HOBIE i14t leak

I own i14t since 2011. Great kayak. live in thessaloniki, Greece. Since last summer the center hull was leaking. I could not spot the leak form the outside.
This summer the leak grew bigger and found out that it was the seams on the upper end of the central tube. There is a black plastic cap there leaking from various spots. Followed instructions from the blog, managed to remove the cap and reglue it with the repair kit glue. Still leaking. and patches do not work well. Also the greek dealer said that cannot deal with it and that will asign the repair to a non hobie approved repairman. Also suggested not to ship the kayak to him and assign the repair to a repairman of my choice here in Thessaloniki.
Also mailed to hobie europeon last friday for my problem but no answer yet.
CAN ANYONE FROM HOBIE ARROUND THE GLOBE INFORM ME WHAT TO DO? IT IS NOT MY FAULT AND I DO NOT WANT AN ANAUTHORISED REPAIRMAN HERE IN GREECE TO DESTROY SUCH AN EXPENSIVE KAYAK.

WILL BE WAITING FOR AN ANSWER
NIKOLAS

i live in turkey. i have a 2008 i12s with same problem, center chamber leaking from the plug area in forward hatch. i was on vacation with the wife (i bought the i12s years before when i was single and turkey has no dealers for i14's) and the boat seemed to give up the ghost all at once: the bow leak began, a slow leak developed in the right chamber, and 4 black plastic cargo hooks popped off from rear storage area. the sun was really hot that day. i deflated all chambers like i always do but i should have turned the boat upside down or covered it with a white sheet while we returned to our room.

the slow leak wasn't a problem but the bow leak was BIG. you could hear it with the hatched closed. i tried to temp repair it with glue from a motorcycle patch repair kit...lots of very thin coats that were dried fully. no help. then i got an idea. i asked the hotel clerk for black electrical tape which i wrapped in slight diagonal angles first from back to front, then overlapped the other way. bingo! leak was held tight and i salvaged our vacation.

when we returned back to town, the first repair place examined the bow leak and refused to attempt repair.

the second one was larger scale and they said, we can do this. they found the slow leak in about 5min, it was under the right seat d-ring circular patch. to repair everything, they quoted me the equivalent of about $80 USD.

they've had the boat for 1 day/night. the wife called for status the guy said the bow leak was not as easy as the other leaks and that he needed more time for repairs to dry, then he wanted to do leak tests. fine by me. i will send pics of his repair.

the factory told me via email that best way to patch was not to remove any old material, just clean it up, apply a small patch over the leak area, dry it, then overlap a larger patch. this is coming from hobie.

i tried to tell this to the turks but they said forget it, we have our methods.

the design flaw in this bow area seems to be that a plastic plug mates to PVC rubber that each (material) heats differently, further, that the tube/plug assembly is "under stress" when fully inflated because its supporting the "open space" shape of the bow area, finally, since the plug is at the top of the boat (under the skin), it gets BAKED by the sun. hobie changed the design and gave free replacement boats in the early years but you and i are long since out of warranty.

ΤΗANKS FOR THE TIP. I WILL TRY IT. DID YOU FINALLY FIX YOURS PERMANENTLY?

i live in turkey. i have a 2008 i12s with same problem, center chamber leaking from the plug area in forward hatch. i was on vacation with the wife (i bought the i12s years before when i was single and turkey has no dealers for i14's) and the boat seemed to give up the ghost all at once: the bow leak began, a slow leak developed in the right chamber, and 4 black plastic cargo hooks popped off from rear storage area. the sun was really hot that day. i deflated all chambers like i always do but i should have turned the boat upside down or covered it with a white sheet while we returned to our room.

the slow leak wasn't a problem but the bow leak was BIG. you could hear it with the hatched closed. i tried to temp repair it with glue from a motorcycle patch repair kit...lots of very thin coats that were dried fully. no help. then i got an idea. i asked the hotel clerk for black electrical tape which i wrapped in slight diagonal angles first from back to front, then overlapped the other way. bingo! leak was held tight and i salvaged our vacation.

when we returned back to town, the first repair place examined the bow leak and refused to attempt repair.

the second one was larger scale and they said, we can do this. they found the slow leak in about 5min, it was under the right seat d-ring circular patch. to repair everything, they quoted me the equivalent of about $80 USD.

they've had the boat for 1 day/night. the wife called for status the guy said the bow leak was not as easy as the other leaks and that he needed more time for repairs to dry, then he wanted to do leak tests. fine by me. i will send pics of his repair.

