Marine Rubber Airbags Maintenance & Repair

Marine Rubber Airbags Maintenance & Repair

How to repair an airbag ?

1. Clear the surface of airbags

When you ready to repair airbags, you must clear up the airbag’s surface to make sure there is no sand or oil on it. Then dry it and put a clear place. Please make sure that do not immersed airbags

Into water more than 10 minutes before repair.

2. Check and mark the damage area

Mark the repair area of airbags, which must be expand from center to outside (20-26cm) and remember that do not ignore the hiding damage areas. Note: the expensive range depends on the size of damage areas.

3. Repair

1) Wear the surface of damage area until the cord shown and pay attention to do not damage cord layer.

2) For some long cracks, it needs to use needle and cord layer to suture, sewing needle position about 2 ~ 3 cm away from crack, about 10cm distance between stitches.

3) Wash the surface of repair part with gasoline and dry it.

4) Brush up some special glue on repair part, which made by raw rubber material with gasoline mixture together. The ration of raw rubber material to gasoline is 1:8, then dry it again.

5) Prepare the repair rubber material and the repair material should be same with the airbags. Meanwhile, the structure layer 2-6 will be based on the size of damage area. Seal the leakage area using pure rubber belt of 1mm thickness, the belt width and length should be more than 1cm around the crack.

6) Put the layers on the damage areas. The first layer of interleave is ordinate, the second layer of interleave is bias. The angle should be same with the airbag, and it should be 20mm bigger than the first layer. The third layer also is bias, the angle should be contrary with the second layer. It also needs 20mm bigger than the second layer. From 4-layer to 6-layer is keep the same steps. Circular angle should be required by interleave and the semi diameter should be 40-50mm.

4. Thermal Vulcanization Process

Using a simple working structure (Figure. 6) to vulcanize the damage areas.

At the process of vulcanization, please remember that control the temperature up to 150±5 and push pressure to that using jack, Then closed the heat steel plate and permit it to cool very slowly to 60 (about 40 minutes). During this time, don,t remove the jack.

5. Inspection

Check the repair area to make sure that no leakage on it. Finally, inflate it and make pressure test.

6. Figure Repair Process

1. Jack  2. Plancon  3. Heating plate  4. Cotton cloth

5. Airbag  6. Sandbag  7. Steel plate  8. Steel structure