October 22, 2007
Removable Tubes
Kathy's question to my October 4th posting was a great one. It brings up a great point – that in theory, a removable tube is a good idea, but in practice doesn't always work. The thought is that if you have a problem with your tube, you can easily remove it, package it up, and send it to the manufacturer to repair and then simply "slide" the tube back on the boat when it's fixed. The reality is, it's just not that simple, as Kathy has learned.
9 times out of 10, customers with removable tubes have to bring the boat to a local service center to have them removed or reattached. In my opinion this defeats to purpose of having them.
It's always intrigued me why our competitors that offer RIBs with removable tubes would tout how easy a tube is to remove for repair. It begs the question why you need it to be easy to remove in the first place. I'd rather have a tube that doesn't need to be repaired often, that is hard to remove (because it's permanently glued to the hull) and won't accidentally detached or leak at the hull bond, than one I can easily remove for repair.
At RIBCRAFT, we focus on building Hypalon tubes that withstand commercial wear and tear so that you hopefully don't have to have them repaired. In the off chance you do, you can bring the boat to a local service center (just like you'd probably have to do with a "removable" tube) or try the repair on your own. With the exception of the RIBCRAFT 7.0, our tubes are glued and permanently attached to the hull. This results in a safe, reliable, and watertight bond.
Posted by ribcraftusa at October 22, 2007 06:06 PM
