What dinghy not to choose

[larsake]

I bought a 3D Tender Superlight Twin Vib Air 250 for 1 200 Euro in June last year. I thought I had bought a quality product I could enjoy for several years. But that is not the case! After just a couple of months one of the two bottom compartments started to leak in spite of very soft use just back and forth between the boat and pontoons. We contacted 3D Tender who told us to contact their representative in the A Coruna area where we were heading. Before we arrived in A Coruna the big forward tube started to leak also. We left the dinghy to the 3D Tender representative. They immediately found the leak in the bottom compartment and fixed it. It was a scratch. We were surprised as we never had dragged the dingy on any rocky beach. (Our old dingy had been dragged over a lot of rocky beaches for 15 years without any leak). Anyway I also asked them if they had fixed the front tube, but they never gave me any clear answer in spite of numerous mail-contacts (with 3D Tender man in Spain, not the representative) The entire winter we stayed in A Coruna. When it was time to leave I asked them if the dingy was fixed and the said yes. They delivered the dingy to the marina two days before our departure. We inflated the dinghy. It looked OK,but before we left the front tube was soft. We told 3D Tender but we had to leave. We tried several time to negotiate replacement of the dinghy, but 3D Tender was not at all accommodating. We can’t find the leak so we can’t fix. The front tube keep the air for a couple of hours so now we pump before every use and have to bring the pump when we leave the boat. 3D Tender has not shown the least interest to help us. We can’t sell a leaking dinghy (unlike 3D Tender) so we just have to keep on pumping until we can afford a new dinghy and throw this garbage away.

[Leadfree]

Or you could just find the leak and fix it yourself

[boatpoker]

I am not down on PVC dinks like many people here but I would never buy a "glued" dinghy and never a roll up as the rolling just increases the likliehood of leaks. ... " Our Highfield "welded" PVC rib has never been covered and still holds air.

[barnakiel]

+++ for the post above



It is as this sailor says : AVOID glued dinghies, try to find a welded dinghy instead.


We used to have a Bombard (=Zodiac) dinghy long ago - how it died is where the glued-on bottom sheet was GLUED. Elsewhere the welded pontoons were in excellent shape.


Now fast forward to about 2015 I took a s/h Zodiac from a friend at a super good price (USD 250) - the dinghy was like new (never used) but it missed the floors (which I built in plywood). Now this one was built in FRANCE and is all welded. Year 2024, that dinghy is 10 years old now (plus as old it was already back then) - and it has not a single place where the seams would be coming undone.


(!)


Seek WELDED


Skip GLUED


cheers,
b.

[JPA Cate]

Sorry for your troubles, larsake.

However, they did TRY to help. You "had" to leave. Perhaps they would have given it another go and been successful, had you waited. They were trying to help. You wanted a new dinghy, for your convenience, but to them the dinghy had a fixable problem. Does your warranty say they will replace within the first 3 months of ownership? That would help.

You said you don't know how to find the leak, and in fact it may be hidden, and you may not want to fix it yourself, it is under warranty.

The longer story on glued dinghies is that the humidity and temperature ranges for successful gluing are very limited, which makes good glue jobs hard to come by, and hard to find out if the company has the dry cool needed. Hence the advice above to avoid glued dinghies. For glued hypalon, there are more than one glue available, but for PVC the only glue that works "pretty well" ain't perfect, but it is the kind used on PVC pipe, that sort of melts the PVC and sticks it together, like people were once able to mend glasses frames by using acetone to dissolve the plastic and then moosh the pieces together.

At any rate, you can try again, next time you are somewhere there is a dealership.

Ann, JPA Cate

[larsake]

Originally Posted by Leadfree

Or you could just find the leak and fix it yourself

Yes, but we can’t find it in spite of several hours of trying.

[stormalong]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

I am not down on PVC dinks like many people here but I would never buy a "glued" dinghy and never a roll up as the rolling just increases the likliehood of leaks. ... " Our Highfield "welded" PVC rib has never been covered and still holds air.

