Home Forums DIY Packrafts Mistake fix advice

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    Topic
  • #14585
    Cate
    Participant

    I just started my Telkwa raft build and already made a big mistake. I want to know if I can continue on or if I need to order another seat.

     

    My first weld on an A baffle and I faced the wrong direction when welding the baffle. The flap is facing away from the valve.

     

    Can I do the other baffles correctly and still make this work? Or do I have to order another seat and begin again?

     

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    Replies
    • #15511
      Shawnway
      Participant

      Hi matt, I accidentally cut a 1″ strip about 8″ in on the tube piece of 4R on the side that seals to the floor sides. I was trying to cut the 1″ off on the part that seals directly to the floor bottom for the width of my iron. I did not cut it directly off so it is just hanging there. My question would be can I continue on as normal and just seal the flap to where it would normally go. Would this decrease the structurally integrity of that spot? Is there a way I can add a reinforcement strip?

      • #15515
        Matt (Admin)
        Keymaster

        Don’t worry – if you do a good job sealing the remaining 1″ of fabric to the floor it will be more than strong enough. I design the overlaps to be much wider than necessary for a strong bond, and even half the width there is more than strong enough, assuming proper heat sealing technique over the entire weld. Sealing the cut-off piece of fabric to the floor wouldn’t help because it’s not connected to anything – the only reason I can think of why it might make sense to do that is if your iron is wider than the remaining part that will be sealed to the floor (to avoid ironing TPU directly), but because you trimmed it, I assume that isn’t the case.

        If a reinforcing strip will give you peace of mind, you can add one to the outside of the packraft covering where the floor meets the tube. In most packraft models that would be on the bottom of the packraft and not noticeable, but on one where the floor wraps up above the waterline (e.g. Telkwa) that would be visible, so I would probably use black fabric and reinforce all the way around the packraft to make it look like it’s supposed to be that way. But again, it’s not really necessary for strength.

        • #15516
          Shawnway
          Participant

          Great thanks Matt! I didn’t think it was a huge deal but this gives me piece of mind.

    • #14617
      Cate
      Participant

      Disregard, the question did go thru earlier. I hope my DIY goes better than my forum usage…😊

       

      any chance of getting a forwarf/back 15 seconds etc on the videos?

      I keep backing up a video to see a detail in the time lapse and I keep going back way too far, over and over again.

       

      Almost done with tube 2R today.

       

      • This reply was modified 3 years, 5 months ago by Cate.
    • #14614
      Cate
      Participant

      Any chance of putting a skip forward/back on the videos? I have to back up over and over to look at a detail that goes by quick with time lapse and a 15 sec back button would sure help.

       

      Attaching tube 2 to 3 today……if all goes well!

      • #14616
        Matt (Admin)
        Keymaster

        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.

    • #14608
      Will3
      Participant

      Hi Matt

      I am having quite a few issues unable to watch the videos and logging in.
      Is this a common issue?

      • #14609
        Matt (Admin)
        Keymaster

        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.

    • #14595
      Cate
      Participant

      It turns out that I did the baffles correct after all.  Inflation bag and seat bottom, complete.

       

      • #14599
        Matt (Admin)
        Keymaster

        Right on… I guess your only mistake was thinking that you had made a mistake 🙂

    • #14588
      Matt (Admin)
      Keymaster

      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 🙂

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