Repairing a bladder

[Homunculus]

I would think Type B (vinyl) would be better for the inner bladder, right?
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checking the usage on packaging, Type A states polyurethane (among other things) and Type B states vinyl only. Considering the bladder I have is made of polyurethane, i'd think type A should be used. I will call OMS to be sure what the bladder is made of but i believe it's polyurethane.

 

[Waterwulf]

@Waterwulf - would not 1 mm patch of the same material as the bladder, especially a few patches, compromise elastability of the bladder?

Yes, I think it would. 1 mm is fairly thick. Use something thinner. I have a secret supplier of very thin material for patching. I had trouble finding a supplier of suitable material for patching a bladder. The problem was that I didn't want to buy fifty yards of it. So I ordered a cheap snorkel Horse Collar vest for nine dollars. That's plenty of patch material. The cheap ones don't have covers, it's just the bladder.

 

[Still Kicking]

checking the usage on packaging, Type A states polyurethane (among other things) and Type B states vinyl only. Considering the bladder I have is made of polyurethane, i'd think type A should be used. I will call OMS to be sure what the bladder is made of but i believe it's polyurethane.

Good point. I saw Type A is intended for "fabric" but the materials list includes polyurethane, so it makes sense to use that for the bladder. Gotta read the fine print!

 

[Litefoot]

No experience repairing wings, but I’ll offer some experience repairing whitewater rafts. In that world, Tear Aid (Gear Aid) are considered temporary fixes. Having a repair hidden by a wing cover would make me want to take extra care that the repair is done correctly.

If you glue on a patch, make sure to rough up the repair area with 150 grit sandpaper or a rasp. Clean with alcohol or MEK. Cut out the patch with no corners and large enough to extend well past the damage (2” past in the raft world). Trace the patch with a marker on the wing so you can glue and apply the patch accurately. Follow glue manufacturer instructions. Yes, I know a raft and wing are not the same thing. One is polyurethane and the other is hypalon. But I offer this as food for thought.

 

[Still Kicking]

No experience repairing wings, but I’ll offer some experience repairing whitewater rafts. In that world, Tear Aid (Gear Aid) are considered temporary fixes. Having a repair hidden by a wing cover would make me want to take extra care that the repair is done correctly.

If you glue on a patch, make sure to rough up the repair area with 150 grit sandpaper or a rasp. Clean with alcohol or MEK. Cut out the patch with no corners and large enough to extend well past the damage (2” past in the raft world). Trace the patch with a marker on the wing so you can glue and apply the patch accurately. Follow glue manufacturer instructions. Yes, I know a raft and wing are not the same thing. One is polyurethane and the other is hypalon. But I offer this as food for thought.

Good info. I would treat the Tear Aid as an impermeable membrane to cover the hole but i would not trust the glue to last. I would cover with a layer of Aquaseal, which I have found to be pretty indestructible.

One important thing to note: these are fairly small holes and if any repair were to completely fail in the future, it is not going to result in a catastrophic loss of buoyancy.

If the hole was large enough to allow rapid venting, I wouldn't recommend bothering to fix it. It's just not worth the risk of it failing in the future, probably when the wing is fully inflated and you need the buoyancy. In that case, just bite the bullet and buy a new bladder if possible or a whole new wing.

 

[tr3a]

Repaired a oms 32lb bladder. It was a small slit. Used Tear Aid type B as a patch & coated with Aquaseal.
That was 13 years ago, patch is holding up fine.
As a temporary fix before I could do the above fix I simply put a piece of electrical tape over the slit. That held up well until I was able to do permanent fix