Ski Builders Forum

Has anyone tried to patch a hose? My inlet valve on the hose is leaking and I think it's because I placed it too close to the end of the hose and might be to close to the curvature near the end of the hose. The other hose is fine.

So I was thinking of cutting a new hole further from the end and trying to the patch the old hole. I have a piece of the original discharge hose I can use for patching.

So do you think a patch will work and what would be the best glue to use? Super Glue? I will patch from the inside and on the outside.

Something flexible like a silicone sealant/adhesive.

Super glue will be too brittle and crack/leak.

From my experience with the bladder I was given (double woven jacket, rubber inside layer), the only thing that would sufficiently stick to the inside of my bladder was high grade sealant (as stated above) or epoxy. I ended up using "sidewinder" caulk/sealant, applied generously over the leak/hole that I had. Granted the hole was maybe 1/4 inch diameter at the most, but it sealed the leak that I had.

If you have an unused area of the hose past the angle iron, you may want to see what glues or sealants will stick to it before attempting repair, to make sure it will hold.

Last night I looked at what I had on hand for glue that might work. I had polyurethane construction adhesive, silicone sealant and super glue.

Awhile ago I did an experiment using polyurethane construction adhesive to see if it would glue FG, wood, PTEX base and edges. It worked in my small test but the adhesive seemed to get pretty hard. Didn't think it work well in the application.

I've used silicone sealant before to seal up the ends of the hose but it never stuck very well, peeled right off. Maybe a silicone adhesive would have worked better.

All I had was Super Glue. So I cut 2 patches of left over hose, about 2in x 3in. Glued it together w/ Super Glue and rolled it w/ a rubber roller (type used for wall papering) for a few minutes to insure a tight seal. I left it over night. This morning I checked out. I could not pull it apart and twisted and bent it for a few minutes and it still held solid.

So I cut out 2 more patches about 3 x 3 inch and patched the hose in the same manner, patching inside and out.

Will let you know if it works.... and for how long. It it fails I'll try epoxy.

Have a look in to a tyre patch and the sealant they use.

It's holding so far. I ran a few tests last night. Inflated to about 35-40 psi which is as high as I press at. Tightened up all the other connections. Still a minor leak somewhere but the compressor only cycles on about every 1hr vs 15 minutes before. Not perfect but better.