Sneaky Leak...

Anyone with ideas please?...

One bladder on my Cumberland leaks. VERY slowly. It takes about 24 to 36 hours to get slightly softer than the other side. I should probably ignore it since I fish three hours at a time and it wouldn't be noticeable in that amount of time anyway... but I cant! LOL

I've found leaks before and I know the soapy water drill all too well. I have the cleanest right pontoon bladder in history now that I have gone over it like 6 times. I've soaped the valve, nothing. I've even held the valve upside down in a clear glass of water and observed it... and nothing.

I've bees-waxed the threads on the boston valve. No change.

I've held each end of the bladder under water and observed it ... nothing.

No replacement bladders are available or I would just replace them.

Any trick I am missing?

Thank you,

Marc

Wow that is an issue for sure sorry you are having this issue. I don't have an idea off the top of my head right now I hope someone else can help. One thing I can say is maybe try adding a little food coloring to the soapy water. It will make the soap colored and maybe easier to find the very small leak you might other wise be missing. Good luck and let us know if you figure this out.

Luremaker62 wrote:Anyone with ideas please?...

One bladder on my Cumberland leaks.  VERY slowly.  It takes about 24 to 36 hours to get slightly softer than the other side.  I should probably ignore it since I fish three hours at a time and it wouldn't be noticeable in that amount of time anyway... but I cant!   LOL

I've found leaks before and I know the soapy water drill all too well.  I have the cleanest right pontoon bladder in history now that I have gone over it like 6 times.  I've soaped the valve, nothing.  I've even held the valve upside down in a clear glass of water and observed it... and nothing.  

I've bees-waxed the threads on the boston valve.  No change.

I've held each end of the bladder under water and observed it ... nothing.

No replacement bladders are available or I would just replace them.

Any trick I am missing?

Thank you,

Marc

Here ya go Marc,
I have used this method many times in the past and it is a great method for detecting leaks in your bladder’s seams as well.

Mix some red dye and a good squirt of dish soap together, and then blend-in 2 cups of warm water (not hot).
Pour all of the blended ingredients inside of your air bladder, close to the bladder access cap. Now, fill your air bladder with air, inflating it a bit larger than normal, swirl and coat the inside of your bladder and then watch for reddish bubbles.
Use a permanent marker to circle the defected area.
Let me know if it works-out for you!

SP Dan    <“))><

I love Dan’s plan to find the leak. My guess is the valve ,even though you said you checked. Especially since you say it’s a slow leak. The bottom part of the Boston valve has to be super flat and super tight.(within reason not to strip the threads). If you do eventually find a leak you can fix it with Tear-Aid type B. It works great on vinyl and pvc to provide a waterproof seal. As far as replacement bladders go they do sell them from Classic Accessories but they run out of stock quickly. I did a “tear-aid” patch on my Cumberland and it worked great until I found a new bladder and now I have a repaired spare if I ever need it. Good luck and if you need anything else hit us up.

Good stuff guys. Thank you. One question though... how do you ever dry out the inside of the bladder completely? I see a mold issue at some point..???
Thanks again,
Marc

Luremaker62 wrote:Good stuff guys.  Thank you.  One question though... how do you ever dry out the inside of the bladder completely?   I see a mold issue at some point..???  
Thanks again,
Marc

Good question I think SP Dan will have that info.

Good question,
I used a garden hose to spray hot water into the interior of my air bladders.
I just let it drain out naturally through the Boston valve opening.
Never had a mold 🦠 issue.

SP Dan <“))><

OK, I'll give it a try!
Thank you,

Marc

Heck, I’ve even left the red-dye /soap solution in the tube after making the repair, so when I got punctured again, I would just add approx 1-cup of water to the bladder (with the dye in it) and it reactivated the soap /red dye mixture.
Puncture ️ located again … quickly.

I works and that’s all that I can say about that.
I wish you the best of success with your leak repairs in the future!!

SP Dan <“))><

Worked!!! I'm back in business. The hole was so small you couldnt fit a hair in it.

Thank you all.

Marc

Congratulations!!
Which method did you end up finally using in order to locate your difficult to find air bladder leak?
I’m just being curious.

SP Dan <“))><

Congrats. I hope its a long term fix. I'm also curious how you found the leak and repaired it.

Soapy water inside the tube... Slightly over-inflated. Found it in 5 minutes. Tried soapy water on the outside every night for a couple weeks. No success.

To dry out the inside I propped the bladder, valve down, and let it gravity drain for a day. Then I rigged an air tube into a boot dryer and circulated air through the bladder for a day. I'm not sure its 100% dry inside but its close. I had some random fittings for a shop vac to clean keyboards and detailed areas. I could blow air into the boston valve and leave room for it to exit as well. A boot dryer has a gentle flow and warms the air a little. It seemed very dry.

Thanks everyone for the help.

Marc

That's great. Just glad you found it and can get back on the water. What did you patch the hole with?

I used the round patches that come with the Cumberland.

Thanks,

Marc