Repairing Your Inflatable Pontoon Boat

Repair Any Leaks as Soon As Possible For Maximum Boating Life and Enjoyment!

Repairing an inflatable pontoon boat is similar to repairing other inflatable craft in the fact that you can use the patch and seam- repair kits that are available. You will probably use the PVC repair kit much more often than you would on regular inflatable boats. There is also another option available for pontoon boat repairs and that is adhesive paint. Deciding on which of these products to use depends upon the size of your hole and its location on your boat.

The kit that you would want to use for simple smaller repairs would be a regular patch kit.  These kits include a cleaning solution, a small piece of material that you can use to make a patch, and a bonding compound. You just need to place the material over the hole to figure out what size of patch you will need and cut away any extra material. You then clean the area around the hole thoroughly. You press the patch into place with the bonding agent and your hole is repaired. You can check with the kit instructions to be sure the amount of time you need to take before you can get the repaired area wet. It only takes a short time for the bonding agent to set up, so you should be able to be back in the water within a few short hours.

Seam-repair kits are also available that can repair tears along the seam and around the air valves.  You just pull the material from both sides of the seam together and apply the bonding compound. As this compound dries, it creates a new seam. Again, you can check with the instructions in your kit to decide when it is safe to get the bonding compound wet.

A PVC kit is more complicated to use as it involves heat activating the glue that will hold your patch in place. You first need to clean the area around the hole, preferably with a strong cleaning solution such as MEK (methyl ethyl ketone). You should then take a Scotch Brite pad and buff the area around the hole until it is completely smooth. You should let your boat sit for a period of time to enable any water vapor to evaporate and any dust from the buffing to settle.  

You are now ready to mix your glue solution which is composed of glue and accelerator that should come in your PVC repair kit. You should mix these two ingredients in proportions of 98% glue and 2% accelerator. You apply this compound within the first two hours after you have mixed it to ensure the best adhesive results. You apply this glue mixture to both the hole and the patch, which you then let set for about fifteen minutes. You then apply a second coat and press the patch into place. You can use any source of heat to activate the glue, but a pan of boiling water is recommended. You place the bottom of the hot pan on an area of the patch for approximately two minutes. You then move on and repeat this procedure until you have applied heat to every area of the patched area. The glue solution needs to cure 100%, so you should leave your boat sit for approximately one week. In the case of doing these repairs away from home, the solution is 80% cured within an hour or two, so you can place the boat in the water in this shorter amount of time to enable you to get home, although this is not recommended to ensure a lasting patch.

Adhesive paint is also another option when repairing an inflatable pontoon boat. This paint spreads on your boat with a brush just like any other painting. This paint is recommended when the material of your boat has pinholes or has ripped due to a thinning of the material which is normal over a period of time. As it dries, this adhesive paint will fill in the holes and reinforce weakened material.

By repairing holes and leaks immediately with the proper repair kit, you can be assured of enjoying your inflatable pontoon boat for a long time to come.

See Also: Rigid Inflatable Boats are Becoming More and More Popular

About The Author:
Cara Kelley is a successful author and regular contributor to best-inflatable-boats.com.