Dinghy Chaps

[Spendandfix]

Hi,

Has anyone ever experienced the premature failure of a RIB seam caused by Dinghy Chaps that have overheated the tube? I made chaps for my dinghy out of Sunbrella and after a summer of use, the following summer a seam let go. I noticed it was extremely hot under the chaps.
The dinghy was 7 years old when I made the chaps, and the tube was starting to yellow. Maybe it was too far gone and the chaps excerbated the issue?
I'm planning on replacing the tube and would like to use the chaps, but am concerned if they overheat the tube.
Cheers,
Jim

[barnakiel]

I believe the dinghy was just old enough and that's that.


We keep our on deck, under an acrylic cover. Like the last 5 years or so. It is very sunny here. No damage noticed of any sort. Our dinghy is PVC, the acrylic is mid dark blue.


Our dinghy is welded, NOT glued. I believe the problem on most dinghies is the glue.


Get a welded one next time. See if this changes anything,


b.

[Spendandfix]

Thanks for the insight.
I'll see if I can get welded seams. That would be a major improvement.
Jim

[GreenWave]

My dinghy is now almost 15 years old and on its second set of chaps. Chaps don’t cause your problem.

[Spendandfix]

That's encouraging. Could you share the type of material the tube is made of, and are the seams glued or welded?