Finding inflatable leak

[drakes]

Have a year old West Marine PVC dinghy with leaks.

It has a metal floor that is very hard to install and uninstall. It is a big improvement on the water versus my old basic roll up RU250 or whatever it was, but I don't think I will ever buy one of these again it is so hard to deal with

But the issue now is that I have leaks. It has four separate compartments the front, each side and then the floor one side and the front are both leaking fairly quickly they basically leak down to unusable after about 8 hours

I spent 2 hours today with soapy water and I am lost and frustrated. I can't seem to find the leak. I tried soaping it up, them sat on it, the air definitely leaks out but I cant see, hear or feel anything.

Any suggestions welcome is there a dye or something I could put inside and then watch for leaks ? I am so frustrated ready to give this thing to the first guy with a leaky row boat to trade. Thanks

[JPA Cate]

Have you removed the "floor" while looking for your leaks? A chafe-caused thin spot could be the problem, probably on the side that deflates first. What kind of a warantee has it? WM used to be good about warantee problems, don't know how they are now. But they might be able to help.

Did you test the valves, too? Sometimes they leak.

There are things people do to seal dinghies, but until you know what is leaking and where, I hate to make any recommendations. I take it it is a pvc dinghy?

Ann

[drakes]

I did take the floor out I thought the same thing that the floor which is really hard to get in and out , maybe I punctured one of the tubes or something putting it in. It's just weird I can't find either leak. Feel like I must be doing it wrong but I've watched a bunch of YouTube videos and it looks like I'm doing it just like that. I was just thinking if maybe there was a die or something you could spray in the valves then look for that color?

Doesn't seem like rocket science, but I am definitely not any kind of scientist. Appreciate your response hopefully I'll go at it again tomorrow and come up with something just didn't know if there was any secret sauce on this

[abroadreachtrvl]

Going flat in 8 hours a pretty large leak. A 3 to 1 ratio of dish soap in a spray bottle worked well for me. As mentioned before don't forget the valves. Good Luck!

[wsmurdoch]

Originally Posted by abroadreachtrvl

Going flat in 8 hours a pretty large leak. A 3 to 1 ratio of dish soap in a spray bottle worked well for me. As mentioned before don't forget the valves. Good Luck!

Amen.

Then, if all else fails... Inland Marine Inflatable Boat Sealant.

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by wsmurdoch

Amen.

Then, if all else fails... Inland Marine Inflatable Boat Sealant.

Agreed, though some people do recommend the stuff you put into car tires to seal them, but it's hard to get to spread evenly.

I feel for the OP. We need our dinghies working. How else to get ashore?

Ann

[HankOnthewater]

It looks like you have tried the water/soap method already.
What about filling the dinghy with water and see where the bubbles come from. If there are no bubbles, you established that nearly half of the dinghy as being leak-free.

The outside can be done in a similar way, but a lot harder: only inflate one of the chambers at a time, sit on it so it can be pushed under water, and like above, look for bubbles. You might need a second person to help with this.

Hopefully the leak(s) is/are not on a seam.

[Jammer]

The cheapest, effective, and most available leak detection compound is children's bubble solution, available in toy stores or general merchandise stores. Often quart bottles are sold. Essentially it's water, dish soap, and glycerin, which leads to longer-lasting and easier to find bubbles than dish soap alone.


You can also use plumber's gas leak bubble detection compounds, which are perhaps more carefully formulated and come in convenient trigger-spray quart bottles for easy application. Rectorseal Better Bubble is one of the better known, but there are many brands.


The trigger spray bottles are OK but the most effective means of application is a pressurized garden sprayer.


Should you decide to discard your inflatable dinghy, I would suggest you consider a "hard" dinghy that is not inflatable. One-piece designs are available as are two-piece nesting designs that come apart for easy storage on deck with the bow portion fitted inside the stern half. Unlike inflatables, they are easy to row, easy to tow, and offer sailing options. The plastic Walker Bay dinghies are perhaps the best known and most widespread today. Other common designs include the Trinka (recently discontinued but still available used), the Chameleon (available as plans), the FB11 (available as plans or a kit), the CLC Passagemaker (plans or a kit), the PT-11 (kit only), and the GV10 and GV11 planing dinghies designed for high-speed operation with an outboard (plans or a kit).

[Island Time O25]

If you have more than one leak my bet it's the valves. Last summer had a similar issue. After three tries with the soapy water spray finally found the source - bottom part of one of the the valves not turned tight enough.