Freddie Starr ate my inflatable! Is it repairable?

[lampshuk]

Well, probably not Freddie: more likely to be the rats/rodents that nested there over winter.

Is this repairable? Any recommendation on a product to use?

 

[lustyd]

You'd probably want to use some acetone to remove the black strip, then sew it and glue on a patch followed by gluing on the black strip. Certainly repairable though

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Try manipulating a patch inside and then gluing in place as a suitable back patch for any outside patch if you cant get the black strip off sufficiently to patch reliably .

 

[neil_s]

You're lucky - my dinghy was folded up when the rat got at it - chewed right through several thicknesses. The dinghy did get repaired, though. It had a row of patches all down one side!

 

[stu9000]

Looks like a pvc dinghy. Cheap glue option is the plastic pipe weld glue as un pipes for your kitchen sink. Silicone solvent glue. However its a fiddly area so probably worth shelling out 10 quid for a tin of two part impact adhesive. As mentioned try removing the rubber strake. Its a pita to get off. Heat gun and blunt knife, screwdriver and persistence. But go easy. Inside patch but fiddly but hole big enough I think. Use a plank of wood and a screwdriver handle to press out the bubbles and leave over night under a fee bricks before trying the outer patch. Both the patch and the boat need roughing up. Acetone to degrease. Parch should go at least an inch beyond the tear.

The challenge is to get a lasting repair but these 2 part glues are pretty good.

I recently repaired a 3 inch tear in the floor using this stuff.
PVC Inflatable Boat and RIB Repair 2-Part Adhesive Glue by RIBstore - 125ml, 250ml or 1 litre

I think I used about half the tin.
Good luck

 

[Taliesin]

Plus an air rifle should Roland come back!

 

[lampshuk]

Thanks, all. Looks like the Ribstore kit is favourite. Shipping is a bit steep but still amounts to the same cost as Force4's PVC repair kit, which only has a single-part glue.
Even if I manage to get it airtight I've still got to remove what I assume is rat piss congealed to a tar-like colour and texture.

Flippin' creatures! There must be a thousand better places they could have nested...and what dietary deficiency they are correcting by wolfing down PVC eludes me.
If this lot would confine themselves to biting the insulation off live 240V cables we might let evolution take its course...

 

[MonniotC]

"If this lot would confine themselves to biting the insulation off live 240V cables we might let evolution take its course... "

Ha Ha. Darwin awards for rodents.