Leaky Thigh Waders

[Black-Don]

I've got a pair of cheapish thigh waders which I use for small rivers, burns, bog trotting and general stuff when I can't be bothered with chesties.

They are a nylon material which is PU backed and both have sprung a leak about 1" above the welly boot at the back.

Any ideas on a quick and cheap way to fix this ? I was thinking of a cycle repair patch or the meltable rubber stuff you used to get. Other than the couple of wee leaks which allow water to flood in they are basically sound but with the leaks they are obviously useless. I know the easy answer is to get a new pair but I reckon they have one season left in them if nothing else.

[Buanán]

That glue they use for the white domestic plastic waste pipe, that and a patch applied after a clean of both surfaces with some white spirit, which has to evaporate completely before you glue, but you knew that anyway.....

Three cheers for the cheap thigh waders, how I ever got on without I'll never know.

[dazdidge]

Aquasure or Stormsure will do the trick, plus you can use them on other things as well. I have used them on walking boots, wadre soles, tents, dinghy, wellies. If you go for one of those though, buy the small tubes! The large ones once opened tend to go off even with the cap on tight.

daz

[Traditionalist]

I bought these neoprene thigh waders with rubber boots a long time ago, more than twenty years.  I tore one boot on some barbed wire in a local stream. It was a big hole and tear, so I put some fabric, ( doesn't much matter what as long as it is absorbent, I used a piece of old pillow case cover, but almost anything will do), on the inside of the wader boot with a smear of aquasure, then I coated the outside with aquasure. That was 14 years ago, and they are still waterproof. They have had very hard use.  Much more comfortable than the usual stiff rubber type waders.



Close up of the patch;



TL
MC

[Traditionalist]

Similar waders are still available here,

http://www.mullarkeys.co.uk/fishing/clothing-footwear-and-eyewear/fishing-waders-and-chest-waders/1/mullarkeys/8342/

http://www.mullarkeys.co.uk/fishing/clothing-footwear-and-eyewear/fishing-waders-and-chest-waders/1/lureflash/5631/

and very cheap!

TL
MC

[Black-Don]

Great advice from everyone here, thanks.

I need them for tonight or at the very latest this weekend though and without having aquasure or glue sticks to hand, I'm leaning more towards Buanans suggestion

That glue they use for the white domestic plastic waste pipe, that and a patch applied after a clean of both surfaces with some white spirit, which has to evaporate completely before you glue, but you knew that anyway.....

Three cheers for the cheap thigh waders, how I ever got on without I'll never know.

I take it you mean the solvent adhesive for waste pipes ? If so, I have some of this. What would you suggest for a patch material ? Will the solvent in the glue not eat the rubberised coating on the inside of the waders around the patch ?

Something else that's come to mind after reading these tips which might do me immediately and over the weekend as a temporary fix is the bike patch or even a scrap of olive goretex I have with some clear silicone over the top of it.

What do you guys think ?

[Buanán]

Yes thats the stuff and I reckoned you'd have some given your line of graft. I've had no issue using it and I've repaired the last couple of sets I've had, one set of which were a nylon type material. Nylon is remarkably solvent resistant as are some other synthetics.

Patches ( :roll:) I just cut a piece of an old oilskin jacket I've kept in the shed for that very purpose. I suppose anything that would stick to the glue would do.

Has to be said, that last set I dumped I dumped because the hole was on a crease and I couldn't get the patch to take.

You could try just layering it up with a few coats and not bothering with a patch, that glue is remarkable flexible when set, a few coats on the affected area may just do the trick.

[dazdidge]

I was sure the stuff for the pipes was a solvent and not really a glue, does it not work by melting the surfaces of the pipes which are then effectively welded together? Mind you in saying that it doesn't matter a jot if it is solvent or glue as long as it works. Will have to keep that one in mind.
cheers
daz

[Traditionalist]

The stuff for PVC pipes is a solvent used to weld the pipes together. Stuff for other pipes is different. Some of it will dissolve quite a few things. 

http://www.plumbing-geek.com/solvent-cement.html

I don't know whether that will work, or which you might have.  In a pinch any flexible waterproof glue like evostic or similar will usually work, but make a patch of some material to reinforce the glue.  Cotton or something will do.

What works depends on what the waders are made of.

TL
MC

[Black-Don]

I was sure the stuff for the pipes was a solvent and not really a glue, does it not work by melting the surfaces of the pipes which are then effectively welded together? Mind you in saying that it doesn't matter a jot if it is solvent or glue as long as it works. Will have to keep that one in mind.
cheers
daz

It is a solvent, I think me and Buanan are at cross purposes here meaning two completely different things, he'll be right about what he's saying but it's obviously a different product we're both talking about .