Seam "repair" on hypalon dinghy

[lancelot9898]

I have a 25 year old 10 foot Archilles dinghy and it's still going strong. However there is wear on the fabric at some of the seams and rather than waiting for a seam to "explode" I thought maybe coating it with something like 5200. There is no air leakage at the seams, but slight seperation on some of the boat bottom seams in places.

[Minnewaska]

Maybe get a patch kit and put long patches over the seems. 5200 would make an extraordinary mess and I'm not sure would make any difference. I think either are only to delay the inevitable for a very short period.

[pdqaltair]

I've had multi-year success gluing long strips of Hypalon over worn areas using 5200. Much depends on the geometry.

[hellosailor]

A coating of 5200 or anything else on the outside isn't going to do anything except possibly prevent chafe.

You need to get hypalon adhesive (a pricey 2-part adhesive with a short shelf life) and some strips of hypalon and then lay good sized patches over the seams to take some of the pressure off them and "sister" them, as well as preventing more wear.

Although at 25 years, it just might be time to go shopping.

[lancelot9898]

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to try to get one more year use out of that Archilles by using something called Tear-Aid fabric repair patch sold my WM. However I went online and found it for half the price with reasonable shipping charge so when it gets here I'll give it a try. Also another thread mentioned using 3M 08001 super weatherstrip and gasket adhesive found at auto supply stores.