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You can use the arrow keys to skip forward and back, and if you click on the gear icon you can slow down the video too.
Nope… I just checked from two different devices and everything seems to be working fine.
The only common issue is people trying to use the wrong password, or the right password and the wrong instructions – make sure you’re on the right page for your kit and you’re using the password that’s in the letter that came with your kit.
There are a couple of videos that have different passwords because they’re shared between different instruction sets, but the password for those ones is shown in the caption below the video, so that shouldn’t be a problem.
If something else is going on, please send me an email with the URL of the page you’re on and a description of what’s happening.
Yep, I’ve been testing seats made entirely of 115 GSM fabric and haven’t had a problem yet (except where I did a poor heat sealing job on one!).
Hi Cate – don’t worry! This is a very minor mistake and easy to fix.
There are multiple ways you could fix it, but if only the first side of the baffle is attached to the seat, the easiest thing to do is to cut off half of the baffle, and then cut a rectangle of scrap fabric 2-3 centimeters (~1 inch) wider than the part you cut off, and then weld the new piece to the part of the baffle that is already attached to the seat fabric. That will effectively flip the TPU from one side to the other and allow you to carry on following the instructions without having to do anything else differently.
If you’re not sure what I mean here, let me know and I’ll post a picture. Cheers 🙂
I noticed you didn’t order a spray skirt with your deck, so I’m guessing you’re using a different skirt, which might be a different shape, so trying to force it on may cause problems. If it’s a skirt designed for use on a kayak with a fiberglass or stiff plastic coaming, that will have a much tighter bungee in it than the one I supply with the DIY skirts, and the DIY decks just aren’t designed to withstand that much compression.
I’ve tried several different types of plastic tubing inside the coaming, as well as aluminum tent poles, and the stuff I supply in the kits is the best compromise between stiffness and flexibility I’ve found (If anyone knows of something better, I’d love to hear about it though!). If you want to make it stiffer you could try using aluminum tent pole segments on the sides (order on Amazon and bend them to shape) and join them together with the plastic tubing – that might work, but if you’re using a kayak spray skirt, even that will probably not be stiff enough.
If the kink won’t go away and is causing a problem, you can cut the tube at the kink and join it back together with a bit of dowel or anything with an 8 mm outer diameter. I have some 8 mm tubing that will work for that if you can’t find something suitable.
The bond made with Aquasure is much weaker than welded TPU, but in this case you are not relying on the Aquasure for a structural bond, only to make it airtight where the TPU is partly damaged. I would not use Aquasure between the seam strip and the tube fabric – even damaged TPU will be stronger, so simply reheat and reposition the seam strip, and then apply the Aquasure to make sure it is airtight. It is only a small area, so I would not worry about it being weaker, because the surrounding areas will be strong enough to compensate for it (assuming you are using proper heat sealing technique and creating good welds).
Be careful with the hot air welder – if you want to use it, practice on some scrap material first, because with hot air it is very easy to melt the TPU far beyond where you intend to, and that will create more problems (cosmetic blemishes and possibly some leaks).
Don’t worry – it doesn’t look too bad!
In this situation I would first remove as much cardboard as possible by heating it with the iron and scraping it off carefully with a knife, a little bit at a time (or peel it all off when it is hot if it will come off in one piece, but I think it won’t). Then reheat the folded/wrinkled area to release the weld and flatten it out while it is hot, pressing it flat to re-weld it as best as possible. The TPU will probably be damaged so it might not be airtight where the first weld was released, so apply Aquasure to the inside of this area under the seam strip. (Remember, if you spread the Aquasure beyond the edge of the seam on the inside of the tube it will darken the red fabric, so avoid this if possible.) Then apply more Aquasure to the outside, where the cardboard was and anywhere else that the TPU looks damaged. That should make it airtight.
Do not try to remove the whole seam strip – that will damage the TPU and it will not go back on very well; try to only release it where it is folded. Use the tip of your iron so you can be more precise.
Sorry I can’t help you with the panel on your house 😀
Yep, the TPU is what makes the fabric airtight, so if it’s damaged that could cause it to leak – check those spots first. Cheers!
Right on! The packraft looks great and so does the backpack – well done!
I’m sure people would be interested in more detail about the backpack, so if have any assembly shots or more photos showing how you attached things, I’d be happy to post them on the blog where more people will see (with credit to you, of course).
Enjoy the summer while it lasts!
The undamaged fabric is airtight, so you definitely have at least one leak somewhere. The first question to consider is whether or not it’s worth your time trying to track it down. Based on some quick math and an average lung capacity, the rate of air loss you’re seeing is equivalent to roughly 1/2 litre (1 pint) per hour, or 8 ml (0.25 oz) per minute, which would be difficult to detect, but not impossible (maybe one pea-sized bubble every five seconds). This rate of air loss will be vastly outweighed by pressure changes due to fluctuations in sunlight intensity and air/water temperature as you paddle, so even if you find and fix it, it will make no practical difference. That said, it is annoying just knowing there’s a leak somewhere, so if you do want to find and fix it, I totally understand.
For a very slow leak like this, you’d probably need to use a highly concentrated mix of soap in water (maybe half and half) and paint it on and then stare at each area for several seconds to see if a bubble starts to form.
Assuming you’ve tested the entire surface of the tubes, the seams, the valve, zipper, and all the usual suspects with soap and haven’t found the leak, the helium test might work, but it sounds expensive (unless you already have access to the equipment and a large amount of helium) and you’d have to check to be sure the detector can register the concentration of helium you’d expect from a very small leak.
The water test might work, but unless you have a zipper in your packraft I wouldn’t recommend it because it would take a lot of work (many many inflation/deflation cycles) to dry out the inside of the packraft. Water has pretty high surface tension and higher viscosity than air, so after adding water, pressurize the packraft with air. It will leak even slower than air and you’ll be looking for a very small amount of water.
Personally I wouldn’t go the latex route… I have no idea if it would work but it would definitely discolor the fabric and increase the weight of the packraft significantly.
Congratulations on finishing your kit!
I think you’ll have difficulty finding a paint that adheres to the TPU and is flexible enough that it won’t flake off. Even flexible polyurethane paint can’t handle the folding (I’ve tried it).
The Seam Grip plus pigment idea @legslegum mentioned will probably work.
A permanent marker could also work.
You could cut out the name from scrap fabric and iron it on like I did here: https://www.diypackraft.com/2019/10/08/a-diy-packraft-logo/ These iron-on (fabric) logos have held up very well, but cutting out all the little bits was a pain.
I also ordered some iron-on logos from an online sticker-making website and they worked okay, but it’s easy to mess them up while ironing (stretching, wrinkling) and if you don’t do it right they will peel off.
I got some “permanent outdoor” vinyl stickers made as well, but I haven’t abused them enough to know whether or not they’ll last.
Cheers!
Hmm, yeah, I would apply some Seam Grip+WP or Aquaseal over these areas to prevent it from getting any worse. You could either cut away the part that has delaminated or glue it back down – it looks like there’s still plenty of fabric there so I wouldn’t be worried about the strength being compromised if you do cut it back (the seam strips are much wider than what’s required for a strong seam), but it might look better if you trim the edge straight and then glue it down.
Great work, Aaron, and thanks for the feedback!
Just a note regarding the seats, for anyone considering a DIY Packraft build: I’ve totally redesigned the seats for 2021 so they’re much easier/faster to assemble and much less likely to develop leaks.
