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 Refurbishing an inflatable dinghy's valves		  New Topic  Topic Locked
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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts
Initially Posted - 08/09/2012 :  17:08:01  Show Profile  Visit delliottg's Homepage
Has anyone done this? I brought our Avon home over the weekend because it kept losing air, particularly in the starboard tube. I got it set up in the backyard on a picnic table, inflated the tubes (port, starboard, keel) and waited to see how long it took for the deflation to occur. Surprisingly, it didn't. I thought maybe it was just because it was a sunny day, and the rate of inflation due to heat was roughly that of air loss or something along those lines. That turned out to not be the case, but it wasn't until this afternoon when I was scrubbing the boat down with soap that I saw who the true culprits are. Two of the three valves are leaking, very slowly, but the soapy water showed the starboard and keel valves slowly blowing bubbles. If I cranked them down, the leak pretty much goes to nothing (which is why they hadn't leaked earlier). Is there maintenance that can spruce up the valve seals? I know I can replace the guts of the valves, but that looks to be a bit of a chore to do.

I did find [url="http://www.wavetrain.net/the-lunacy-report/352-inflatable-dinghy-maintenance-avon-valve-rebuild"]this post on how to replace the valves[/url], which is pretty well done.
David
C-250 Mainsheet Editor


Sirius Lepak
1997 C-250 WK TR #271 --Seattle area Port Captain --
Edited by - delliottg on 08/10/2012 14:18:31

Sloop Smitten
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1181 Posts
Response Posted - 08/10/2012 :  12:33:56  Show Profile
David,
When I worked in micro-electronics we had vacuum chambers we had to pull down to almost zero vacuum. To assure the threaded seals on the chamber were not an issue we sealed the threads with vacuum grease which is essentially a heavy grease. You might try some marine grease on the threads and sealing surfaces and see if that helps. If you have access to a heavier grease than marine I would use that. The rubber/plastic is probably getting old and hardening and the grease may help with providing that last bit of seal that is needed.
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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts
Response Posted - 08/10/2012 :  13:12:20  Show Profile  Visit delliottg's Homepage
Thanks Joe,
I cranked down the valve caps over night, and while the boat subsided a bit, it was pretty cool last night. A couple of hours in the sun and the tubes are all nice and taut again, so I think your suggestion may be worthwhile.

Think white moly grease would do the trick? I have a tube of that.
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Sloop Smitten
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1181 Posts
Response Posted - 08/10/2012 :  14:02:55  Show Profile
Moly should work. Go light. You're not trying to seal a crack like when you are mounting deck hardware. A thin film is fine.
Edited by - Sloop Smitten on 08/10/2012 14:03:25
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Tradewind
Admiral

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USA
531 Posts
Response Posted - 08/10/2012 :  14:08:42  Show Profile
I recently replaced a valve on my old Avon, not a difficult job. Here's a link for parts.

http://shop.inflatableboatparts.com/home.php?cat=49
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Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.