How To Repair Oil Can On A Kayak

For all of the benefits that come with owning an inflatable kayak, there is one pregnant drawback. Somewhen, your inflatable kayak will leak. While it might seem like the stop of the world at the time, it isn't. Keep reading to learn how to detect and fix an air leak in an inflatable kayak.

The broad steps in the process of finding and fixing an air leak are neither difficult to recall nor onerous to master. Start, locate the leak by listening or by using a bubbling detergent. Adjacent, cut out a patch that is properly-sized for the pigsty and is the same fabric every bit the kayak. Then, apply an adhesive (that is compatible with the kayak cloth) to the kayak too as the patch. Finally, affix the patch with pressure level, to the kayak and allow it sufficient time to dry and cure.

How to find and fix an air leak in an inflatable kayak Hero

How practise y'all get an air leak in the get-go place (and how do you avoid them in the hereafter?)

Inflatable kayaks are synthetic to take a beating. For the near role, their design allows them to withstand the typical obstacles that a gunkhole meets during a day of paddling. In fact, some inflatable boats are actually designed to exist operated in extreme conditions. All this to say that you lot don't need to article of clothing white gloves and speak in hushed tones for fear of puncturing your gunkhole.

All the same, a little forethought and good judgement can go a long way towards keeping your kayak leak-gratuitous.

Paddling over sharp hazards can put a hole in your inflatable kayak. No kidding, right? Quite merely, it is important to be acutely aware of your surroundings – particularly the surround under your kayak.

Are you paddling on a river with fallen tree debris? How about a northern lake with a rocky shoreline? Or perhaps a coastal embankment with pockets of coral?

It is best to understand the unique characteristics of the watery landscape waiting for you lot and your boat before y'all venture out. Do your best to avoid shallows when if their is chance of tree branches, rocks or coral. At a minimum, plan your navigation road such that your kayak has a fighting adventure of making it through the hazards unscathed.

Dragging your inflatable kayak over rough footing tin can create leaks. Sometimes this rough ground is characterized past sand and dirt. Other times it is littered with roots, twigs and rocks. That's if you're lucky. It'southward non uncommon to detect broken drinking glass, bottle caps, crushed soda cans and all manner of other man-made droppings besides.

So, not only is it important to scope out the route that yous will navigate in your kayak on the water, but information technology'due south likewise important to consider the route that your kayak volition take from its blow-upwards area, to the spot where you lot actually 'put-in'.

This is a high risk stretch of real manor where your kayak is concerned, and then spend a few minutes making sure it is free of precipitous debris, natural or otherwise, that could put quick end to your paddling plans.

Loftier temperatures tin lead to over-inflation. If yous paddle an inflatable kayak, it should be pretty clear that abrupt hazards are your mortal enemy. What is less-understood though, is that high temperature leading to over-inflation can also be problematic.

As we all know, heated air expands. If you inflate your kayak to its maximum pressure and and so leave it on the hot ground or in the sun, the air inside will heat up and expand. This inconvenient phenomena puts pressure on the many seams of your boat. If left untended for also long, the construction of your kayak volition be damaged.

Usually, the first structural components to tear are the septums. These are the seams that run the length of your hull, making it await like long cucumbers laid down side-by-side. When septums break, the long, skinny cucumbers terminate upwardly looking like long, fat sausages (and it'south actually hard to kayak on those).

To avoid this mess, transfer your inflated kayak to the h2o quickly as you tin can. Or, if you are exiting the water, either identify the kayak in a shaded surface area, or remove the Boston valve cap to let out some air and reduce the pressure inside the boat.

Five techniques to identify the location of the leak

Regardless of how much love and constructive attention you prove your inflatable kayak, eventually fourth dimension volition catch up and a leak will occur.

Don't worry. They happen all the time and tin can usually be handled with a little time and easy-to-handle materials.

If you discover that your gunkhole is losing air, then information technology's fourth dimension to find and fix the air leak in your inflatable kayak. The first thing y'all need to do is locate the leak. The difficulty in locating the leak dictates the technique y'all must use to find information technology.

Technique 1: Listen for the leak. Inflate your kayak in a tranquility location. Turn your music off. Unplug your fans – at last for a niggling while. Inflate your kayak and just listen.

Position your cheek shut to the kayak and so that your sensitive facial skin tin can feel the air motility.

Showtime in the valve area. A lot of kayak leaks occur in this vicinity and frequently, the valve is cross-threaded or otherwise non properly sealed. (This step is kind of similar checking to make certain you plugged your estimator in before calling tech back up.)

