# Ducky malfunction in Wall Slammer



## MountainMedic (Apr 24, 2010)

GAAHHH! wtf? never heard of this, and hope never to again as we just bought one ourselves. did you have the ring on the zipper?


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## Spade Hackle (Jun 18, 2007)

I"m guessing the zipper un-zipped, the zipper didn't break?...If the zipper is still intact then an o ring through the two zipper pulls should keep the zippers from un zipping, glad you are OK, zippiddeeee do dah.

SH


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## raymod2 (Jul 22, 2010)

The two zipper cars were properly secured to each other with the keychain-style ring. If you look closely at the video the zipper started coming apart from behind me and stopped unzipping when it reached the zipper cars which were near my feet.


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## bigben (Oct 3, 2010)

wow that's crazy man. you should try not inflating it super full. it sucks having a squishy boat, but they say that you should be able to push into the tubes on a tomcat like a half inch, instead of having it rock hard. that's nuts it unzipped like that tho. i've had a tomcat for a few years and never heard of that happening. did it zip back up ok??


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## bookmillone (Jul 31, 2007)

Wow, amazing will power. I didn't hear one swear word in entire video


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## fiya79 (Feb 9, 2010)

I have 6 tomcats in my rental fleet 3 tandem and 3 solo and have not had any zipper trouble. 

I had an aire cat that lost the split ring and unzipped a few inches over the course of a week. The zipper was in need of lube or it may have gone more.


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## kayakArkansas (May 14, 2004)

fiya79 said:


> I have 6 tomcats in my rental fleet 3 tandem and 3 solo and have not had any zipper trouble.
> 
> I had an aire cat that lost the split ring and unzipped a few inches over the course of a week. The zipper was in need of lube or it may have gone more.


 
That's what she said!


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## Moon (Jul 25, 2007)

Nice recovery......


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## mustloverafting (Jun 29, 2008)

Let us know what happens with AIRE. I have two Tomcats and an AIRE raft. I would like to know how they treat you. Great Video! Way to keep your head!


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## oarframe (Jun 25, 2008)

Whew, that must have caused unwanted leakage elsewhere. Nice job.

A little off post, but has anyone experienced tomcat bladder leaks? Wondering if the bladders have flaws?

I've had to patch 2 different peoples tomcats in the past two years, 1 with a small pinhole and another with a small leak right in the seam where it's welded (?) together. The first I atributed to grit, the second I told the guy to call the mfg, seemed like it was a defect.


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## AIRE Inc. (Feb 11, 2011)

Hey All, I thought I would chime in on this thread with some info. 

Raymod2, way to keep your wits about you! Blowing a zipper is as freaky as cracking a hardshell. Be sure to give us a call at 800-247-3432 or email [email protected] to get in touch with our customer service guys. 

At Oarframe. Welding vinyl is a little trickier than welding urethane (the temp. has to be perfect) and since the Tomcats first came out, we have changed the way we weld vinyl seams. That is really the fun of new products, it makes us learn some new things, buy some new equipment and get a little better.

Sheena


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## bigben (Oct 3, 2010)

hey so i've never greased the zippers on my tomcat, just washed them, and the floor as regurally as i can remember to. 
what do you use to grease them zippers??

...and whilst we've got an aire rep on this thread i got another couple questions...
what kind of adhesive works best for a trib's outer shell, and what (if anything) will work for the bladder??
my tomcat came with a little patch kit (just a small tube of glue and 2 little patches) -is that for the bladder or the shell??
staybond maybe?? used it a bunch on hypalon but not sure for using it on a tributary.

thanks in advance, and BTW, my tomcat has become my one true love... even cost me a girlfriend!! (cataract in a ducky, or home for the woman's birthday... you be the judge!!)


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## johnovice (Jul 17, 2009)

raymod2 said:


> ...There was no damage but I did have to let some air out to stuff the bladder back into the tube and zip it back up. I'm glad most of the rapids were behind me because it was tricky to paddle out with one partially deflated tube.


Very excellent that it could be zipped back up! Never had an issue, but I always have a pump in a dry bag behind me -- your video motivates me to contunue that! Can you say anything about how tightly you were inflated? Did you do the thumb-press-an-inch (or half inch or whatever) test? Thanks for posting the vid.


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## cayo 2 (Apr 20, 2007)

Wow that's odd,usually the zippers are a little hard to open. Over -inflated? I doubt it,i pump mine up hard as a rock,boat performs better.Over greased?Defective zipper?See if it happens again.

