XS Ribs: How to Repair Glue PU Polyurethane, Hypalon Inflatable RIB Boat Fabric Tube Collar TORNADO

XS Ribs make Commercial and Leisure Rib Inflatable Boats, PU (Polyurethane) or Hypalon tubes are a no cost option when you order a new boat. A lot of people say it is very hard to fix OLD PU boats, this is not true and we show you here that the process and glues used are the same as you use on Hypalon. The boat we use in the Video is 25 years old. In addition to making new boats we also offer professional repairs and re-tubes of all makes of craft in either PU or Hypalon.
This video was made in our BUSY factory hence all the clanking in the background
Check out our fibreglass repair video and our re-tube video as well
Contact us to discuss options to repair / re-tube your boat.
XS Ribs E [e-mail] T: + 44 (0) 1707 331 389 W: www.xsribs.com

[@berniecoles2337]

Great tutorial by a British craftsman, many thanks.😁👍

[@stuartbrown1677]

Thanks guys That was really educationally and enjoyable Kind regards Stuart in Ireland ☘️

[@nickcoudounellis2020]

I repaired my inflatable boat using a $2 bicycle tire puncture repair kit over a year ago. To this day the patch has held on and no signs of air leaking

[@luisgcasiquet]

Billy is a great professional

[@christophermartin541]

Awesome video. You guys are obviously pros.

[@kipwyand7869]

Great Job Billy! Fantastic informative video!

[@bahamasking2063]

Great video. Good job Billy.

[@michelcarriere7]

Very well done video. I learned a lot.

[@alistercarmichael4990]

Excellent. I very much appreciate you taking the time to explicitly make this video. I have am starting out with a small inflatable, that needs some minor repairs and this gives me the confidence to cut it open and sort it properly. I'll be sure to check out your shop for the materials I need. Worth noting folks that you should obtain the TDS (technical data sheet) for any chemicals. This should state good stuff like pot life, drying times, mix ratios and minimum operating temperature. Big chem companies are more likely to provide good documents. Always mix chemicals as directed by the TDS. MEASURE your volumes or you can frag the job.

[@XsribsInflatableBoats]

Not sure all that detail is on the TDS !

[@EAFISHINGNYC]

Nice job looking great 👍

[@lucannewland1187]

Excellent video!

[@VictorLopez-pj3pi]

Thanks..Bro.. from Caribbean 👍🏽✨Island.

[@alanhinchy4810]

Great video thanks 👌👌

[@ISMACGREYSUB]

Super-pro work..amazing

[@seafarijapan]

Great Information thanks

[@frankcosgrove9958]

Great vid

[@ifell3]

Very informative 👍

[@carloscollins6813]

Great video! Thanks. Would acetone work if I was using 303 marine/recreational? I believe it contains silicone.

[@ehabmourad2326]

You are really a professional person. Can you send me the type of glue and how to use it, I will be thankful

[@JK-zl7vv]

I wonder why a "V-shape" grinder is not made to thin down and tapper the edges of the patch, so it would prevent anything from being able to catch on, or lift the edge of the patch, kind of like the way a tire patch is made, the edges around the patch tapper down very thin, so a grinder with two stone wheels attached would be easy to make, so that the patch could be pulled through the V-shape of the two grinding wheels, to tapper the edge of the patch to a thinner material. 😎👍

[@XsribsInflatableBoats]

What you are describing is called a Skiver, a machine invented 150 years ago to thin the edge of leather in the shoe making trade. When gluing the bond is achieved at a molecular level by the glue passing through the surface of the fabric to the core weave. Boat fabric is a 3 ply thing with THIN layers of PU or Hypalon / Neoprene applied to the "inside and outside" of the core weave material. The Core weave material is 80% of the overall thickness of boat fabric. To make the edge flush you take off the inside coating layer and the core fabric. When welded you get a smooth edge, this is how we do the seams on a XS, we use a 60 year old, ex shoe makers skiver, take off the inside PU coating and the core weave leaving just the outside coating. If you glue a skived edge the surface to surface bond of just one coating layer is not strong and the edges peel up as soon as it is in sunlight. Welded PU like this has a smooth seam and is incredibly strong, on this channel in our How to Make a Boat Video we show the welding process and the seam it gives. Hypalon / Neoprene is a much softer material and as you can not weld it, and gluing the soft skived edge is almost impossible, this system is not used with Hypalon.

[@jeffdege4786]

Clark of Emily&Clark's Adventure KZbin channel has an idea - forget trying to make old tubes airtight. Stuff them with inflatable dunnage bags.