Originally Posted by barnakiel

+++ for the post above

It is as this sailor says : AVOID glued dinghies, try to find a welded dinghy instead.

We used to have a Bombard (=Zodiac) dinghy long ago - how it died is where the glued-on bottom sheet was GLUED. Elsewhere the welded pontoons were in excellent shape.

Now fast forward to about 2015 I took a s/h Zodiac from a friend at a super good price (USD 250) - the dinghy was like new (never used) but it missed the floors (which I built in plywood). Now this one was built in FRANCE and is all welded. Year 2024, that dinghy is 10 years old now (plus as old it was already back then) - and it has not a single place where the seams would be coming undone.

(!)

Seek WELDED

Skip GLUED

cheers,
b.

I have to disagree.

I have a Caribe rollup Hypalon bought new in 2007. Still no leaks, no patches either.

It is the skill of the builder, not the glue that is the problem. Does anyone remember, IIRC in the 1990s, when Zodiac introduced welded seams and they all came apart. Zodiac tried to deny warranty coverage. It took a class action suit in the U.S. to make them correct the problem.

BTW, I like rollups for ocean passages. Keeps the deck clear if you have to crawl around in bad weather.

[sv_isara]

I'm on year 3 of my welded pvc dinghy - kaboat style. Love it. planes drastically easier than normal wide dinghys. Not in crazy hot weather but aside from a few patches, so far so good.

[Bullshooter]

"However, they did TRY to help. You "had" to leave. Perhaps they would have given it another go and been successful, had you waited."

No offense Ann, but did you miss the part where they waited all winter for the company to fix it?

[barnakiel]

argh


so it seems there is no rule, we get one made on Friday and then that's that


and they all look very well ... when new - hard to tell the bad apples apart from a good dinghy


too bad


b.

[Jim Cate]

Just a note: there are NO welded Hypalon dinks... they are all glued, because Hypalon iss not weldable.

Jim

[NorthCoastJoe]

I had a whitewater raft with a slow floor leak that took a long time to find. It was finally found in a hard to see spot but was patched and was fine, keep looking.

I have always had Hypalon inflatables. In the whitewater rafting world PVC is good for 3 years and Hypalon a lot longer. Unless they use a very thin PVC I cannot see why a scratch would cause a leak. We grind fully loaded rafts over rocks all the time, PVC ones too.

[hlev00]

I have a 2018 Highfield Ultralight 260 hypalon. I am disappointed as the powder coating started to deteriorate after about 3 years. Not cover by warranty. They said there must have been some galvanic corrosion but unless it is part of their own manufacturing process, I don't see where it is coming from. We hang a dingy engine off the stern but the brackets are isolated from the hull, if that could even be it. I am surprised that I haven't heard of others with this problem which is I I suspect it was something in the manufacturing process.

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by Bullshooter

"However, they did TRY to help. You "had" to leave. Perhaps they would have given it another go and been successful, had you waited."

No offense Ann, but did you miss the part where they waited all winter for the company to fix it?

Hey, Bullshooter, you're right, I did miss the part about waiting "all winter" for them to fix it. And, I apologize to the OP, and everybody else, my bad.

However, the supplier did try the once. Imho, the owner really has to figure out where the leak is, and sometimes that's hard to do with leaks that are under fittings, and stuff, but they'll have to pump all the time till they do. The infamous bubble test does work. So, it IS important that when they finally find it, they use a glue that will work. Incidentally, we did find that 3m 5200 bonds well to both pvc and hypalon. But it takes a week to set. No experience with 4200, but I'd try it. When "it" is broken, one just tries to make it work again.

Ann

[GordMay]

Jack's Plastic Welding has an excellent tutorial on the subject of fabrics & seams:
“Welding vs. Gluing” ➥ Jack's Plastic Welding, Inc.