Full Lotus Float Air Bladders

[Avid Bart 39]

I bought some older Full Lotus floats this weekend that have six of the rear air bladders needing replacement. Replacement bladders are available from Full Lotus for $124 each, but they seem like they would be easy to make for a lot cheaper. The bladders are just a single sheet 0.010" thick folded over and heat sealed on the three sides. There is also a circular reinforcement where the valve stem goes through the bag.

Does anyone know what type of plastic these are made out of? I was originally thinking window vinyl, but they are stretchier and more rubbery feeling. My guess is they are either polyurethane or polyester TPU plastic film and I have found a few manufacturers of these types of plastic, but no distributors. It would be best if I could find an end user of the film where I could just buy a small quantity.

It would be great if anyone has any info or leads. I'm planning on calling some of the companies that make the plastic to see where it can be purchased.

 

Thanks,

Brett

 

 

[ChrisBolkan 130]

That looks like polyurethane to me, but I can't feel it through a picture. :-)

The most durable kayak float bags are made of polyurethane.

Edited 20 May 2020 by ChrisBolkan

[Avid Bart 39]

Thanks Chris. I have not heard of kayak float bags before. That is exactly the information I was looking for.

Now I need to find out where I can buy the material without buying a 1000 yard roll.

 

-Brett

[ChrisBolkan 130]

I just did a google search "polyurethane air bladders". It came up with TONS of interesting links. Since it is not my project, I did not look at any of them, but you might start there. Just a thought.

[Avid Bart 39]

My searching found a bunch of manufacturers of the polyurethane film but no distributors. A local plastics film company tipped me off to a film distributor and I'm waiting to hear back to see if they will send me a sample and quote.

Your "polyurethane air bladder" search brought me to the kite surfing crowd. Another hobby I know little about but apparently they use polyurethane air bladders on the kites so maybe there are some diy people that have leads to get the film.

Anyway, thanks again for the ideas.

 

Brett

[Groundclown 0]

Maybe talk to Jeff or Casey at Airtime kite in Hood River, Oregon

[Avid Bart 39]

Sorry, I should have updated the thread. I was not able to find anyone that would sell a small quantity of the polyurethane TPU film. I ended up buying the 0.3mm thick TPU film on Aliexpress for a fairly reasonable cost. Sourcing the tetrahydrofuran solvent to make the glue was the next problem. I think the solvent was $30 and shipping another $30 or $40 from a lab chemical supply house.

The Full Lotus manual recommends dissolving small pieces of the TPU film in the solvent to make a thick glue. This can be used to seal up pinhole leaks or as a glue to attach patches over larger tears and holes. I got all of the blown out bladders repaired and now just need to locate a couple pinhole leaks in some other bladders. They will be an easy fix once I find them.

[flattie45 17]

Late to the party, but that's not unusual.

 

 

. . . anyway, you could try diypackraft.com for the TPU fabric. He is in Canada, but I believe that he sells the fabric that he uses for his rafts. It sounds like you found what you need.

Good luck with your project.