If there is no air movement nearly the valve, and then piece of work your fashion around the various seams of your kayak. The highest-probability areas for pinhole damage are the bottom of the hull (made by external hazards) as well as the cockpit (fabricated by y'all).

Pay closer attention by employing a grid strategy. If you are unable to locate the source of the leak on your first pass, yous'll have to pay closer attention. Divide your kayak into smaller squares. One square foot should practice it but y'all could brand them bigger or smaller. Y'all could use chalk to actually depict squares or y'all might merely use your imagination.

The signal of the exercise is to focus your attention on each flat surface and each seam in each square.

Recollect to place your confront shut to the kayak textile and mind as well as feel for air movement.

Become over each foursquare in the grid until you take searched the entire kayak.

Y'all might observe the hole right away, or y'all might not find it at all.

If y'all find it, use a marker or grease pencil to circle the location of the leak so that y'all don't lose it, again.

If you are unsuccessful at locating the leak in your kayak while it is dry out, then you'll need to go information technology wet.

Technique 2: Locate the leak underwater. If you have access to a body of water that is four-to-five feet deep and articulate, so this should exist your first 'wet' strategy to locate the leak in your gunkhole.

Inflate your kayak and float it on the articulate, yet h2o. Put on a diving mask and take a deep breath.

Swim nether the kayak and look up. You are looking for small bubbles pushing from the underside of the boat. They might come from a flat portion of kayak cloth or they might come from a seam. Just wait for the bubbling.

If you find them, use a grease pencil or some other marker tool (that won't create another leak) to marker the location of the hole. There might be more than 1 hole and so, don't quit until y'all have checked for more, unless of form y'all run out of oxygen.

Technique 3: Use soapy water to locate the leak. If you don't have access to a beach with four anxiety of water, then consider the soapy-h2o strategy.

First, inflate your boat.

Next, combine water and liquid soap. Dish detergent is usually constructive because it lathers well (and is allegedly gentle plenty to clean rough oil off the down of a babe duckling).

Using a sponge, cover a single, modest-sized expanse with soapy water.

If in that location is a leak in your kayak, the moving air exiting your boat should create bubbles in the soap.

Become over the entirety of your gunkhole, grid-by-grid, with the soapy mixture. If yous find the leak, circle its location with a grease pencil or some other marking tool.

Technique 4: Move up to snowfall foam shampoo to find that pesky leak. If yous are unable to locate the leak in your kayak with soapy water, the next footstep is to employ snow foam.

Snow foam is a densely foaming shampoo that is used to wash vehicles. If you have ever taken your car (or truck) through an automatic car wash, then you have most probable been pelted with some version of snowfall foam.

In the U.S. and Canada, you can notice a version of snow foam shampoo under the Turtle Wax make. There are other brands as well.

In the U.Yard. you might employ Demon Snow Foam.

The advantage of snowfall cream over soapy water is that the foam is thicker and its bubbles are more rigid.

Follow the canteen's instructions to apply the snow foam, using either a hose or a power washer to apply. (A ability washer actually applies a lovely, thick coating of foam that is very effective in finding pinhole leaks in inflatable boats.)

In one case the snow foam has been applied, the location of whatsoever larger leaks should be manifest apace. Similar to the soapy water technique, an air leak makes its location known by producing bubbles in the cream. Locating smaller pinhole leaks takes more time because the foam needs to settle onto the fabric of the boat before it is agitated past tiny amounts of air movement.

Utilise the cream to your unabridged boat and so use the grid design to focus your attention on simply one minor area at a fourth dimension.

If you are unsuccessful at finding the leak in your kayak with this method, at least you will have given your boat a starting time-form cleaning.

Technique five: If cypher else is working, utilise plastic wrap. Who cares how clean your kayak is if you tin't paddle information technology considering it is losing air. If none of the other techniques have worked to locate the source of your kayak leak, try this:

The key tool is plastic wrap. Some people call it clingwrap. Or Saran Wrap. Yous almost certainly have a curlicue in your kitchen to spread over the top of pots or bowls to keep food fresh while in your refrigerator.

You'll need a couple of rolls of plastic wrap for this do.

To execute this technique, y'all must strategically cover your kayak with plastic wrap. This is not a one-mean solar day task. It should take a couple of days to do finer.

Showtime with the bottom of the hull. Apply the plastic wrap tightly over the hull. Think almost it like you are putting upward wallpaper. You want to create a clean flat surface with no air bubbling. A small duster can help you push the air out.

