Inflatable boats made of rubber (Nitrilon, Hypalon) and PVC can be glued very easily and quickly.
If you have a damaged boat, you need to quickly analyze the extent of the damage.
1. Identification and marking of the place of damage - air leakage
Before repairing the inflatable boat itself, we recommend washing the boat . Soapy water works well for this. Use a sponge with soapy water or a stream of water to locate the air leak
Holes, cracks and abrasions up to 10-15 cm in length, through which air escapes from the boat so quickly that it does not form bubbles in the air.
Small holes and scuffs where bubbles form in the air if you rub them with soapy water.
Air leakage in the valve area - if air is leaking around the valve, try tightening the valve with a valve wrench. Air leakage from the inside of the valve can be caused by its contamination. Try to unscrew the valve and clean it, check the seal. Replace a damaged or malfunctioning valve with a new one.
We recommend taking cracks larger than 20 cm or in the area of seams and valves to an authorized service center for repair.
General procedure for gluing a boat:
if you are gluing the boat yourself, first dry it and spread it where it does not rain, the air humidity is not high (above 80%) and you have a flat surface,
support the glued area with a hard flat surface (e.g. board or table),
dry the damaged area and the inside of the boat,
degrease the glued surface perfectly with acetone (do not use gasoline or water-diluted alcohol)
we will prepare a patch with an overlap of the damaged area min. 3 cm,
for larger cracks, prepare 2 patches - stick the smaller one from the inside of the cylinder and the other larger one from the outside,
apply the glue to the glued area and to the patch in a thin layer of 0.2 mm (with a brush or finger) and let it air out for 12 minutes at 20°C (longer at lower temperatures),
after 12 min. we press the patch firmly over its entire surface onto the glued area so that there are no unevenness. We use a flat pad and roll or press the patch with a trowel and squeeze the air between the patch and the glued part. If you "iron" hard enough until the patch heats up, that's fine (for large tear repairs, consider placing one patch on the inside and one on the outside)
in an emergency it is possible to use it almost immediately with lower pressure, otherwise it is better to wait and after about 8 hours we can use the boat again
Glued using X-tremefix glue
All glued surfaces must be clean and dry. Some rubber surfaces (Hypalon) need to be coarsened with emery paper. To achieve a flawless result we recommend to degrease both glued surfaces with acetone (this is only needed when the surfaces are greasy, otherwise you may skip it). With a brush or a spatula, put a thin layer of glue on both of the surfaces. Repeat twice or three times if the surfaces are more absorbent. When the glue has dried a bit (3 to 5 minutes), apply the patch and press it down. You may use a roller. The bond gains its solidity after 24 hours. After 1 hour the bodd is solid enough to be weighed down slightly (i.e. mending inflatable boats). The bond is flexible and water resistant. Unclean tools can be cleaned with acetone. By using the hardener X-TREMEFIX HARTER it is possible to achieve faster hardening of the bonds and increase their heat resistance. Dosage of hardener: 5 units of hardener for 100 units of glue. The hardener is not a part of the set.
Depending on the ambient temperature and humidity, the drying process of the glue can take a varying amount of time. Ideally, we recommend that all work be carried out in dry and well-ventilated areas where the room temperature is constant - ideally around 20°C - which will not change significantly during the repair or while the glue is drying. We do not recommend carrying out repairs at temperatures below 10°C, in direct sunlight or at excessively high temperatures and excessive humidity, as these factors can negatively affect the result of the repair.
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