By my count this will be be the 9th post on the this topic, and I suspect there are at least two others talking about leaks in the centre tube of the i12 & i14T which may have had the same problem. Whilst many of these posts ended happily with repairs being made, no instructions were provided on how to inspect or repair the forward hatch. The two questions that remain unanwsered are:
1. why this is happening?
2. how do we repair?
The answer to the first part seems to be a design issue. As Matt told us on 10 Dec 2013, the forward hatch area was causing problems and that the decision was made to remove it from future models. All well and good but what about the many faithful owners, many of which, don't live close to our retailers, how do we maintain our kayaks?
I hope this post will go some way to helping others carry out simple repairs without having to cut open the hatch cover as did Linda.
Inspection/Repair Sequence.
*********************************
1. Open the forward hatch and reach inside to the top right and you will feel a small screw and washer.
2. Use a phillips head screwdriver to remove the screw. You may need a small mirror or iphone camera to see what you're doing.
3. After removing the screw and washer, and putting aside for safe keeping (I put mine in the puncture repair kit). If the tube is deflated, pull back gently on the tube and it will detach from the from the inner wall of the forward hatch. If there is air in the tube you will need to let some air out of the centre tube to loosen it.
Photo below shows the inside of the forward hatch after the tube has been removed. Note the screw hole to the left (which is to the right from the hatch). Note also the recess in the centre for the lug on the end of the tube. You will see this lug in the second photo.
The second photo shows the end of the tube after it was been detached for maintenance. Note the hard plastic cover at the end of the tube and the lug mentioned above.
4. Reinflate the centre tube and find the leak using soapy water and repair in the usual way.
5. Wait 12-24 hrs for the glue to harden, then with the tube semi inflated (flexible) re-engage the tube into its recess in side the hatch and reattached the screw and washer. This can be fiddly. Remember a mirror or iphone camera will make seeing what you're doing easier.
Hope this helps other inflatible owners.
Now just to solve the problem with water in the bilge!
Cheers
Mick