So i was gifted my neighbour next doors i9s a week ago as he's moved back to china for work. Was pretty happy with a free kayak
he hadn't used his i9s in almost a year an doesnt look like it was well taken care of it just sat in the back of his workshop on a pvc stand deflated. It was filthy dusty dirty? sandy in sport i gave it a good clean up yesterday with the hose. Now what i know is its out of warranty its the old model with the non vantage seat a v2 drive with turbo fins an inflateables dont last for ever so hadls me a bit bumber out. If nothing else i have a backup drive for my revo i guess.
Now the problem
There seems to be a leak in 2 chambers basicaly i pumped it to 3psi on the sides an 5 psi on the floor as is the normal for the i9s. After 5 hrs the left hand chamber was still steady at 3psi so no leak. The floor chamber had dropped to 4psi and the right hand chamber had dropped to 1 1/2 psi. This was using my hobie sup pump with the built in pressure gauge. Now ive sprayed it down all over looking for a leak somewhere with soapy water an come up empty an im left scratching my head. Could it be the valves are deteriorated or since it was so filthy have sand or dirt stuck inside not creating a 100% seal? or am i looking at a pin hole internal leak of some kind. I cant hear an audible leak either. My local hobie dealer here in Australia doesn't have any valves in stock an would take about a 7 to 10 days to get them (im in a regional area). I also dont have the tool to take them off an clean.
Im going away in 2 days for 10 days camping an was thinking about taking the kayak with me even though it has these slow leaks. Any reason why i cant use it as is id have the pump with me an figure i could just top it up every couple of hours if need be id be on a calm river or would it just leak alot faster with my weight on it in the water. Never really owned an inflatable kayak or boat before an havnt had it on the water yet. What would you guts do take it an use it as is or wait an get the valves looked at or replaced first before using it on the water.
Cheers
Epicbeard
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