Zodiac seams leaking, still under warranty. Should I glue it?

[sww914]

Well, the title pretty much sums it up. I'm at anchor and our 1 1/2 year old PVC Zodiac's seams are leaking. It loses air in about 5 minutes. We can't really get to shore like this. Has anyone ever re-glued the seams and then been able to get their Zodiac repaired under warranty?

[Tim R.]

Can you call them?

[sww914]

Not until Monday but we only have that and a single kayak to get to shore and there are 3 of us and a dog.

[Pete the Cat]

I would try to glue. I wish you luck with Zodiac under any circumstances for getting warranty work done. Many years ago they fixed a problem with no issue, but I had no luck when the bottom fell out of my PVC Zodiac in Panama. Never buy Zodiac (or West Marine) again. Have had an Achilles for the last several years--- much better constructed and great support from dealer.

[boom23]

Call the dealer you bought the inflatable from. Many years ago, I've had Zodiac, through the dealer, replace the tubes on my inflatable because of glue issues.

[David M]

I would let the work be done by a factory authorized repair business. Zodiac may not cover having to undo an unsuccessful glue job done by the owner. I would understand Zodiac refusing to pay for the repair.

[JPA Cate]

IMO, this one needs a paper trail. Phone as soon as you can. Confirm by e-mail. Put complete notes in your ship's log: to whom you speak; what was agreed. If you can get them to agree to your having a go, do it. Otherwise figure out something else, 'cause if you work on it without authorization, almost certainly they won't cooperate. Maybe the dog can swim ashore attended by the kayaker? just for the short term?

Good luck with it--what a pain!

Ann Cate, asv Insatiable II, lying Little Sandy Bay, Hobart

[foggysail]

I have no clue why people continue to purchase PVC dinghies but I agree with one of the suggestions, try to contact your dealer. My Avon 10 RIB made with Hypalon is over 25 years old and still strong.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by foggysail

I have no clue why people continue to purchase PVC dinghies but I agree with one of the suggestions, try to contact your dealer. My Avon 10 RIB made with Hypalon is over 25 years old and still strong.

+1 ... It's been told thousands of times; no PVC in the tropics, use Hypalon

[sww914]

Update.
Defender, the dealer, has done a lot to help me. Zodiac said go ahead and glue it because there isn't a dealer anywhere near me. I glued it and it began to leak again near the repair after 2 days. I cleaned it all again and glued it again and then put 2 coats of 5200 quick over the whole seam, 2" wide and 1/8" thick. It's holding. I masked off the sides of the seams so that the glue looks like a nice repair.
Defender and Zodiac are trying to find a way to get me into a Hypalon dinghy with some additional cash from me. It sounds like they're trying to get the cost as low as possible for me but with the huge storm in the NE, it's been hard to communicate efficiently.

[shamrock]

I got one of the Defender branded hypalon RIBs and it is pretty good. The price was right as well. The only drawback is the 100lb outboard max weight. Many 4 stroke 9.9's are heavier than that.

[Mrider]

Depends why it is leaking in the first place? It would most probably be a tear due to misuse

[chrisjs]

Our West Marine (Zodiac) PVC dinghy started leaking within days of being new. We were in the Bahamas. By the time we got to Ft Lauderdale 2 months later it was shipping about 5 gallons during a 10 minute run (weighted). Floating unloaded it did not leak as much. Turned out the leak was where the tubes meet the transom. Needed to take it to a WM approved repairer (no replacement!!). End result was OK but I guess Zodiac quality is still suspect. I would no advise trying to repair it yourself as this will almost certainly void any warranty. Plus, it is extremely difficult to stop these types of leaks. Perhaps duct tape or similar removable fix will reduce leakage until you can get it repaired properly.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by chrisjs

Our West Marine (Zodiac) PVC dinghy started leaking within days of being new. We were in the Bahamas. By the time we got to Ft Lauderdale 2 months later it was shipping about 5 gallons during a 10 minute run (weighted). Floating unloaded it did not leak as much. Turned out the leak was where the tubes meet the transom. Needed to take it to a WM approved repairer (no replacement!!). End result was OK but I guess Zodiac quality is still suspect. I would no advise trying to repair it yourself as this will almost certainly void any warranty. Plus, it is extremely difficult to stop these types of leaks. Perhaps duct tape or similar removable fix will reduce leakage until you can get it repaired properly.

Duct tape ?!

[sww914]

Here's the happy ending.
Zodiac told me to go ahead and glue it and I did. The glue lasted a day. I used their supplied PVC glue and followed the instructions exactly. Before you tell me that I screwed up, I painted cars for 20 years and I know a few things about a good environment for adhesion.
Step two was re-glue the leaking seams and the clean and abrade the outside of the seams and put a 2" wide, 1/4" thick bead of 4200 on all of the seams on the top half of the tubes. Yes, that was $50.00 worth of 4200 but we're living at anchor and we need a dinghy every day.
That almost worked and it lasted a month. Just one small leak that my kid could cover with his finger as we motored around.
Yesterday we finally received the replacement. Zodiac sent us the whole inflatable portion, brand new, no charges for anything, straight to Puerto Vallarta! No oars or floorboards or anything like that, we re-used the ones that we already had.
I think that without the help of Defender.com and Chris who works in their inflatables department it would have never happened this way.