Always carry a pump,plenty of room in a tomcat/lynx.In the Force on day runs i:ll just carry the hose.You can inflate it up by mouth if necessary...get dizzy pretty quick though.Get some foot braces and thigh straps you wil notice a huge difference.Glad you are ok,rare problem.


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## AIRE Inc. (Feb 11, 2011)

bigben said:


> hey so i've never greased the zippers on my tomcat, just washed them, and the floor as regurally as i can remember to.
> what do you use to grease them zippers??
> 
> ...and whilst we've got an aire rep on this thread i got another couple questions...
> ...


Hey bigben,
Actually, the only lube we really recommend on boat zippers is soap water. (dish soap works the best). We do recommend T-Zip lube on our waterproof zippers, but those are only found in some of our dry bags and sealed floor pocket. Here is a link to a video we made about zipper care, it is a little dry, but gets the points across: AIRE - Basic Zipper Care and Cleaning - YouTube

We recommend 2 adhesives for AIRE and Tributary boats: Stabond or Clifton. Both these glue makers have a formula for PVC/Urethane and a formula for hypalon, so just be sure to get the formula for PVC/Urethane. NRS does a good job specifying the difference on their online store. I personally think the Clifton is a better choice for an on the river repair kit because it is just a one part glue.

The little tube of glue that comes with the Trib boats works ok on both the PVC and the Bladder. It was the most/best we could do for the glue because of overseas shipping regulation on "hazardous" materials.

For pin holes in the bladder, the Tear aid patchs are amazing, easy to use and hold well. Use the Type A for Urethane badders and Type B for vinyl bladders.

Well, I would say I'm sorry that the Tomcat cost you your girlfriend...but it sounds like it was for the better .

Peace, 

Sheena


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## Dave Frank (Oct 14, 2003)

I've never had any problems with the zipper on our big Aire, other than getting sticky, if not cleaned regularly.

I am still curious how this failed. Is there a zip tie at the starting end of the zipper? did that fail, or maybe never get installed in the first place?

I have been nothing short of thrilled with the customer service we've gotten over the years from Aire. be sure you follow up with them.


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## oarframe (Jun 25, 2008)

Thanks sheena. I'll second the tear-aid stuff for bladder repair. both patch jobs were done otr and are still holding.


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## raymod2 (Jul 22, 2010)

I filled the Tomcat with a Bravo 8 bellows foot pump. I did use all my weight on the pump but I read somewhere that those pumps can only go up to 3-3.7 psi. If I got it that high I figured it would drop back down when I put the boat in the water and it cooled down. It was in the water continuously for at least an hour before the failure occurred.

I don't put any grease on the zippers and I have never opened them. I do rinse the whole kayak down with a hose after every outing.


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## raymod2 (Jul 22, 2010)

@Dave: yes, the ends of the zippers are secured with a piece of string wrapped around twice and knotted. These strings were present and intact after the failure. I think those strings are just there to prevent you from pulling the zipper car all the way off the zipper. There is no stress on that part of the zipper.


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## raymod2 (Jul 22, 2010)

@bookmillone: My girlfriend had just swum at Sunshine rapid (through the hole on the right at the bottom of the rapid) and two other places. I was being a good sport because my time was due.


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## bigben (Oct 3, 2010)

right on sheena. thanks for the tips!!!


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## raymod2 (Jul 22, 2010)

I contacted Aire's customer service and they were very accommodating. They are sending me a new IK in exchange for the old one so they can examine it to determine if there was anything wrong with it. It sounds like this type of failure is very uncommon and they are interested in finding out the root cause. For my part I am purchasing a pressure gauge so I can be sure to avoid overinflation. I'll be curious to find out how much pressure my foot pump actually generates.


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## AIRE Inc. (Feb 11, 2011)

Sweet! We are looking forward to getting that Tomcat back in the shop. Your boat was definitely still under warranty which really make the process go smoothly through our system. FYI on the pressure gauge, we recommend around 2.5 psi for running pressure.

Peace,
Sheena


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## Mike Hartley (May 1, 2006)

I had this happen years ago on a new Force XL. It was clearly over inflation on my part. I was pumping it up when BAM!. Couldn't believe how loud it was. The zipper split full length and out came the bladder. Once I deflated it I was able to get the zipper to work again and never had another problem. I called Aire and they just said to make sure all of the zipper teeth were meshed together. I'm a little bummed that they didn't offer me a new boat!


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## spthomson (Oct 18, 2003)

Kudos to AIRE for their responsiveness. Very cool to have a rep posting in the thread.


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