# How to reseal floor to Zodiac tube



## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

Does anyone have any experience in resealing the floor of an inflatable to a side tube. I am looking at a Zodiac T240 of unknown age and the floor has pulled away from one of the side tubes. There are some leaks that I have identified and should be fixable, but I am uncertain as to whether there is a procedure by which I can reseal the floor to the side tube. Any suggestions or experience would be ost appreciated.

Thanks,

Jim


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

I would contact Zodiac and see what they recommend. They may have an adhesive that is specifically designed to do the job.


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## hellosailor (Apr 11, 2006)

Jim, Zodiac has had problems in the past. With their older construction and glued seams, the glue degraded with time and the French government required their rafts to be condemned after 10 years. Zodiac will not repack or service life rafts more than 10 years old as a result of that policy--and their inflatables can't be built any better than life rafts.
So, caveat emptor. 

Whether you have PCV or Hypalon, there are specific adhesives and primers to be used with each, made by Bostik and other companies. Anyplace that sells inflatables should be able to sell you the right primer and adhesive (usually as kits) but if you contact the vendors directly, you can usually avoid the "marine" prices. These are just industrial adhesives, nothing specially "marine" about them.

Proper surface cleaning and preparation are essential, follow the instructions and when the expiration date comes, throw out what's left. Usually, once you have a lot of seams letting go...all you can do is chase them until the problem gets too big and you have to get rid of it.


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

Thanks very much to both of you for the suggestions. I am in the process of contacting Zodiac. Of course I find out now that that is in Stevensville Md. where I was a few days ago. I'd like to salvage this if it can be done with reasonable effort and cost.

Thanks again,

Jim


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## hellosailor (Apr 11, 2006)

"where I was a few days ago."
Isn't it ALWAYS that way?<G> Could be worse, if this was August and Zod was following French tradition, they'd simply be closed for the whole month, too.<G>


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## agaliha (Nov 28, 2006)

I had the same problem last year with my 7"6" Zodiac. I bought some hypalon adhesive from Defender, sanded and cleaned the old surfaces with Tolulene, and followed the directions on the glue container. It worked great. I'll be I can get another 10 years out of the boat.


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## camaraderie (May 22, 2002)

Jim...is it hypalon or PVC. The hypalon needs 2 part glue.


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## Valiente (Jun 16, 2006)

hellosailor said:


> Usually, once you have a lot of seams letting go...all you can do is chase them until the problem gets too big and you have to get rid of it.


I have a second-hand 1996 Zodiac Yachtline 1 C310 RIB in PVC, and the seams are failing, despite my habit of covering the tubes with a Sunbrella cover for the last five seasons. The above is true, but there is an alternative: Retube the RIB (if that's what you have). The RIB part is quite durable, and considering the cost (about $2,000 to $2,500) to retube in 17" Hypalon (vs. 16" PVC), it's a potential alternative.

Having said that, however, I see that a local inflatable place has nine foot Aqua Pro aluminum hulled RIBs for $2,300. They are around 80 lbs. and may make more sense because I can bridle it on deck with a halyard and avoid the cost of davits (which are useless out of harbours and will bugger up the windvane).

Lastly, you can sometime go on cruising nets and find returning couples letting beat-up but sound Hypalon inflatables go cheaply. I certainly would never buy PVC again, even in a northern latitude.


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

Thanks again for the advice. The fellow represetning Zodiac (800 768 8883 & ask for Brick) described the repair process and advised on not attempting it as I could be doing the same with the sections of seams that now appear to be ok. He said that if I were to repair it, to use a 2 part MEK glue. Having just inflated and looked at it again, I have concluded that this is too ambitious for my skill set. Enough other things to do to bring my Columbia 8.3 back to the condition it was in when I bought it six years ago. Guess I'll keep on the lookout for a cheap used inflatible that is in better condition.

Since I just found this site, I expect that the subject may have been discussed before, but appreciate all of the input from you. I expect that a freind and I will be visiting here frequently for help.

We are on the Piankatank River off the Chesapeake Bay.

Thanks for all the help,

Jim


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## oscarzulu (Feb 4, 2007)

I tried to do the same thing to the transom of a Zodiac MKII.

The glue was outrageously expensive and a foredeck (or even a dock) was/is no place to try to do anything like this.
You need a garage and to be out of the sun/heat. The adhesive was basically like contact cement and after my first seam attempt I realized that sitting on a stool would be far more productive.

And then a couple of days later Island Water World ordered too many dinghies for the Moorings fleet and put 'em on sale. Got an 11' RIB with anchor locker for $2000. On the ride back I knew it'd be a long time before I'd be going back to a soft bottom.


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## wfish11 (Mar 27, 2012)

It's 2012 now and this won't help this guy probably but for any new readers you need to get HH-66 glue from SailRite. It's about $20 a quart and it beats the heck out of $30 a tube for 250mls at WM. A quart will do it but if you' re clumsy like me you might need two. I found a dingy in the dumpster with the entire bottom torn out and repaired it for about $50 and a lot of labor.

I put a video up about how to do this on YouTube Here's the address

Dingy.mov - YouTube


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