As careful as I've tried to be, sometime during my trip to Hawaii last week, I got 3 holes in my DSS LCD 30 wing bladder. 2 of them are in the same spot, just on opposite sides of the bladder, so clearly from one hit from a backplate corner (I guess). The 3rd was a little lower, on the same side, so possibly the bladder was folded over and damaged in the same hit. All there were simple cuts about 1/4" long.
Anyway, I patched them all using some Aquaseal and pieces of bicycle inner tube (all carefully cleaned first with Ditzo DX-440). I let it all cure overnight and inflated it orally this morning to as full as I could. It seems to be holding air, but I'll let it sit for a day or two to be sure.
Is this likely to be a solid long-term repair?
And, as Tobin reports that this is by far the most common type of damage to a wing bladder, is there some way to prevent it from happening again? The first idea that comes to mind is using some big pieces of car tire inner tube to line the interior of the bottom portion of the wing shell. Maybe even use a dab of Aquaseal to glue the inner tube to the inside of the shell, to keep it on place. Or maybe even get a motorcycle tire inner tube with a diameter to match the size of the wing shell and make a tube for each side, instead of just square pieces for the front and back.
Would this work? Cause problems? Anybody have a better suggestion (other than "be more careful"? I was already trying to be really careful)
Anyway, I patched them all using some Aquaseal and pieces of bicycle inner tube (all carefully cleaned first with Ditzo DX-440). I let it all cure overnight and inflated it orally this morning to as full as I could. It seems to be holding air, but I'll let it sit for a day or two to be sure.
Is this likely to be a solid long-term repair?
And, as Tobin reports that this is by far the most common type of damage to a wing bladder, is there some way to prevent it from happening again? The first idea that comes to mind is using some big pieces of car tire inner tube to line the interior of the bottom portion of the wing shell. Maybe even use a dab of Aquaseal to glue the inner tube to the inside of the shell, to keep it on place. Or maybe even get a motorcycle tire inner tube with a diameter to match the size of the wing shell and make a tube for each side, instead of just square pieces for the front and back.
Would this work? Cause problems? Anybody have a better suggestion (other than "be more careful"? I was already trying to be really careful)