Anyone patch a ballast Sac lately?

[MooseX]

F*ck! All of sudden during a starboard side fill my boat starts taking on a sh*tload of water....F*ck!!!

It was well above the floor and demanded prompt bailing. We'd just adjusted the prop shaft seal like 20 minutes earlier so right away we figured we'd botched that deal. Nope..that was fine

Turned out to be a 1" tear in my rear sac out on the 'finger'....a nearly new custom 2000 lb. Wakemakers Sac...F*ck!!!! Somehow 1 of the fat rubber grommets I put over the seat mount bolts had come off and ripped the perfect sac Those friggen bolts need to be trimmed down big time!! Like 'flush' if I really want to be sure this won't happen again.

I called Jason at WM right off and they said get a patch made from PVC 'rubber' and some glue...Glue? What kind of glue. We ended up using this VLP vinyl glue along with a patch we got from the inflatable SUP rental shop.

Scuffed/Cleaned the spot with light sand paper/ rubbing alchohol. Then applied liberal amounts of the VLP (liquid vinyl) glue AND laid down the patch. The patch wasn't that thick. Not even close to the thickness of the sac material. It did have the built in 'fabric' Jason mentioned was ideal. It was free and our only option in our 2 pony town... So we used a sh*tload of the magic glue. Tomorrow I think we'll ad a bit more glue and let cure for another day.

Do you think this mickey mouse fix will work?

If it doesnt I think the next step is to find a used beat up sac and take a chunk off that for the patch material..Maybe Wakemakers has some scraps layin' around..

[Bibbs]

First of all--Shitty when that happens. I have patched a sac on a corner seam using the glue and patch from the kit that was supplied when we bought a tube. It has worked for years with no issues. The patch was yellow which was nice so I knew exactly where the patch was to keep an eye on it. A tire shop should be able to patch it up if you dont have any luck.

[mnpracing]

NRS makes rubber rafts and repair kits for them. I bought some D-ring attachements from them that get cemented on, and the material that these D rings were connected to seemed to be a very similar material and thickness as our ballast bags. Worth a try. They use these on river rafts and Zodiacs. If your tear is not on a corner I would try it.

http://www.nrs.com/category/2991/rafting/repair-kits

[MooseX]

good tips thanks

I thought of another idea. Since it's only a 'slit' why not put a patch on the inside and the outside?

OR double up that thinner pvc fabric?

I still would like to hear what other owners did to deal with those long seat mount bolts. Seems like TIGE didn't need to use 3 1/2" bolts for a job that maybe needed 1 1/2 bolts

[majestic]

I bought corks at the hardware store and screwed them on to the bolts. Been there for years and still good.

[MooseX]

good idea.

BUT... I think I'm goin with 'surgery'. Get the dremel out and make them alot fkn' shorter

[wired1236]

Usually the trick to the "good" raft type glue is not to use too much. Definitely follow the directions to a T.

[IDBoating]

The magic fix for Hypalon, the material used in most whitewater rafts and that feels a lot like Fly High's fat sac material, is preparation of fat sac and patch with Methyl-Ethyl-Keytone (MEK) and an adhesive from Clifton called LA-4123. You do a couple of cycles of sand/clean with the MEK to both bonding surfaces, then apply a couple of light coats of the 4123 to the bonding surfaces waiting a few minutes between each one. After the last coat of 4123, you press them together with a hard rubber roller such as those sold for laying down vinyl flooring. The result is a SERIOUSLY permanent patch that's now thicker and probably stronger than the original material.

I have done this a few times and it works really well. Whitewater rafts are some of the most abused sports equipment you'll ever encounter (smashing against and dragging along sharp exposed rocks) so whatever works for them should work for our waterbags.

[MooseX]

the patch has to be PVC based rubber

My river guide freind tells me today that first the patch they "inside"...Then an outside patch

He says he's seen piggy back patches last 10 to 15 years on commercial rafts

DOH I had an extra patch right there!!!...we'll see...curing for 48 hours. High hopes tomorrow

Lately we don't have fill the sack that tight.

Were running less ballast in the rears... Maybe 7/8 full

3k and 5 people is just a bit too much for the 5.7 at this altitude... so we drop water till it feels just right

[IDBoating]

Here are NRS's instructions for patching rafts. They pretty much parallel what I wrote above.

[MooseX]

sounds like the real deal

I'm all about it. Theres' no way I'm buying another $750 sac 'cause a of a little 1" slit

[IDBoating]

If the edges of the slit are clean (not ragged), you'll get an even better repair. I would make the patch extend WELL past the slit so you have lots of surface area all around the slit for the patch to adhere to the sac material. Then prepare the sac and patch properly, use the proper adhesive, and give it time to cure properly (24 hours). That hard rubber roller part is really important, it insures a solid bond and gets rid of air pockets. I got my roller at a hardware store. The rubber part is 3-4 inches wide and I press down on it like a gorilla.

Edit: Mine looks like this:


I would check with WakeMakers or, failing that, Fly High themselves and get a piece of the same material to use as the patch. They might have an old damaged sac around from which they could cut a piece and send it to you.

[MooseX]

Success! Upon first inspection it had really bonded with the sac. Curing for 48 hours def' helped AND indeed the patch was much bigger than the slit

AND it def' held up fine with a full sac. No leaks

NEXT TIME I'll patch both the inside and outside.. Plus I'll use another chunk of sac the same thickness. I'm calling Wakemakers tomorrow to order another brick. I'll try and pimp them for some old sac' scraps

For now though this simple fix looks to be bomber

Thumbs up for VLP glue