Recall to push button the plastic wrap equally deep as you tin can into the crevices of the kayak. The more than kayak surface area that is in contact with the plastic wrap the ameliorate.

Having carefully applied plastic wrap to the bottom of your kayak, allow it sit for 12-24 hours. When y'all revisit it, expect for new air bubbles that have formed under the wrap. These bubbles mark the location of your kayak's air leak(s).

You may need to spend a couple of days on this process. A niggling bit of that fourth dimension will be spent applying the plastic wrap. However, most of it will be waiting around for the air leaks to show themselves.

How do you seal a leak that y'all tin't even locate? If you are unable to locate your kayak'southward leak, and then it is most likely a tiny pinhole leak. Believe it or not, in that location is a solution to fixing a leak you lot can't even discover: Polymarine Sealflex.

If your kayak is synthetic from Hypalon or PVC, then Polymarine Sealflex will seal your kayak'south pinhole leaks finer.

It is of import to follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer.

In brief, introduce the Sealflex into the inflation valve. (You might choose to use a funnel to keep things clean.) Adjacent, inflate to as high a pressure level as possible and roll your kayak effectually to distribute the Sealflex evenly inside the kayak. While continuing to roll the boat, pour out any excess liquid. Sealflex is air-curing and so, over the next few days, partially deflate and and so reinflate to introduce new air into the interior of the boat. This volition help with the curing process.

Hopefully this helps seal up your invisible kayak leak.

What patch fabric and adhesive should you utilise?

If your kayak has an air leak and yous've been able to find it, you likely used ane of the techniques above. Once you accept located the leak in your kayak, how do yous become about fixing it?

Decide the material used to construct your inflatable kayak. Information technology is important to know what your boat is made out of and then that yous can cull the correct fabric for the patch.

Inflatable kayaks are most commonly constructed from PVC or Hypalon (at to the lowest degree it used to be called Hypalon – for our purposes nosotros'll continue to do and so). Other materials are used as well, including Nitrylon and urethane.

PVC is the abbreviation for Polyvinyl Chloride. It is quite durable. Also, it comes in more than colors and is cheaper than Hypalon.

Hypalon is a chlorosulfonated polyethylene synthetic safe. It is very durable, especially when coated onto polyester or nylon fabric. It is also more expensive than PVC. For context, the U.S. war machine uses Hypalon-coated boats. So, Hypalon is good stuff.

The material determines the adhesive. Once y'all know the material with which your kayak is constructed, you can decide the adhesive you require to repair a leak.

Inflatable gunkhole adhesives come in the form of unmarried-office and ii-role formulations.

Single-function adhesives are applied just similar glue and are useful for quick temporary repairs.

Two-part adhesives consist of a resin and a hardener. Use these adhesives for more permanent, robust repairs.

If your boat is constructed from PVC, then the adhesive you crave is ane that is PVC/urethane-compatible. A solvent-based polyurethane adhesive does a proficient job of adhering both plasticized and un-plasticized PVC.

If your kayak is constructed from Hypalon, a solvent-based polychloroprene safety adhesive combined with its complementary curing agent will provide excellent adherence likewise as resistance to heat, salt water and humidity.

***PRO-TIP: PVC Adhesive does NOT stick to rubber. PVC Agglutinative DOES stick to Hypalon Adhesive. Hypalon Adhesive DOES stick to rubber.***

Steps to Repair Inflatable Kayak — Images courtesy of Polymarine.com

How do you lot really prepare that leak in your inflatable kayak?

You have located the leak, you know the material of your kayak and you have sourced a compatible adhesive. Finally, you can proceed to making that repair.

How to plug the pigsty in your boat. The size of the hole in your kayak determines the blazon of repair you'll be required to make. If the damage to your kayak is more than than 75mm in any direction, then you volition need to apply an 'inside patch', followed by an 'outside patch'.

An 'within patch' is one that you lot identify in the interior of the kayak. Here are the steps to apply information technology:

Cutting your patch so that information technology covers the damaged area plus an additional 30mm on every side. Make certain that there are no square corners. Either cut a patch that is circular, oval, or at least rounded off at the corners.
Using low-cal grit sandpaper, sand the top surface of the patch and the inside surface of the kayak that will receive the patch.
Wipe the two surfaces make clean. Apply a solvent cleaner and let sit a sufficient corporeality of fourth dimension so the solvent evaporates.
Mix the two-part adhesive according to the instructions on the containers.
Brush a thin layer of the agglutinative onto both the patch and inside of the kayak tube (this final part will be a little tricky then, exist conscientious). Let dry for xxx minutes
Brush a second adhesive coat to both surfaces and get out 5-fifteen minutes until tacky.
Lay a piece of polyethylene onto the tacky agglutinative of the patch. Roll the patch and polyethylene together and insert through the hole.
In one case inside the hole, place the patch in position and remove the protective polyethylene piece. (This is a high-risk motion so do it carefully and intentionally.)
Press downwards with strength. Using a smoothing roller, press difficult on the outside of the patch and scroll from one side to the other. The purpose is to remove all air pockets.
Get out the patch to dry for more than six hours
After the patch is dry, pump up the kayak to check for leaking air. Ideally, the inside patch should be air-tight.

