advice on an appropriate adhesive / repair method to re-attach the keel and floor

Has anyone replaced the inflating floor with a slat / solid floor?

Thanks in anticipation
Well, mine is a Mercury inflatable (Hypalon) a bit over 8 yrs old.
I've repaired a couple of seams that game undone using Aquaseal Urethane Repair Adhesive ( Amazon Link ) which has worked very well. It's not a 2-part adhesive so perhaps it won't last as long, but it's now been a yr since the repair and so far so good.

I also replaced the floor with a 3 section wooden floor and love it!

While I have really liked the inflatable floor, the wooden floor is substantially more stable. That said, It now takes a bit more room to put away.

Not sure if this helps, but please don't hesitate to ask if you have any other questions,

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Old 20-01-2018, 21:49   #4
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Re: Inflatable dinghy repair

First you have to figure out if your dink is PVC or Hypalon. Then get the matching two part glue. One reason the patches fail is not waiting long enough for the two sides to dry before putting them together. Error on the long side.
Friends put in a home made wood floor when they lost their aluminum one. It was functional.
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Old 21-01-2018, 18:18   #5
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Re: Inflatable dinghy repair

I took the dink down to Rosebery NSW, Australia where the Achilles agents have a service facility. They checked out the dinghy and gave it a Clean bill of health. Turns out that the dinghy would have been supplied with the boat when new and entering charter in the Whitsunday Islands in 1998. We bought her just over 10 years ago.

That's right this dinghy is nearly 20 years old and has had a hard life. If ever there was a better reference to the value of good manufacturers and Hypalon inflatable boats , this is it!

Thanks for the responses, I now have a repair kit, although there is not one patch on the boat just now, and some comfort from the original suppliers.

Quality does not cost, it pays
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Old 21-01-2018, 23:09   #6
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Re: Inflatable dinghy repair

inspectr,

For years, with hypalon dinghies, we used SC 2000, a two part conveyer belt adhesive. They have changed the solvents a little, and now it is SC 4000. What we used was excellent for both above and below water. The catalyst should be kept in the fridge.

Your Achilles has indeed held up well, good on it, and may it have many more, happy years of service.

It will be difficult to find as good quality hypalon today, but if I were in the market, I'd look seriously at a hypalon Swift rib. They are heavier than Geminis because they use heavier duty hypalon. I used to think all hypalon was created equal, but not so, there is lighter duty hypalon, like our Gemini rib came with, and it wears out faster. Just learning the available weights of it, would allow you to search for the longest lasting.


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