You want to repair your paddle board? In general, inflatable paddle boards are really extremely robust. In exceptional cases, however, a hole may occur in the thick outer skin of the paddle board. This usually happens on the side wall, as this is slightly thinner than the top and bottom. If you notice a leak in your paddle board, you should get out of the water. Most of the paddle boards today are not yet 2-chambered. This means that all the air will escape – this can be dangerous when you are far out on the water.
How do I repair an inflatable Paddle Board?
The best way to repair your paddle board at home is at room temperature. It should not be too hot or too cold, otherwise either the adhesive will not adhere properly or the material will be too brittle. All premium boards we know contain a so-called repair kit with which you can repair your paddle board. That is actually quite simple. Have you ever mended a bicycle tire? – well then you should also be able to do the paddle board. But now let’s go.
Paddle Board repair step by step:
Repair any material needed for the paddle board:
- Adhesive (suitable for PVC)
- PVC patches
- Cleaners and cloths
- Scooter or similar
- First of all you have to find the hole first – not always this is immediately obvious. It can also be a very small hole, that the air loses air very slowly. We then recommend the following procedure.
- Mark the hole you found with a pen, then let the air out of the board
- Lay the board with the hole so that the area around the hole is flat and without folds in front of you. This can be on a table or on the floor.
- Now you have to clean the area thoroughly and above all remove grease and dirt, otherwise the glue will not hold. The best way to do this is to use a little acetone – but other cleaners are fine, too. Be careful with aggressive cleaning agents like petrol or chlorine. They can damage the PVC or even peel off the paint. In any case you must not touch the glued surfaces with your finger anymore – there simply must not be any grease in between.
- Let the board dry and prepare a patch in the meantime. The patch should be as round as possible and cover the hole very generously.
- Apply a thin layer of glue on the board and on the patches and let the glue dry for a few minutes
- Glue the patch on the hole and press it firmly to the board with a roller. If you don’t have a roller at hand, you can also take a big tablespoon and press the patch with force. By moving the patch you can squeeze out small air bubbles and press the glue together perfectly.
- Let the board dry for at least 24 hours before you fill it with air again and use it. Check first if the hole is now tight. If so – Hura, you have done it
Maybe your Paddle board is also no longer salvageable? But that is extremely rare. Then maybe you are looking for a new one and you will find it with us:
In this video you can see the inflatable Paddle Board repair process again.
A final note: If the patch becomes detached again (e.g. after a while) it will be difficult to do a proper repair on the same spot again. It can also happen that your hole is extremely large (almost a very long tear or similar) or that the hole is located at a seam. In this case, repairing the paddle board is not so easy and to get it tight again, so that it can withstand 1 bar pressure, professionals have to go to work. In this case, visit a specialist dealer or contact your manufacturer. Here they often use a hot air dryer, 2-component glue and work also in a very clean environment.
