On the weekend my Isup went of with a bang. While inflated a section of the seam let go and it literally exploded. Scared the crap out of my friends standing near by. I used it on Sunday and on Monday it was just sitting there when it went off.

See pics below. Does this need some hi tech glue for repair, should I get a professional repairer

I would say that this may have been a manufacturing weakness that never showed up as it was only pumped to around 12 psi due to the limitations of the pump. On Sunday I pumped it to 15-18 psi with a new pump. It is rated to 20-25. Im glad it didnt pop on the water as it probably would have sunk!!!

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Was it a bit like this?

more volume but not quite so colorful.

I think your chances of finding suitable DIY adhesives that ACTUALLY WORK are minimal. Better off looking for a reputable RIB repairer.

You will need to check how many if any of the stringers were torn, if too many it won't be worth repairing.
That board looks like it only has a single layer/seam on the side wall. If it's a cheaper Chinese board it's possibly not worth saving.

Bugger, I thought it would be a simple repair. Thanks for the advice.

can anyone recommend a repairer around Sydney?

The sup is a reputable American brand and one that is touted to be able to be inflated to 30+ psi.

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Waiting4wind said..
Bugger, I thought it would be a simple repair. Thanks for the advice.

can anyone recommend a repairer around Sydney?

The sup is a reputable American brand and one that is touted to be able to be inflated to 30+ psi.

Contact the seller/distrib for advice?

Sorry this maybe a stupid question but why do you buy inflatable sups? I have never used one but can only imagine they won't last as long and must be a pain having to pump them up

Here are just a few of the reasons to buy an inflatable:

1. They are cheaper than a hard board.
2. Some of them are lighter than a hard board.
3. They are more durable than a hard board.
4. They are safer than a hard board in terms of body/board contact.
5. They will fit inside your car, no matter how small it it.
6. It will fit inside your house/flat/upper floor apartment, no matter how small it is.
7. You can take them on planes with no extra cost or hassle.
8. Good for use on rivers and other rocky environments.
9. In many countries they are far more popular than hard boards so they are easier to sell than a hard board and the depreciation is less.
10. No more tail tape.

The only reason not to use one really is performance. For the majority of paddlers worldwide, performance is less important than the matters of transport and ownership listed above. It's just that those people don't generally contribute to internet forums like this one.

If inflatable technology improved to the point that they were truly close in performance to hard boards, the hard board manufacturers/shapers would be looking for a new job.

^^^^^ that

also my primary water sport is windsurfing and I have 5 of those boards, so the space saving and mobility of an inflatable SUP is what keeps me on the water SUPing.

ive had hard board sups and Tbh the only conditions they compromise is on a wave.

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Can't warrent their work but their is a Rib repair man on Captain Cook Drive Caringbah that i drive past reguarly, and they have some expensive looking boats being repaired.


<div class="listing-name">Razorback Inflatable boats

<div class="listing-category">Boat & Yacht Builders & Repairers

<div class="listing-address">54b Cawarra Rd, Caringbah, NSW 2229

9526 5688

It actually front Captain Cook Drive!

Cheers mate I might have to try one some time

Isups .......noooooooooooooooooo never......rather cut my arm off and stick pins in my eyes.

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Slab said..
Isups .......noooooooooooooooooo never......rather cut my arm off and stick pins in my eyes.

Understand where you're coming from Slab - and in a perfect world everyone would have plenty of room to store solid boards, roof racks on their cars (or a car at all!) and be able to travel with a 10ft+ hard board!!! Clearly iSUPs aren't on the same performance level as solid boards, but they do serve a purpose! At the end of the day, is it better to not be on the water at all, or to be out there having fun (even if it's a little 'bendy'... ) on an iSUP if you have no other option?

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roscoe1974 said..

Slab said..
Isups .......noooooooooooooooooo never......rather cut my arm off and stick pins in my eyes.

Understand where you're coming from Slab - and in a perfect world everyone would have plenty of room to store solid boards, roof racks on their cars (or a car at all!) and be able to travel with a 10ft+ hard board!!! Clearly iSUPs aren't on the same performance level as solid boards, but they do serve a purpose! At the end of the day, is it better to not be on the water at all, or to be out there having fun (even if it's a little 'bendy'... ) on an iSUP if you have no other option?

I am just funning really......i am lucky enough to be able to transport no problem and have the storage space so the choice is a no brainer to me. isups have their place in the world and are a good option for many......but I just can't get excited about them If I am honest.

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Slab said...

roscoe1974 said..

