Repairing an inflatable kayak’s bladder is not difficult. All it takes is method and the right equipment. Here is the procedure to follow to repair a hole in the bladder of an inflatable kayak.
Inflatable kayaks are usually made up of 3 bladders: 2 side bladders and 1 for the floor. These bladders are located in an outer textile envelope that acts as a protection against friction and abrasion. However, it can happen that one of the bladders bursts during an impact with an object
What is required to repair an inflatable kayak?
All first of all, you need :
- 1 tube of PVC glue or polyurethane glue
- 1 pVC sheet
- 1 pair of scissors
- 1 sheet of sanding paper (220 grain)
- 1 spatula to apply
- 1 weight (a bottle full of water will do)
What is the procedure for repairing the kayak’s bladder?
- Unscrew the valve and remove the bladder from the nylon envelope.
- Unroll the kayak
- Inflate the bladder to isolate the leak. If the leak is located at a weld, the repair is not recommended because it has little chance of lasting
- Pencil in the area of the leak for future reference and deflate the bladder
- Lightly sand the damaged surface over an area of about 6 cm around the snag. Do this on a flat, dry and clean surface
- Clean with soapy water and dry completely with a cloth
- Cut a patch of about 5 cm on each side. Round off the corners to prevent the patch from catching and peeling off
- Glue the PVC patch with the glue in a circle that gets bigger and bigger
- Spread the glue evenly over the patch to the edges of the piece.
- Glue the area to be repaired
- Apply the patch to the area to be repaired
- Push out any air bubbles with your spatula
- Clean excess glue from around the repair patch
- Place a weight so that the patch remains in contact under pressure with the bladder to be repaired
- Wait 24 hours without touching it
- Put the bladder back in its housing
- Screw on the valve
- Inflate the bladder to 1/3 to give it a shape
- Pull on the front and back of the kayak so that the bladder falls back into place
- Finish inflating