Sealant for Inflatables

[a1sailor]

Has anyone used this Sealant product in their inflatable, it is sold in quart bottles at West Marine for about $60 and also online from another supplier?

I have a few pinholes in the keel of my Zodiac 310 at welded seams.

Does it work? Does it last? I would be happy if I needed to add some yearly but not weekly.

Thanks
a1sailor

[GordMay]

This Inflatable Boat Sealant ?
➥ inflatable boat sealant for sealing leaks in inflatable boats

[Hyprdrv]

Fact is I just used this this weekend on my dingy inflate floor. It seems To be working but I'll hold judgment until this coming weekend. Here's a few thoughts though. I used 1/2 quart for the floor and I don't see how 1 full quart could coat the interior of a complete dingy. Your suppose to "roll" the dingy around to get it to coat the entire interior. That is going to be kind of tough to do, not imposable but dingies are not all that small so concentrate on the areas that you know have an issue. I have spent countless hours on trying to fix leaks. I thought I had them fixed a number of times only to come back and find the damn thing deflated again. After using the stuff I at least got 2 days inflated so far. I'll let you know if I set a new record.

Steve in Solomons MD

[nigel1]

Hope it works for you, I've just ordered half a litre to do the floor of a small dink, which has a tiny leak rigth in the corner, which I managed to slow with a patch, but that was only good for about 3 days before needing to re-inflate. Hoping this sealant will do the trick

[Aiki]

I used the stuff on my Avon 280 a month ago. So far it is working very well. I had a slow leak on the port side that appears to have been completly fixed. I used 8 oz. in each tube (Starboard tube and floor did not need it, but I figured might as well put some in each tube).

I did this at home before bringing it down to the dock. It was much easier to flip and rock the dingy in the backyard than it would have been at the marina.

I recommmend giving it a try...

[svcambria]

I used the stuff to which GordMay refers on a 10' Apex RIB with some success. It slowed an otherwise undetectable leak (and I looked and looked) from full deflation in one day to severe deflation over one week. I would consider it a "last ditch effort" if you can't find the leak with soapy water solution and can't fix it with patches (a little off-topic, I use rubber cement on the patches).
I am always a little suspicious of West Marine branded products.
You roll the dinghy around not to coat the entire interior but to let the sealant find and plug the hole with escaping air pressure - kinda like the fibrous stuff for car flat tires.

Michael

[a1sailor]

I located a repair shop that will sell me some sealant that they use for repairs, so I will pick it up in a day or so, I will post my results.

The locations (welds) that are leaking are suspect manufacturing defects, however, the boat is about 7 years old. I now recall that the keel was filled with sealant once under warranty by Zodiac dealer about 4 years ago and it seemed to last for a few years.

I wonder if over time the PVC starts to become harder this makes the material more prone to leaks as it is not as pliable. The welds could have been over heated in some locations as well causing degradation of the PVC at those points. As I mentioned leaks were the keel not the main tubes.

[s/vfootloose]

I used a product called Green Slime from Walmart it has held up well for the last few months until I ripped about a 3" hole It is for patching tires costs about $28.00 a gal.

[Windgeist]

Didn't work for my floor but did work for the keel. Guess it really depends on the size of the leak? Way over priced IMO, wouldn't buy it again.

[a1sailor]

I wanted to let all know that after 1 week the keel on my Zodiac is holding air very well after the addition of the white liquid sealant that I purchased. I used about 200 ml of the 500 ml purchased. The leaks that I had were very minor and were at welds on the PVC keel. The shop that I purchased sealant form mentioned that for minor keels leaks that the sealant works best.

[matauwhi]

G'day mates. Gorilla glue works great for this application, plus has many additional uses eliminating the need for all these specialty products. Cheers.

[gpshephe]

Originally Posted by s/vfootloose

I used a product called Green Slime from Walmart it has held up well for the last few months until I ripped about a 3" hole It is for patching tires costs about $28.00 a gal.

I know this is an old post, but I'm having the same problem with a slow leak. Does this stuff work the same way island marines product does? eg. Deflate, pour in sealant, inflate and then roll the dinghy end to end, side to side? I have a 10' ding, curious how much is needed? Any help would be appreciated.

[a1sailor]

Use the product from a Zodiac or inflatable dealer, it is a white color with a milky consistency. It did seal pin hole leaks at welds, I have since sold the dinghy but it worked, it was about $25 for a litre, I used half and kept half. The repair shops use it for minor leaks they told me.
Good luck.

[gpshephe]

Two products I recommend are Green Slime ( messy unless your careful ) and Shoe goo. The products I got recommended by West Marine didn't work. They leaked after being applied. I had a small undetectable leak in the left side sponson and a a valve that was faulty. I used Green slime for the undectable one. Did 10 ounces each side rolled it over and over for 2 hours. Replaced the valve and it's been inflated for 5 weeks. There was a leak in the inflatable keel. I used the shoe goo on it. worked fine. I was bound and determined to find something besides going back to West Marine, they were very unhelpful. I'm sure they wanted me to buy a new Dink.

[BobL]

I've used the Inland Marine stuff on two dinghys I've had with pin holes. This stuff did the job and is holding up well after a year or so. I got a price adjustment from WM by showing them Defender's price. $10 cheaper than the WM price.
So Far So Good