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 Topic: Air Beam Field Repair - pics
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20/8/2016 at 12:22am
Location: London
Outfit: Karsten 350 + SE CA EA RA FW & ZIG
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I've been bragging a bit on here about my Concorde and how we're getting on towards 100 nights without a sniff of trouble. Well, 85 nights in we've had two days of hottish weather and . . . .
The Bulges of Doom appeared:
KUDOS at this point to Gary Cross, who answered my worried e-mails with info and tips without which we'd probably be at home by now, rather than looking forward to another week on site.
DISCLAIMER: the methods described here have kept our tent up for less than 12 hours at time of writing.
We splinted round the beam with extendable poles to keep the canopy up, then isolated and deflated the beam before disconnecting the ridge valves, unzipping the tent sleeve and dropping out the beam.
This is what we found:
In all cases it was the stitching which had given way - usually around the valve points - and the split had propagated from there. We found small tears running parallel to the zip in a few places too.
Choice of tape for the repair is probably quite important. We wanted something tough and flexible, able to cope with moisture, and ideally resistant to abrasion and of course extremes of temperature. Stormsure's Tuff Tape looked ideal, but we couldn't get it locally. I figured some kevlar/mylar sail repair tape would be as good and headed out to find a yacht chandler's. The sail tape I ended up with is gossamer light, so I got 10 metres of Duck Ultimate duct tape to give it some encouragement. Both are in 2" widths.
First we sail taped the outside of the split:
Then the inside:
To get at the inside, you'll need to unzip the grey sleeve. You may find this is secured with a tiny cable tie to stop the zip riding back. I'd advise replacing this when you've finished the repair. String or cotton would do if you can't get hold of a tiny cable tie, but Halfords or similar will oblige.
Next, duct tape the inside:
Zip the bladder back into the sleeve. Don't let it get twisted. There will probably be a weld running down the spine, which should help you.
Now: moment of truth #1.
With the air beam outside the tent sleeve, reconnect the ridge beams (if it's a one-point inflation system) and close the deflation valve outside (trust me, you'll feel a right git if you forget this bit). Inflate the tube just enough for it to get its shape. For me this was less than 2psi. If you've got a one-point inflation system you should be able to do this by bleeding air across from the other beams. It should now look a bit like this:
As neatly as you can, wrap duct tape round the beam, covering the length of the sail tape repair. This is the bit which gives the repair its strength, so try to keep it even and avoid wrinkles. This was my effort:
All that remains is to get the beam back into the tent sleeve and pump it up. For one-point inflation tents that means another bout of faffing with the valve connectors.
Now double check you haven't got it twisted, and do the zip back up.
Pump, listening for anything odd. Have someone inside watching for anything odd. The likelihood is that your repair is stronger than the rest of the beam system. It will certainly behave differently, which is probably not ideal, but your Bulge Of Doom should now look like this:
Don't worry if the shape is a bit wobbly: the internal bladder will cope as long as it's supported by your tape.
For the tears in the zip seams I did the same routine, but used 1" Gorilla tape for the initial fix parallel to the zip, with the sail tape and duct tape combo on the outside and spanning the zip.
General lessons learnt:
Underinflate by 20% or more if hot weather is forecast.
Give your beams a quick visual check from time to time.
Once a season, inspect each beam properly by dropping the pressure, unzipping the tent sleeve and having a good look, paying particular attention to the stitching.
If you hear an unusual noise from the tent fabric, don't ignore it: the next noise might be a bang.
If you do see anything bulgy, drop the pressure as far as you can and isolate the beams.
Carry a 10 metre roll of good quality 2" cloth tape.
Post last edited on 20/08/2016 01:00:17
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29/8/2016 at 12:04pm
Location: Derby.
Outfit: Karsten 350+Awnings
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Quote: Originally posted by Babywhale on 27/8/2016
Does having an air beam really save so much time? Even with a large and heavy cotton tent, I still find that most of the work is associated with unpacking and packing up kit rather than pitching/striking the tent or dealing with poles.....
No.
Depending on which tent and/or pump you have, you could save effort (electric pump?), but little difference in time, in my opinion.
Whilst our tent is inflating, I attach all the required guylines, and lay out all required pegs etc, so that saves ME time... but of course, for most, their guys are already attached.
By the time I've got my Karsten (Pod only) up, guyed, and secure, plus dividing curtains up (nearest we get to a bedroom!), I reckon I could have got my (3 x poled) Frinton up to the same stage (which already has the bedroom inner fitted). Maybe, as the Frinton required more pegs/guys, My Karsten may be 5 mins quicker at the most.
Without a powered pump? Don't know... never tried it!
Similarly, if I compared our full set up (Inflatable Karsten pod with poled awnings) with our previous 6 berth/5 poled polycotton Filey, again little difference, I'd say. The main advantage there would be I no longer "need" to set a tarp up, which I did with the Filey (for a proper holiday), so a good 20 mins saved there, I guess.
Inflatables do come down a bit quicker than taking out and folding up poles though, so you can get home 5-10mins quicker!!
...Not that that's a good thing!  
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2024: 38 nights thus far...
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From July 2012: 23 nights
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