I had some difficulty inflating my float tube the other day and was wondering if others have had a similar experience. I own a Fish Cat4. Over a period of five or six fishing trips my inflatable inner tube started to turn and twist inside as I deflated it and folded it up for travel. Finally, I started to get a somewhat distorted float tube; i.e., it looked like the insides had areas where the tube had ballooned out. I finally had to get inside and try to straighten out the inner air chamber. It is now looking a little better, but I still have some folds and I no longer have the smooth surface I used to have. Is this normal? Is there anything I can do to keep this from happening again, or improving the situation?
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[#0000ff]That is to be expected from completely deflating and folding up your craft for transportation in a vehicle with limited space. That is one reason most tubers only partially deflate their tubes...if they have a vehicle with enough room to allow them to carry their craft without complete deflation. The other reason is that they can hit the water faster if the tube is mostly inflated already.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That is one of the di
vantages of vinyl air chambers. Because they stretch more, they will "balloon" more when fully inflated and will distort more from their intended shape than urethane.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I might recommend unzipping the cover and inflating the air chambers slowly to allow them to expand as much as possible, without confinement. It would be even better if you could remove them from the tube, but without a special valve tool that is difficult.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I did not notice any "wrinkles" in your tube on our last couple of trips. If anything, I observed that you may be over-inflating your tube. I think I made a comment to that effect. [/#0000ff]
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I haven't noticed the tube twisting up yet. I've had mine out a couple of times because I have a small leak that I cannot find. It's driving me insane. I took it out of the shell and held it under water bit by bit and still can't find the leak. I also completely deflate my tube each trip. I fold it in half and put it in a plastic bin.
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This morning when I got up the right bladder had lost air so I must have a small leak in mine too. Did you take the entire bladder out? There must be a special tool that you use to disconnect the bladder from the casing.
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[cool][#0000ff]There is a valve tool used for disassembling the valve connection that holds the air bladder inside the tube cover. However, I have repaired several pinhole leaks in my tubes over the years without removing the whole thing. I just unzip the cover, and inflate the tube outside the cover. I spray soapy water over the tube, a little spot at a time, until I see bubbles. Then mark the spot and keep checking, just in case the fish that spined your tube got you more than once.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The other possibility is that it might be the valve leaking. Fill up the tube and shoot the soapy water around the valve. Those valves are notorious for leaking if they are not properly seated.[/#0000ff]
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I took mine out of the cover and held it under water but I couldn't find the leak. I'll have to try what Tube Dude suggested with the soapy water. It really is a pain deflating it all the way every time. It adds an extra ten minutes or so before I can get on the water.
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Check your valve. I finally discovered that my leak was in the Boston valve. I am ordering a couple of new ones.
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