Repairable Or Dead Dinghy?

[zstine]

I had my 310 West marine airfloor dink rolled up for the winter in the garage and some mice made it their home and decided to eat some holes in the PVC. 2 holes, one low near the floor seam and a second up near the rail/rope attachment (pics attached). Both are about 2 inches across and about 1/4" from a seam. I'm concerned the size and associated pressure will cause a force too high for a typical PVC patch to hold, especially with the seams near the hole. Should I shell out $50 for a repair kit and give it a try, is there another repair option (diy plastic welding?) or should I say good bye to the dink? it is 7 years old but otherwise was usable.
thanks for the advice

[sailormed]

Repairable. Follow strictly the instructions for surface preparation. Apply a lot of pressure when gluing. Hammer the whole contact surface with a rubber hammer while having a hard surface underneath it. Pressure is key to the glueing quality.

[bensolomon]

Definitely fixable. Get two part PVC glue and a bunch of patches. You'll want to put a patch in the inside, as well. For the one close to the rope attachment, consider getting a heat gun and taking that off, patch the hole, then put it back on. There isn't enough material on the outside to safely patch without removing the rope attachment (I have no idea what the official name of that is).

Definitely do the patch on the inside in that area. Preparation is key as well as relative humidity. Make sure you read the conditions in the instructions on the glue can. I believe if the humidity is above 70% you won't get a good Bond.

I repaired my West Marine dinghy which was way worse than yours. I am by no means a professional, but with patience and good preparation, it was actually quite easy.

The PVC glue is a contact cement. So you might be thinking how am I going to get this on the inside? It's not as hard as you think. After you prep the inside surface, and then you prep your patch, take a piece of Saran wrap to help you get your patch inside the tube and then take the Saran wrap off a little bit at a time and you'll be able to adhere the patch on the inside.

[zstine]

Originally Posted by bensolomon

Definitely fixable.

Definitely do the patch on the inside in that area. ......

Thanks, this advice (patch inside) is this type of tip I was looking for. like duh, why didn't I think of that!? I was even thinking about how to keep the patch glue from sticking to the opposite side as I put pressure on it and this solves that too.
using a heat gun to remove the rope attachment does make me nervous. I will try heating a corner slow and see how easily it comes off.

[bensolomon]

It comes off very easy! Also get MEK to dissolve the glue, and clean the surfaces. Clean surfaces and prep is the key as well as humidity. Just read the glue can fir the solvent they recommend and the humidity. You can do all the prep, just wait for a weather window.

As also, after your patch on the inside is good, then put one on the outside.

[Kd9truck]

Fixable…and find a way to hang your rib from the ceiling so tha does not happen again.

[skipgundlach]

Prolly not needed, but MEK as noted, NOT acetone!

[capt jgw]

Try a hair dryer rather than a real heat gun. Don't know if it will get hot enough, but a heat gun can set things on fire. I have a real heat gun, but I only use it when the hair dryer's not hot enough for what I'm doing.

[wingssail]

The big square holes are intriguing, the mice must be engineers.

I have had excellent luck repairing my PVC Zodiac (though not yet from mice damage) using West System G-Flex epoxy and using superglue for small patches.

I have not had good luck using any one-part or two part contact cement although I know others have.

I have often used C-Clamps and blocks of wood to pressure the patch or pieces to be stuck together against each other. Always use saran wrap or other plastic (even waxed paper) to prevent the glued part from adhering where you don't want it to adhere.

[zstine]

Just an update on the repairs... I ran into a few issues. First, the removal of the rope attachment was impossible. It was plastic welded on from what I can tell. I heated and pulled and heated and tried some MEK, but it started to delaminate the fabric material of the main tube so I stopped. I got an extra 1/4 inch or so for the patch to stick. (pic)

The next issue was that the inside of the fabric was covered with a light clear plastic film (pic). So putting a patch on the inside meant I had to peel this off. Not an easy task working through a 1.5inch hole. And getting that inner patch surface prepped and glued was not easy. But it got done, not sure how well...

In the end I found 5 mouse holes including one in my high pressure floor. But I got them all patched and it seems to hold air for now!

[JPA Cate]

Good on ya, zstine!

Ann