Slab said..
Isups .......noooooooooooooooooo never......rather cut my arm off and stick pins in my eyes.

Understand where you're coming from Slab - and in a perfect world everyone would have plenty of room to store solid boards, roof racks on their cars (or a car at all!) and be able to travel with a 10ft+ hard board!!! Clearly iSUPs aren't on the same performance level as solid boards, but they do serve a purpose! At the end of the day, is it better to not be on the water at all, or to be out there having fun (even if it's a little 'bendy'... ) on an iSUP if you have no other option?

I am just funning really......i am lucky enough to be able to transport no problem and have the storage space so the choice is a no brainer to me. isups have their place in the world and are a good option for many......but I just can't get excited about them If I am honest.

Roger that, and agreed!

Thanks for the advice, ^^^ I did find a professional repairer nearby so its in there now for the fix.

Interestingly, he said mine was the 4th one that came in for similar repair after the very hot long weekend.

He said that an Isup should NOT have more than 10psi if its going to be left in the sun for any period. Given the large volume of air he said the pressure can expand to more than double.

I had about 15-18 psi in mine, it was under an awning but with low angle of sun in the morning it probably got direct heat.

If the above is correct, it does put a real damper on Isup use in sunny Oz. Your not always going to have a shady spot on the beach and to deflate and inflate for multiple use during the same day is a pain.

Manufacturers may need to think about a pressure safety valve that will pop when max pressure is exceeded.

A pressure release valve is quite a good idea. And I'd also wish they'd use multiple chambers, so that if one does go pop, or you get a puncture, the entire board doesn't deflate in the middle of the sea. As iSUP board design at the moment goes, a 10 dollar inflatable kids' toy crocodile has more safety features.

But having said that, I recently left my Starboard Astro Deluxe inflatable in the 30C+ direct sun on a veranda in Ibiza for 2 weeks pumped up to 20+ PSI and had no ill effects. The seam constructions of iSUPs vary quite a lot and the one you have looks like the weakest possible way of doing it. I think you should name the brand.

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Waiting4wind said..
He said that an Isup should NOT have more than 10psi if its going to be left in the sun for any period. Given the large volume of air he said the pressure can expand to more than double.

Not so much, I did the computations some time ago (in French: www.gong-galaxy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=100263 )

If a board is inflated at 15psi at 15C:
Heated at 30C, pressure is 16.74 psi
At 100C (boiling water temp) we are not even at the double, but only 24.85 psi
These are theoritcal figures. In real life pressure is a bit less as the plastic will stretch a bit with the temperature.

Glueing inflatable boards is still a highly manual process (many people pulling hard "by hand" on sheets of plastic), so bad boards can happen, and as Area10, not all brand use the same process.

^^^^ ok so I'll go back to my first assumption, it was probably a manufacturing fault. the board has been running for years with around 10-12 psi. I just recently bought a pump that was capable to get it to 15-18. So with the heat I guess the weak area must have been exposed. It was 34 Celsius that day!

i didn't want to get into brand bashing hence didn't name the board. But it's no secret it's a Red Air board, hence I was surprised that it popped given the claims that you can pump them up to 30+ psi.

Hmm...Red Air are normally very good. I think maybe you've just got unlucky with this one. Do they really claim 30 psi? I didn't think any brand recommended over 20-25.

I suppose that Red Air could claim that since you weren't using the pump that was originally designed for the board, they can't be responsible for the damage. Manufacturing practices are changing all the time to allow higher pressures. Having said that I've still got an ULI that was only the second iSUP ever in Europe, and I've left it pumped up outside all summer at over 20 psi and it's been fine. It weighs as much as a truck though, and is probably tougher...

^^^ I've seen some posts here from a dude from Red Air saying you could use 30+ psi without a problem but I don't think it's officially rated for that.

Btw I was using a Red Air pump, the new Titan double cylinder model, however the board was out of warranty, otherwise I would have made a claim. Just bad luck I guess.

I've had 30psi in my RED (12'6 Race) just to see (using the service station air hose and an adapter)...but not as a regular practice. IIRC it's rated to 25. Bear in mind also that you'll lose some pressure when the board hits the water and the air inside cools. I think the gains in stiffness are pretty marginal beyond about 25-26psi anyway.

I've left mine on the car in some hot sun at 25+ and all that's happened is it's come off the car with a bit more rocker than when it went on ( D'oH ). You might have got a dud.

overheating can be a problem, try to buy one with a Goretex ventyl build in, these are safe

Not a USA brand. Did you try contacting Red Paddle Co. Australia first? And which pump and gauge were you using? Some pump can easily go over and gauges are always finicky.

