Repairing a tear in pop up material?

[erod]

hey guys, just noticed the on our last trip, a small tear up in the corner near the roof, not a huge deal but a little moisture made its way in at one point under heavy rain...any ideas on repairing this???

 

[chnlisle]

Erod,
The quick and dirty way is Gorilla Tape. I used it on some burn holes and it worked great. Ben or Stan can hook you up with the vinyl material and glue.

 

[jimjxsn]

If there is no tension on it you may be able to repair it with waterproof seam sealer available from an outdoor store. I sent a tent in to a manufacturer to have a small tear in the floor repaired and that is what they did.

 

[Tomas Tierra]

Erod,
The quick and dirty way is Gorilla Tape. I used it on some burn holes and it worked great. Ben or Stan can hook you up with the vinyl material and glue.


And still working great!

 

[erod]

thanks guys, i would love to get a nice clean patch on it if possible...wondering if ben or stan will chime in. there is a little tension on it when popped, it is so close to the roof. i didn't notice it when i bought the camper so i am wondering if it is something i did that is causing the tear.

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

Hey erod

I would go to your local hardware store or your local automotove parts store and look for a vinyl repair kit.

The automotive parts stores usually have them for repairing torn car or boat seats.

Once the torn surface is clean and dry, you can glue the new patch right on top of the ripped fabric.

We use vinyl cement for the small repairs. It seems to work well.

See photo attached.


If you want to e-mail me your US postal address, I can sent you a patch of the older "tan" fabric that you can use for the repair ??

e-mail me at ... stan@fourwh.com



.

 

[erod]

right on stan! just sent you an email! thanks!

 

[Kilroy]

Our Hawk is just a year old, but it looks like a small area of vinyl in a couple of corners is getting thin. Is this something to worry about, are we doing something wrong (I can't imagine what), would some coating of just the vinyl adhesive help to reinforce the area?

 

[erod]

i wondered if i too was doing something that was inadvertantly increasing the wear since i didn't notice it when i bought the camper? still don't know, one thing may be to make sure the fabric is tucked in when you take down the camper, it can rub in the corners and i am seeing some wear and tear there as well. stan is sending me the fabric to patch the current tear and i have to say, i am very impressed with his willingness to help and his super quick response...kudos and thanks to stand and fwc! i will keep you guys posted on the repair.

 

[benburnett]

vinyl repair

The cement that Stan posted will work when you get the material. If you can't find it, VLP vinyl repair glue will work also. You should be able to do a google search to find it. I found some at a Tap Plastics here.

One of the things that you should do every time that you close the camper is to tuck in the corners, even if they look like they are not sticking out. The way the vinyl folds in, it tends to rub on the side near the corners if you do not tuck it in and in turn will start to wear. Any small holes that do develop this way can be patched though.

If you need any material, just give me a call. We have the grey material and also a lot of the older orange looking material now. We changed out an old liner the other day and I saved all the material that I could from it so that we would have some to send out to you folks with the older FWC campers.

 

[Kilroy]

If you need any material, just give me a call. We have the grey material and also a lot of the older orange looking material now. We changed out an old liner the other day and I saved all the material that I could from it so that we would have some to send out to you folks with the older FWC campers.


Thanks. Your thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated.

 

[erod]

ben, thanks a bunch, your always such a great resource and a big help, i really appreciate it and will let you know if i need anything else. thanks again, cheers!

 

[erod]

well, this took a while, the tear never caused that much of an issue, a little moisture here and there but that was about it...finally got around to patching it though so i thought i would post a pic...easy, adhesive and "new" material from stan (thanks again). let it sit for 24 hrs before i closed it.

it kind of hard to see in the photo, i put a patch inside and outside. the other picture is just for fun...my vacation home !

i am happy with the repair and will let everyone know how it holds up. thanks again!