How do you re inflate a fender ?

[VO5]

Here is a puzzle...

I have a big round ball fender that had to be transported. To save space, it was collapsed. I wish this had never been done.

The fender has a little plug on an arm that operates from the inside supposedly to block the entry hole once the fender is full. This plug and arm is frozen pointing inwards. Additionally it has a tiny screw cap that completes the seal.

I have considered making a tiny hole in the plug and reeving a thread through it, filling it with as much air as possible, and then pulling the plug to close it, all of this in a cold room, such as a refrigerated store.

Then, on completing this part of the operation, screwing on the cap that finally seals it.

Has anyone encountered this difficulty and managed to overcome it , or is the fender ready for the skip?

 

[Rigger Mortice]

Been there. Done that.
Mine ended in the skip.

However, I'm sure that there's a way!

 

[electrosys]

Been there. Done that.

+1.

What I eventually did was admit defeat for a perfect solution. Then I blew the thing up with a bicycle pump fitted with a sports-ball needle. Extracted the needle, allowed the excess pressure to escape, then dripped some 5min epoxy into the hole to seal the valve for the duration.
Result is a rather limp excuse (as the actress said to the archbishop ...) for a fender, but better than nothing. Dunno if there's a better way - if so, I'd like to hear it.

I wonder if it might be possible to glue a bicycle valve in place somehow .. ?

 

[savageseadog]

Put it in a vacuum chamber