Important to appreciate that inflatable boards are textile products. They are a fundamentally different animal to hard boards! They are made of cloth, and fibre and glue. These things all have a failure rate. Every iSUP brand experiences failures. Cloth and dropstitch comes in massive rolls from another manufacturer. The best iSUP brands build test boards on each roll to see if the cloth quality is up to scratch - many get rejected. (The cheap brands don't). Glue is a notoriously unstable product, mix proportions, humidity, age etc, all have a profound impact, plus of course there is a massive human factor - the glue has to be applied properly. And, again unlike solid boards, there are specific stress points on an inflatable, such as along the seam, where a bad glue job will result in catastrophic failure.

etc etc etc. End result - all iSUP brands experience failures. Leaking boards, twisting boards, oddly rockered boards, and the occasional burster, like this one. Every iSUP brand has them. They do not mean that the brand is bad. What determines whether a brand is good or bad is how great a proportion of failures they have, and - most importantly - what they do about them. Normally, for a Red Paddle Co board, a burster like this is a pure simple straightforward warranty return. Take it back to the shop you got it from and it will be replaced. The brand has by far the lowest warranty return rate of any of the brands as they spend the most time on the construction process. So when one does go wrong, they can do the decent thing and sort it.

However, the situation with this board is slightly more complex as I can see from that blue underside colour that it's actually a 2012 model. So you've already have several years of good use out of it. And a lot can happen to a board in 3 years. We have had instances of people leaving the board against a radiator pipe in a garage over the winter, which has completely cooked out a bit of the board - again, it's cloth; even the best cloth in the world won't cope well with daily boilings! Or left with a massive boat winch parked on top of it for 6 months, etc etc. In other words, there can be other factors which can cause a part of a board to degrade over time, which then can cause failure when it gets pumped up to pressure at the beginning of a season. So whether this would constitute a warranty replacement will really depend on the goodwill of the retailer and importer in your country. What we have done in the past with situations like this is to offer a replacement at cost, seeing as you've had 3 years of use out of it already, and obviously getting a new board now actually amounts to a pretty major upgrade, as Red Paddle Co boards have improved dramatically over the last 3 years. So this might be worth going for.

As for a repair - it's pretty damn hard to rebuild a board that has opened up like this. I have seen it done, but only by a seriously good PVC repairman who really really knows their stuff, and has lots of experience working with iSUPs. Realistically, if your retailer will offer you a good deal on a new replacement, I'd suggest that that will be money better spent.

Finally, re the pressure - a good iSUP (ie Red), if there are no cloth or glueing flaws, can cope absolutely fine with high pressure. We normally run our fleet at 25psi and they are totally fine with it. As was nicely dealt with in an earlier thread, the actual pressure difference when the board is out in the sun is not a significant factor. Having said this, the new stiffer construction on the 2016 Reds is such that there simply is no need to go over 22psi, so we've dialled back on the max pressures for this year.

Hope this helps clarify a few things!

Cool post BillyD; but are you telling I have to sell my 2015 Sport 11" already? What's up with the 2016 construction and how has it been improved?

Heh, no, relax. The improvement has been about achieving greater stiffness with less pressure. If you're happy with your 11'0 and can pump it up no problem, then you're all good. The 2016 boards will be lighter, but not enough to justify trading up from your existing board. Hope you're enjoying the 11'0 - definitely my favourite board in the range!

Whew... I like my Sport 11'; it's a big step up from my old Astro Touring.

My 2 year old JP Australia cruiser $1600 exploded exactly the same location as yours. I made an attempt by using the repair kit at 24 hours process and tested it the following arvo for 12psi under the sun then BANG in less than 30 minutes! But this time a meter farther on the same side :) They say this is a common adhesive failure from most Chinese made inflatables. And it could not withstand the Aussie weather! I reckon a pressure valve would solve the problem :) Patch Bang Patch Bang Patch Bang Paddling dangerously!

Fark me. There's been a stand up surf mat at our local lately. The weather's starting to warm up too. Better keep my distance. "Farkin Bang!" as Uncle Chop Chop says. Cheers for the warning.

If the air inside is dry, then the pressure difference when hot is minimal.

If there is a bit of water inside, then the water will easily evaporate when heated and the pressure difference is massive.

Same thing with windsurfers that have a vent plug -- if the board is dry inside then you don't need to loosen the vent. As soon as some water gets inside then you must loosen the vent before the board gets hot, otherwise you end up with a delaminated board.