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dinghy question

3K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  mrwuffles 
#1 ·
In getting ready for cutting some more lines to shore and getting ready to anchor/moor out we went and got a 2.5hp yamaha outboard for the dinghy that came with the boat. The dinghy is a boat us 7ish foot model with a hard transom. It has wood or plastic slats in the floor.

It looks like it should have a valve on the inflation sockets so that when you disconnect it it does not lose air. But when I unhook the pump quite a bit of air comes out before I can get the plug in. Is there supposed to be a valve in there similar to a tire so that you can get more air in it? I don't have the manual for it so I am not sure if there is a trick to getting the valves to work or if they are just not functioning correctly.

Also the floor leaks some water in as soon as its put in the water. Not a lot but enough to be annoying and get your feet wet. Is there an easy way to find the leaks and repair them? Or is a wet floor just the nature of inflatable dinghys?

The dinghy seems to be made well enough if I can just get it to inflate all the way and not leak water in. The 2.5hp motor seems very adequate for it
 
#2 ·
A picture of the valve would help. There are some standard ones out there, but there are too many to zero in on a specific one without a picture or a very descriptive write up. However, most have a pin/knob in the center that is turned one way or the other to open or shut the flow of air.

As far as bottom leaks go...I have had the problem, but was never able to arrive at a suitable diagnosis process. I eventually replaced the dinghy for this and other reasons. You may want to try putting it up on sawhorses and fill the inside with water as you look beneith for the leaks.

Good luck.
 
#3 ·
HUguley-

The inflation sockets usually have two pieces... one screws in to the opening, and you remove that to deflate the boat and it has a check valve in it. The other screws into the first piece and if you unscrew that alone you'll be able to inflate the boat without losing air because of the check valve.

Here's an example:



The big hex nut is the part you'd unscrew to deflate the boat. The cap that you see removed is the one you remove to inflate it.

A photo of your boat's valve would help.
 
#4 ·
Cool. I was originally going to post and ask about buying a new dinghy but as I was typing it occured to me that maybe I can just replace these valves to make it work and searching for replacement valves I found someone who said they had trouble inflating theirs because they did not read the manual and you had to turn something to make the valve function. They were not too specific about what.

I will pull it out of the water and mess with it a bit and see if I can make them work. The air comes out really fast so the valve is either really rotten which seems unlikely since the rest is in decent shape or it is in the open position from when it was deflated last.

I know I have seen posts on here with people asking about tradeoffs for different types of dinghys but trying to search for them turned up so many posts that it was kind of hopeless. Found an interesting thread about porta botes though.
 
#5 ·
The little cross-piece in the image on SD's post is the valve stem. If this is pushed in and then turned, it locks the valve open. This is so that the dingy will quickly deflate.

That's probably a reasonable definition of what's happening to yours?
 
#6 ·
Not all of them use a valve with a stem that can be turned and locked in the open position. Achilles, for instance, doesn't.
 
#7 ·
Yep I pushed in the valve and turned it and it inflated properly! Yay! I put the dinghy up on some chairs and put water in it as suggested and found where the bigger leak was. Probably some smaller ones there too but I will start with the obvious one and see how it works.

I think it will be much more stable in the waves when fully inflated. :)
 
#8 ·
Now that the dinghy is not looking like its going to be replaced I need to find some oar locks for it. I am coming up completely empty on getting info about it though. I think it is probably a generic model that everyone gets and sticks their name on it. Mine says Boat US on the side. The plate says Severn Boats LTD Model 8.2. It mentions being manufactured in Bosnia and imported by severn so that is why I am thinking there might be lots of these with different names on them.

The socket for the oars is just a straight pipe with no threading or teeth but it does have a rivet or a pin down in it to keep the lock from falling out.

Am I just stuck buying some and returning them until I find the right type or are there only a few obvious types. I looked at WM but theirs seemed to have teeth on the post.

Is there an easy way to tell a hypalon from a pvc dinghy? I need some glue to fix the leaky bottom. Will one type work for both?
 
#9 ·
we just got an old avon and it has the same valve pictured is there some sort of adapter you need to inflate these? there are three of these valves and i cant find any other way to inlfate it with a normal round compressor tip, am i missing something?
 
#10 ·
On mine I pushed in the little cross-shaped stem and turned it and the valve locked close so air would go in and not come out.

I bought hypalon glue and glued up the hole and it has yet to leak! So either the glue works on both or I have a hypalon dinghy. :)

Going out now to do some more motor break in!
 
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