Application of the 'inside patch' is challenging, but necessary for larger leaks.

Once you lot have completed and tested the 'inside patch' you can then proceed to apply the 'outside patch' as follows:

With the tube inflated, create a masking tape edge assuasive a couple of millimetres of 'stretch' room in the material.
Sand the surface of the kayak besides equally the patch until it has a matte end.
Wipe the kayak and patch surfaces and clean with a solvent cleaner.
Utilize a start thin coat of agglutinative to the kayak and patch and leave for thirty minutes until dry.
Apply a second coat of agglutinative to the kayak and patch and let sit 5-15 minutes until tacky.
Position and identify the patch on the kayak and smooth out whatever bubbling with a roller.
Ostend that y'all have properly affixed all of the edges.
Pull off the tape and remove excess adhesive with a solvent cleaner.
Let sit for a minimum of six hours before applying pressure to the kayak.
Allow 48 hours for a total cure and 7 days for maximum force.

While the procedure above seems long and onerous, it really isn't bad. All you need to do is locate the leak, abrade and clean the material, utilize some broth, slap on a patch, remove the air bubbles and wait. Boom! The repair is done.

If the leak is less than 75mm, you don't even demand to apply the 'inside patch'.

How practice you repair holes in the kayak seams? The repair template that you read in a higher place works smoothly for holes on the flat surfaces of your kayak. What virtually the leaks that class in the crevices and at the seams?

The truth is that the repair process for seams is virtually the same as for flat surfaces, only with a couple of extra 'features'.

Separated seams desire to keep separating. Even later on you apply an 'exterior patch', the pressure level on the seam to continue to separate can break your repair-job. With this in listen, you'll demand to brand a judgement call.

If the seam-hole is small-scale and less exposed to pressure, so try a topical patch offset.

If the seam-hole is greater than 75mm, you may demand to don your surgical gear and employ both 'inside' and 'exterior' patches.

The most successful seam-repair jobs that I have seen are ones that accept employed significantly oversized 'within' and 'exterior' patches. My sense is that the large patches absorbed the pressure level away from the seam, reducing the force that would usually press the seam and increase the size of the hole.

If you are unable to patch holes at a seam, just cover the hole with goop. This is more than of a brusque-term, agony-style hack.

Occasionally yous might find that your patching efforts are unsuccessful. Rather than throw your inflatable kayak into the trash bin, try this:

Abrade and clean the kayak surface well in the general area of the leak. (If you accept a leaky patch-job, then you can exist pretty sure that the leak exists somewhere at the edge of the patch.)
Cutting a disc or strip of insulating tape to encompass the puncture, or general surface area of leakage.
Liberally apply Aquasure/Stormsure or some other neoprene repair mucilage onto the offending surface area of the leak. If your showtime coat doesn't look thick, then employ some other.
Apply Sealflex (call back this stuff from before?) to the inside of your kayak.

The combination of your patching attempts, plus Sealflex on the inside, plus neoprene glue on the outside, might simply be enough to resurrect your kayak.

Y'all might have to rename it Lazarus!

What if you bound a leak mid-voyage? If you are venturing out on a multi-twenty-four hours trek in an inflatable kayak, bring: extra patches, 'Gorilla Tape' and a tube of AquaSeal.

Expedition repairs in imperfect circumstances require creativity and improvisation. If your kayak is impaired with a leak, then a large patch, a few strips of super-strong record and a silicon-based adhesive will be able to set up almost annihilation that mother nature can throw at your boat (within reason, of class).

Parting thoughts nearly fixing air leaks in inflatable kayaks.

Air leaks are simply a part of the inflatable kayak experience. Not an enjoyable part, but not an unexpected role, either.

The gear necessary to repair these air leaks is minimal and the process is unremarkably straightforward.

Make sure you have the correct patch material and adhesive, follow the steps, take your fourth dimension, and your efforts will breathe new life into that limping kayak of yours.

Lazarus, arise!