Norris Contreras's blog

Air-Filled Rafts Mantainance

 

 

The uses for inflatable rafts are extensive and they include rescue missions, white water rafting, and lounging on the lake to name a few. The reason why these rafts are lightweight is because they are fabricated out of plastic materials that are durable. Aside from being lightweight, not only are these rafts portable but they are completely waterproof.

 

In an hour or less, you can eventually do something to save the raft making it a serviceable and a functioning watercraft as well.

What you need are a few simple steps that when followed can fix your raft and allow you to head back to the lake. Using a pen or marker, what you need to do after finding the origin of the leaks is to encircle the specific areas where you found the leaks.

 

Considering that you might be dealing with multiple holes in the raft, cut out a piece of patching material for each hole. What this does is make the patches more durable.

To prepare the raft, you need to sand the specific areas down and the patches as well. This is to ensure that the patching material adheres to the surface of the raft when glue is applied. On most occasions, the rubber material used to make inflatable rafts have tiny bumps in the surface and so you need to sand this down until you end up with a surface that is smooth and shiny. Do not go overboard when it comes to sanding the surface or else it will become too thin that when held against the light appears sheer. Considering that you might over sand, you can cut another piece of patching material for the specific area. As you patch inflatable rafts, remember that you should always have raft repair glue and a small craft sized brush and be sure to let each application of glue dry for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Then you should apply a thin coat of glue not only to every hole but to the patching materials as well and allow it to dry for 10 minutes. Stick on the patches to the holes until they adhere to the surface. For all inflatable rafts, letting the glue dry completely is very important.

There is no need to deflate the raft before doing patch work but consider that if you apply too thick a coat of glue to the holes and patching material then they will definitely not adhere properly to the surface. For rafting repair kits, most of the time they will already come with patching material and glue. Should your repair kit be incomplete, you can purchase the lacking materials from your local sporting goods store. For more information check out this news on Be a Master in Boat Hole Mending .

 

 

Raft Patching Mastery 101

 

 

The uses for inflatable rafts are extensive and they include rescue missions, white water rafting, and lounging on the lake to name a few. When it comes to these rafts, they are usually fabricated out of durable plastic materials making them lightweight. Apart from being completely waterproof, these rafts which are lightweight are also highly portable. Even if the plastic material used for inflatable rafts is rigid PVC, these watercrafts are still susceptible to puncturing and tearing. It will be easy for you to do something if you are knowledgeable in how to properly patch the hole and something like this occurs. Not only will you be able to extend the life of the raft but also have a serviceable watercraft in an hour or less.

You can fix your raft and head back to the lake provided that you follow a few simple steps. After finding where the leak is coming from, encircle the specific areas where the leaks are originating from using a pen or a marker. Be sure to take a look at Inflatable Rafts editorial.

Considering that you might be dealing with multiple holes in the raft, cut out a piece of patching material for each hole. In all sides, the patching material that you need to cut for the tears in your inflatable rafts should cover three inches from each hole. This way the patches are more durable.

To prepare the raft, you need to sand the specific areas down and the patches as well. This is to ensure that the patching material adheres to the surface of the raft when glue is applied. The rubber used for inflatable rafts usually has tiny bumps on the surface and appears dull and you need to sand it down until all the bumps disappear and the area becomes shiny.

Do not go overboard when it comes to sanding the surface or else it will become too thin that when held against the light appears sheer. If you do over sand, you can remedy this by cutting another piece of patching material for the particular surface. Whenever you need to patch inflatable rafts, the tools you need include raft repair glue and a small craft sized brush and per application of glue it is important that you let it dry for 15 to 20 minutes. Read more about Inflatable Rafts article here. It is important that you apply a thin coat of the glue to all of the holes and patching material and let everything dry for 10 minutes. After this you should stick on the patches to the holes until they adhere to the surface. Allowing the glue to dry completely is necessary for all inflatable rafts.

 

Before patching, you need not deflate the raft and for all inflatable rafts you should be aware that if you apply a thick coat of glue to the holes and the patching material, they will not adhere properly to the surface. For rafting repair kits, most of the time they will already come with patching material and glue. If not, you can easily obtain the repair materials from your local sporting goods store. Be sure to take a look at Inflatable Rafts news.