[@danielweeks3723]

My teacher felt like acetone on hypalon flattened out a nice grind so he didn't use it after the grind. grabs better kind of like velcro. I've repaired quite a few rips that cross a seam, Thirty years later I'm still using the same method.

[@XsribsInflatableBoats]

In the voice over we explain you ACETONE only on PU and only sandpaper / grind Hypalon so not quite sure what point you are making that is not in the video ?

[@mnnchalaybysamarirfan9978]

Great ....I also patched my rubber boat in a simple way

[@jonwallace7015]

Yes

[@AaronGoSoFast]

My 41 year old zodiac got a tear in the side that was somewhere between 6 & 10 inches. I didn't use an inside patch because I couldn't figure out how the hell I'd be able to access it without having to tear an access hole right next to it. So I just used this weird black, frizzy fishing line I had lying around and I stitched it up. I then applied a thin layer of Goop but just on the stitches. After that dried a bit I laid down a patch using stabond and a piece of hypalon. It's lasted 6 years so far.

[@teamfu3l]

I have a question, i have a Polyurethane or pu rib tube what glue should i use?

[@ribfix558]

Having been building and repairing inflatable ribs and dinghies for 20 years I had never come across p.u fabric, so didn't really know what I was getting in to when I accepted 2 p.u repairs. I used alpha adhesive on it and it worked fine but I will say... p.u is no where near as flexible, or workable as hypalon or pvc and from my experience the bond on the particular boats I was working on where quite bad, I started with a small little finger split in a seam and it kept growing with every brush stroke while trying to apply adhesive.

[@XsribsInflatableBoats]

Well we have been doing it for 35 years and have come across all types of fabric, alas your comment above does not really reflect what we see, a bit like saying my Ford is very rusty with out saying how old it is, and for boat fabric what weight of material it was, and the maker and how it was made welding of gluing. So whilst I have rusty old Ford I do not think it is reasonable from my limited experience of Fords to say ALL fords rust badly and worse than any other car ......

[@danielweeks3723]

On large rips I like to put hash marks to line the top and bottom of the cut. Retubing it? No. The oldest boat I've worked on was a WW II boat. Black neoprene. I use a pusher 1st to get air out then a roller for a strong bond.

[@jasonbrooker7625]

Where can I get the glue in Australia for Hypalon (Tassie or Victoria)

[@RONIOC]

Great tutorial, How come thinned glue in the open container he is using lasts so long without kicking/hardening?

[@XsribsInflatableBoats]

Surface area, needs to be in contact with air so the volume of glue is deep in the pot but also a bit of trickery with the camera as whilst the same pot newly mixed glue all the time

[@S8250503]

Excellent video, thank you. Can you tell me what make and model the scissors are please and where to source in UK? Thanks in advance.

[@XsribsInflatableBoats]

We use a good quality Drapers Shear, widely available on line, nothing special

[@fastasfox]

My tornado 5m is an original boat with the black circular logo with the letter T It's well past a re-tube but i figure as it's so well made then it's worth new tubes soon.....what kind of cost am I looking at?

[@XsribsInflatableBoats]

Many thanks for watching, As a rough guide a 5 m retube starts from £3,895 Inc Vat

[@stephenaltoft6792]

Good job billy but does your mate ever shut up

[@dridimoez1494]

after sanding the Hypalon, we must clean with what product please ?

[@XsribsInflatableBoats]

The Video shows a PU patch being applied when ACETONE IS USED, Acetone, Toluene or Thinners for the glue will all be OK on Hypalon but you do no HAVE to clean Hypalon to make the glue work after sand papering, whereas with PU yo. Regardsu HAVE to use the Acetone Regards

[@kevinbonilla3834]

i have a 17’ rhib with hypalon, the tubes are individually sectioned off, but one section has a slow air leak and over 4 hours it’ll lose its pressure, how can i fix it because i’m struggling in finding where it’s leaking

[@XsribsInflatableBoats]

If you can not find the leak you can not fix it...... You HAVE to find the leak !

[@ceannscriteach81]

If you haven’t done already try spraying soapy water onto pressurised tubes, concentrate around seams and any part of the tube that looks worn, also the valves themselves can fail over time and are relatively easy to replace with a little patience. The soapy water will create bubbles where air is exiting the tubes making it easy to identify the leak. If the leak is small sometimes it can take a while for enough bubbles to form.