the factory told me via email that best way to patch was not to remove any old material, just clean it up, apply a small patch over the leak area, dry it, then overlap a larger patch. this is coming from hobie.

i tried to tell this to the turks but they said forget it, we have our methods.

the design flaw in this bow area seems to be that a plastic plug mates to PVC rubber that each (material) heats differently, further, that the tube/plug assembly is "under stress" when fully inflated because its supporting the "open space" shape of the bow area, finally, since the plug is at the top of the boat (under the skin), it gets BAKED by the sun. hobie changed the design and gave free replacement boats in the early years but you and i are long since out of warranty.[/quote]

he hasnt given it back yet after 3 days. he said he wanted time for full drying processes, also, he want time for full leak testing. he was vague. maybe the slow leak he fixed wasnt the only slow leak...he found another.

i dont care how long he takes i want it done right. he is testing for leaks before delivery and i respect this.

ill send pics and take note of his repair report in next several days.

OK,

he gave back kayak today after keeping it for a week. it didnt take them that long to repair it, only, they wanted to do thorough (days/nights

long) leak testing.

attached are pics of the center chamber bow plug repair. not bad. thick PVC bands overlapping each other, probably lots of glue under there for

the air leaks to try to fight thru. if the pics arent here on this post, look for them later, im not seeing any "attach" feature on the forum

but maybe i will find later and send them.

there was also a slow leak on right side coming from the rt side D-ring anchor for the seat. actually this leak wasnt too slow...i had to pump

boat up every hour or so.

they did leak tests and said that there was a very SLOWWWW leak in left chamber (2-3 days the chamber becomes wrinkled to the eye). the leak

must be internal becasue they couldnt locate it externally.

obviously, that's a pretty slow leak because i never noticed it before. so im not worrying about that but he said if you ever spot the leak

location when you're using kayak, he can fix easy. if it is internal, probably toobseal would fix it but im not going to bother.

they also re-glued 5 black plastic top-side hull fixtures that burned away from the hull in the sun on that hot day (after 8 years also)

total repairs about $80 USD. im OK with this.

im submitting this post, but without pics because i dont see any option to ATTACH a pic in this message composition window. maybe im missing something or hobie has changed security measures. if i figure it out later, i will attach them to this post.

Hi nedro018, did you manage to figure out posting of pictures to this here? I'm also facing the same problem on my i12s and am really hoping to see how you managed to solve this problem. Do post some pictures please or you can send them over to my email if its too much hassle.
Thanks!

im trying to post links to the pics now, using the "img" button which i assume is where you paste the link to the pics.

pic 1:


and 2:


hopefully these links work out for you.

hobie CA's advice was to patch leak with a small patch first, let dry, then, a second larger one over that one.

the local turks at this marine repair shop took a different approach with these diagonal wraps which criss-cross over each other. but, the effect is essentially the same: double layers of patches sealing over NOT ONLY the area of the LEAK, but in effect, the ENTIRE plug area where it seals with the end of the centerline tube of the center air chamber...they sealed the ENTIRE PLUG.

so far it's holding rock solid.

they also fixed the right chamber leak at the right seat anchor mount. here, they took off the right seat anchor patch, glued another larger circular patch to the hull, then reglued the original patch back on to this repair patch. then they leak tested the entire kayak for 3 days with the kayak indoors.

they said, after 3 days, that, now the LEFT hull chamber showed signs of leaking because after 3 days, it was slightly wrinkled to the eye. i never reported a problem with the left hull to them. LOL! talk about attention to detail ! they couldnt find such a slow leak so they put 3 circular patches on 3 places on the left hull outboard seam...the one that touches the ground when you roll kayak vertical on its side...because they "thought" these were the possible leak areas according to their bubbles tests

on my maiden voyage after the repairs, i pissed around close to the shore for an hour, no leaks, then i peeled off 2.7 miles out into ocean where 4 islands lay in close proximity. i took the pump but didnt need it. everything was tight.

hope this helps anyone.

seriously, my kayak is a 2008 model and has been in several countries/climates/girfriends and now my first wife. i have to commend hobie for the clever design of these inflatables and especially the mirage drive.

if you have one of these old kayaks, you will eventually get the center chamber bow leak. if you just "get over it" and fix it correctly, you should get many more years use from the kayak.

hobie DID CHANGE the bow design after these early models failures, however, even folks with the new models will have there own leak problems after 8 YEARS. the inflatable kayak's environment is extreme in nature: how many owners dry correctly before folding? or fold correctly/diversely to change the stress on the left/right seams?