Paddle Board Woes

[Irish Rover]

We have a 9' SUP which we bought in Decathlon a few years ago. It's always been stored on deck lashed to the rail. We bought a new boat in Croatia earlier this year and I took the opportunity of being in the EU to buy some stuff for the boat from SVB including a new 10'8" SUP. I didn't inflate this board until early June and now after a couple of months use it's literally falling apart. I'm talking to SVB about it and it's getting complicated. I'll post more when we reach a conclusion or an impasse. Anyway, we recommissioned the 9' board earlier this week and all seemed OK until today when we came to the boat and found it deflated - a section of seam on the side has lifted. I've glued it now and waiting to test until tomorrow.
The temperatures here since early June has been hitting 35/36⁰ every day, and occasionally higher. I'd imagine something stored on deck under direct sunlight gets much hotter. I'm assuming therefore excessive pressure has caused the failure. I don't really have somewhere shaded to store it unless I deflate/inflate every day. So, what to do? I was thinking to leave the board a bit under the recommended pressure of 15psi, say 13psi. Anyone any recommendations?

 

[Fr J Hackett]

We have a 9' SUP which we bought in Decathlon a few years ago. It's always been stored on deck lashed to the rail. We bought a new boat in Croatia earlier this year and I took the opportunity of being in the EU to buy some stuff for the boat from SVB including a new 10'8" SUP. I didn't inflate this board until early June and now after a couple of months use it's literally falling apart. I'm talking to SVB about it and it's getting complicated. I'll post more when we reach a conclusion or an impasse. Anyway, we recommissioned the 9' board earlier this week and all seemed OK until today when we came to the boat and found it deflated - a section of seam on the side has lifted. I've glued it now and waiting to test until tomorrow.
The temperatures here since early June has been hitting 35/36⁰ every day, and occasionally higher. I'd imagine something stored on deck under direct sunlight gets much hotter. I'm assuming therefore excessive pressure has caused the failure. I don't really have somewhere shaded to store it unless I deflate/inflate every day. So, what to do? I was thinking to leave the board a bit under the recommended pressure of 15psi, say 13psi. Anyone any recommendations?

Perhaps UV degradation has played a part, can you get a cover for it?

 

[stranded]

Maybe consider a solid sup if you don’t deflate it anyway?

 

[ylop]

If 35C is an official “met office” temp that’s measured in the shade. It would not be at all surprising if in the middle of the day objects left in direct sun were reaching something like 50C, and if they have strong colours maybe even more. The way your soften the glue on inflatables to unbond it is with heat - and a hair dryer and enough time will get there so no surprise if your paddle boards get to that. The pressure inside will increase with temperature and will help push apart any weakened seem. Perhaps some carefully constructed covers - not too tight fitting would keep them shaded - realistically though glued inflatable seems are always going to be an issue at those temps. Does anyone make a fully welded seam version (not sure if that is possible).

 

[Aja]

"Charles’ law, also sometimes referred to as the law of volumes, gives a detailed account of how gas expands when the temperature is increased. Conversely, when there is a decrease in temperature, it will lead to a decrease in volume."

 

[Fr J Hackett]

"Charles’ law, also sometimes referred to as the law of volumes, gives a detailed account of how gas expands when the temperature is increased. Conversely, when there is a decrease in temperature, it will lead to a decrease in volume."

V(1)/T(1) =V(2)/T(2)

Since the temperatures are in degrees absolute then the difference in volumes for relatively small changes in temperature is smaller than people with only a moderate understanding of the gas laws might suspect.

 

[Irish Rover]

I'm sure there's an element of UV degradation but the leak is in an overlapped seam so it looks more like the glued seam has failed due to a combination of heat and pressure. A cover will protect it from UV but I guess it won't do much to reduce the heat or pressure and I'd rather not be messing with putting it on and off. A solid board would obviously solve the problem of leaking but they're heavier to be hauling around the boat and multiples of the price of an inflatable - it'd be cheaper to replace the inflatable when it fails.
I'm a proud Paddy and I'll be having none of yer King's laws, thank you all the same.
I'll inflate it tomorrow and see if the repair holds and leave it a couple of psi short of the recommended 15.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

I'm sure there's an element of UV degradation but the leak is in an overlapped seam so it looks more like the glued seam has failed due to a combination of heat and pressure. A cover will protect it from UV but I guess it won't do much to reduce the heat or pressure and I'd rather not be messing with putting it on and off. A solid board would obviously solve the problem of leaking but they're heavier to be hauling around the boat and multiples of the price of an inflatable - it'd be cheaper to replace the inflatable when it fails.
I'm a proud Paddy and I'll be having none of yer King's laws, thank you all the same.
I'll inflate it tomorrow and see if the repair holds and leave it a couple of psi short of the recommended 15.

Sadly as the combined gas law indicates a small drop in pressure is unlikely to solve your problem.

(P(1) V(1))/T(1) =(P(2) V(2))/T(2)

Ye canna beat the laws of physics.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I'm a proud Paddy and I'll be having none of yer King's laws, thank you all the same.
I'll inflate it tomorrow and see if the repair holds and leave it a couple of psi short of the recommended 15.

The Charles involved was a French scientist of the 18th century.....

 

[Ribtecer]

I recently had my board with me on the Gulf Coast of Florida in very hot temperatures, my board also has a recommended operating pressure of 15psi. I have a little SUP pressure gauge and I kept mine at 10 psi in that heat. Still very usable at that pressure.

A cover does sound like your best bet.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Don't forget that once it's in the water it will quickly adopt the ambient water temperature, you don't want a floppy board or for that matter a floppy anything, it could have embarrassing consequences.

 

[earlybird]

The Charles involved was a French scientist of the 18th century.....

For constant volume it's really Gay Lussac's Law. He was a straight Frenchman I believe.

 

[Irish Rover]

The Charles involved was a French scientist of the 18th century.....

Ah, that's grand then. I thought it was the lad over in that place where they're always digging for gold in the street.

 

[Irish Rover]

For constant volume it's really Gay Lussac's Law. He was a straight Frenchman I believe.

Was there 2 of them?

 

[Bodach na mara]

To add to the contribution by ylops, the temperature in Scotland has been nowhere near 35 °C recently yet one day last week I could barely touch the deck, let alone sit on it. It's surface temperature must have been well over 60°C.

Maybe your solution lies in storing the SUP out of the sun, probably deflated.

 

[Irish Rover]

Maybe your solution lies in storing the SUP out of the sun, probably dedeflated.

We use the boat practically ever day and my wife uses the SUP every day we're out so that's not going to happen.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

For constant volume it's really Gay Lussac's Law. He was a straight Frenchman I believe.

Ah but there is the contribution by Lord Kelvin to take into account.

 

[earlybird]

Ah but there is the contribution by Lord Kelvin to take into account.

Absolutely!

 

[KompetentKrew]

SVB are abysmal when you have a problem. I wish you better luck than I had - I actively try to avoid them now, and it's a pain in the ass. I spent thousands with them and my letter to the CEO was ignored, all over a very small matter.

 

[oldbloke]

You've got a nice cool shaded area under your boat