[@RONIOC]

Great video! How does glue in the bucket stay usable for hours?

[@XsribsInflatableBoats]

Low surface area compared to the volume and we thin it slightly

[@hannawaygreen]

If it goes all the way across and rips to the seam , what do you do?

[@XsribsInflatableBoats]

Alas that will need a professional repair, however not all damage can be repaired and that depends on the age of the boat

[@AEeminc]

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@baptistelandelle2160]

Hi, great job. What's the name of the glue, that you are using for polyuréthane ?

[@XsribsInflatableBoats]

The Glue is Bostik 2402

[@joeerskine3920]

Can you come to Washington state, usa?

[@MrRobinski]

What about gluing the end tubes or the transom to the pvc tubes if coming away?

[@XsribsInflatableBoats]

That is death of Most old Inflatables and gluing old previously glued fabric is notoriously difficult. even more so with PVC, If that job was brought to us we would decline to do as we know with 35 years experience it will be virtually impossible to do and even if it takes will not last, sorry to be so dismal about it.

[@MrRobinski]

@@XsribsInflatableBoats yes good to know, I was thinking have opened up a seem so I can get inside and use screws as well as glue to fix it back on. Then seal patches from inside so no leaks and reseal seam be a more lasting solution. I just don't know which glue to use that I can get easily in Australia? Thanks

[@XsribsInflatableBoats]

@@MrRobinski I have no idea what is avaialable but for sure screwing it will NEVER work.... the glue will fail and the tubes will pull on the screws and leak

[@superklazzz]

Hi. I have trouble choosing what brand of glue to get for a patch on an old hypalon boat. Should I only go with the expensive Zodiac brand or any generic 2 part hypalon glue should work ?

[@XsribsInflatableBoats]

It just has to be a GOOD hypalon Specific Glue so if the generic one is good fine, if you are unsure and the Zodiac is original then that will be best

[@superklazzz]

​@@XsribsInflatableBoats Do you have any reliable brand in mind ? I see you're using Bostik 2402, should I go with that ?

[@XsribsInflatableBoats]

@@superklazzz Yes Bostk 2402 is the best option

[@superklazzz]

@@XsribsInflatableBoats Ok thanks a lot. One last question, for the last coat of glue, when you heat up the patch and the boat : when do you know the glue is ready and you can apply the patch ? It has to still be tacky or completely dry ?

[@XsribsInflatableBoats]

@@superklazzz Just Tacky

[@kristaps2010]

can I use white spirits instead of acetone with same effect? thank you

[@XsribsInflatableBoats]

No HAS TO BE Acetone nothing else will work

[@kristaps2010]

@@XsribsInflatableBoats hi my friend, you pleasently surprised me with your reply. Didn’t expect that and I appreciate your time for me. It is very important that myself and many others get the process right. Turns out Acetone plays an important rola and will make a difference between quick patch and strong long lasting patch. I have to add D-rings to my hypalon kayak. Acetone is the way to go!

[@XsribsInflatableBoats]

@@kristaps2010 If the boat is Hypalon you do not HAVE to use acetone but you must NOT use white Spirit as it will leave a residue that will affect the glue. If you can not get Acetone (Or Toluene for Hypalon but not PU) you can just use sandpaper to lightly rough up both surfaces.

[@kristaps2010]

@@XsribsInflatableBoats Yes boat is hypalon material. This is just amazing. To find info like this I would have to dig through hundreds of comments and forums and then there would be another 20 different opinions. When advice comes from a man with a knowledge of his trade I’ll take it all day long. I will add it to my list of valuable DIY notes. I am happy you saved me from messing up my kayak and spending valuable time and nerves trying to sort it out. You’re the Best!

[@ralph9987]

Which glue can I use to stick a PVC patch onto a hypalon boat?

[@XsribsInflatableBoats]

Really you should use just hypalon for the patch and hypalon boat. But if you cannot do that barrier coat the PVC with a coat of 2 part glue, leave 48 hours to dry then use 2 part hypalon glue to stick the patch on. NO ONE GLUE WILL DO THE JOB

[@ralph9987]

@@XsribsInflatableBoats thanks. It's hard to avoid when all the grips and fitting here are all PVC 😒

[@Dr.Vincent_D_Gilmer]

I'm so happy to watch a video like this and not see a bunch of safety nerds talking about gloves and masks

[@prayfawind]

where to buy the glue?

[@XsribsInflatableBoats]

Most shops that sell inflatable boats will have the glue.

[@jemmer1343]

Sound not that well