Seam taping questions for a newbie

587 Views 2 Replies 3 Participants Last post by zbaird, Jun 30, 2021

Runs_with_beer

Discussion Starter · Jun 29, 2021

Hey guys I've been running a 93 Riken 13ft self bailer for a season, this season I noticed the seams taped by prior owner are started to leak a little more and the tape/glue isn't in the best of shape anymore, the prior owner included a ton of tape and glue to redo the seams. I have not done this sort of thing before and am looking for advice on the process. Mostly how to remove the old glue, is it better to do this with the boat blown up or empty and flat, I noticed the tape is under the trim running around the boat, what's the best way to remove the trim and reapply it? Same glue as the tape? TIA

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MNichols

· #2 · Jun 30, 2021

That's a heck of an undertaking, IMHO best left to someone that does it professionally. Don't know where you're running with beer at, but either Zach at either raftfix.com or raftrepair.com can fix ya up. You'll be glad you had it done right the first time.

My 2¢, YMMV

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zbaird

· #3 · Jun 30, 2021

The seam tape shouldn't actually be holding the air. It protects the seams. The interior seam tape and the seam itself is what holds the air. Some boats like the NRS Otter, don't even come with exterior seam tape. Unfortunately there is a good chance that the boat is falling apart from the inside out. There have been a whole lot of that vintage Riken finding the dump in the last several years. Not saying this is 100% true of your boat, just putting it out there before you spend the rest of the summer or a whole bunch of money re glueing the seam tape.

If you do undertake it, I'd do as much as you can inflated.

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