{"id":6280,"date":"2021-01-14T01:38:57","date_gmt":"2021-01-14T01:38:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/notsealed.com\/?p=6280"},"modified":"2023-07-26T09:58:03","modified_gmt":"2023-07-26T09:58:03","slug":"how-to-patch-a-vinyl-inflatable-towable-tube-fast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/notsealed.com\/how-to-patch-a-vinyl-inflatable-towable-tube-fast.html","title":{"rendered":"How to Patch a Vinyl Inflatable Towable Tube Fast"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As a family, we love to spend quality time on the river with our Sea-doo jet ski and towable tubes. The kids love our Airhead 3-person biscuit and always invite their friends out for a day on the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our G-Force Airhead towable tube is 7 years old now and we finally got our first puncture on it. It was quite a letdown (no pun intended) as we had a big day planned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The towable tube would only last about 5 minutes before the air pressure was not enough to keep the tube afloat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than throw it out we looked into repairing it ourselves. As we have a 3-Person Airhead biscuit a quick look online showed that the removable bladder was made out of heavy-duty vinyl. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means that you can use most generic vinyl pool repair kits to patch these towable tubes. We have listed the steps in this post on how to patch a vinyl inflatable towable tube in under 20 minutes. I used this vinyl repair kit.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Repairing holes in inflatables<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"Airhead<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
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  • The first step is to remove the bladder from the towable tube. There should be a zipper or velcro seam which you will need to open up to pull out the bladder.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Pump up the bladder to 2psi or just under full pressure.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n
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    \"gforce<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
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    • Use some dishwashing liquid mixed in a bucket to make a bubble solution.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Wash down the biscuit with the soapy solution to find the hole. If you don’t have access to some soap solution you can put the tube into a pool, ocean, river, hot tube, or bathtub to find where the bubbles are coming from.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Dry the area around the hole and mark with a permanent marker.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Use some 400 grit sandpaper to lightly rub the area around the hole to allow the vinyl patch to hold onto.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n
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      \"How<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
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      • Clean the hole with methylated spirits on a rag. If you don’t have access to metho just use warm water. make sure it is fully dry before moving onto the next step.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Appy the vinyl glue around the hole on the towable tube the same size as the patch.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n
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        \"G-force<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
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        • Cut the patch to a round shape so the corners don’t catch when you re-insert the bladder.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n
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          \"Airhead<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
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          • Place the new patch onto the glue and press down firmly. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Use a credit card to smooth out the excess glue.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Place a flat heavy book onto the patch to make sure pressure is applied for 24 hours. Gladwrap can be placed between the patch and the book to protect the book. I found the patch was already dry and stuck on fast within 30 minutes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n
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            \"patching<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
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            • If you want a stronger patch like if it is a big hole or tear you can use another patch over the original patch. Just make it slightly bigger. This will be a very strong bond.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n
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              \"Towable<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

              Don’t forget to test your vinyl inflatable repair before you put it back into the nylon cover.<\/p>\n\n\n

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              \"vinyl<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

              That is how to patch a vinyl inflatable towable tube fast with minimal cost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Check out our quick video on how we use the G-Force 3-person tube.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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