# Raft Repair



## redrockmtn (Jun 11, 2009)

I have a 1989 West Marine sportboat raft made of hypalon. The floor has has been covered/coated with some junk (has major leaks) and I am thinking of doing a Flexane FL-80 overcoat to cover the entire bottom as explained in this thread. The pictures of my raft are here. 

My questions are, 1) Should I attempt to remove the older added strips of patch material before using the flexane? 2) Will there be a problem with cleaning and attachment of the flexane to the current bottom material and glue? 3) Would water get trapped (from the top inside of the raft) and be troublesome in between the old floor material layers (that are separating) and the flexane? 4) Another option it seems would be to use this hypalon wear patch material.

Also someone cut out a 5/16" single board for the floor, he sanded it good and rounded the edges and painted it. Would you recommend using that or making a new floor piece (with 4-5 crosslength pieces with hinges and aluminum rods). 

Another thing is that one of the 690 BV halkey roberts valves has a very minor slow leak, could I clean or is it complicated to replace the valve. Also the transom drain valve has a thin flat round rubber piece with a stem and I pulled it out to clean it and now can't get it back in. This is not that big of a deal because there is also a tapered rubber plug also which I can just tap in extra good.


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## kvrdave (Feb 22, 2008)

Okay, this assumes that you are getting the flexane cheap because it isn't really cheap stuff, and judging from the pictures, I don't think you want to put a whole lot of money into this boat, correct?

Okay, I did not get rid of the older patch material on my raft, and I don't think I would recommend getting rid of it. It goes over very nicely, and adds another layer of protection. It seems to help hold patch jobs in place, but I wouldn't want to bet on it being very good patch material by itself, if that makes sense.

You should have no problem with the flaxane sticking to the bottom of your raft. It is like tar, and I doubt there is anything it won't attach to. It would be interesting to put it on a CPVC pipe to see how it does. I'd bet it would stick to that, even. I forget my original thread and precisely how I prepared the bottom, but I think it was just cleaner (I used rubbing alcohol), light sanding to rough it up (and I don't know that it really needed it, but I am use to doing it when I do a patch), and then alcohol again to get the sanding dust off. That's it, and it will stick like mad.

Keep in mind that on mine, I did the entire underside because it was an inflatable floor, and I had hundreds of pinhole leaks that were a constant problem This cured it, and while the rest of the boat ended up dying on me, the floor was amazing. BUT, when I did my bucket boat, I only went along the areas that were worn, and the areas where there had been long patches. If I were doing your boat, I wouldn't do the entire underside. Not becuase it won't work, but because you probably don't need that. I went all the way down the tube because the wear pad was pretty darn worn. But everywhere else, I just went across, sealed over some problem areas, reinforced at the first thrwart, where I seemed to get leaks from my cooler barging into the rocks, etc. That said, I have never had any water get trapped from the top by getting into areas. The flexane will not give pockets for water to be trapped, and the top should be patched in a traditional fashion if you have any large "flaps" around.

That's all I can do for you. I haven't had to replace a valve or put a floor down....yet.

The bottom right picture of the red rubber desintegrating. That would be an excellent test of the flexane. Sand away all the lose stuff, and spread it on, and I'll bet it does wonders. Good luck.


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## raftus (Jul 20, 2005)

I'd definitely sand - or better yet get a rotary plastic brush to use on a drill - the kind you might use for paint striping, and go to town roughing up everywhere you plan to add flexathane or patch material. Then use toulene to clean up the dust. Hyside also sells these brushes in two or three different grit levels - they work a lot better than metal brushes. 

Caswell Inc. - Abrasive Nylon Bristle Brushes


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