Handle Removal For Weaver Davit Pad Installation

O

Old Vet

New Member
Sep 12, 2010
706
St Lawrence River/1000 Islands
Boat Info
1987 268 Sundancer
Engines
454 Magnum, Alpha One
Recently bought a Brig inflatable and need to install davit pads on it. Problem is there's a handle right where one of the pads needs to go.

Anyone ever remove a handle...or anything else from their inflatable?

How did you do it? How tough was it?

Spoke with Brig....and with Weaver.....both say use a heat gun to break the adhesive free.

Just working up the nerve to get at it next week but wondering about others experiences doing this sort of thing.
 
I'm getting ready to do the exact same thing on my avon - if no one answers here, please do post back with a "progress report" on how it works out
 
I had a well known shop do my last one (inflatable experts in portsmouth, RI) and it was sloppy and one pad came off! I'm gonna try to DIY it this time - did the pro use heat as outlined above? how long did he heat it? did it come off "clean"?
 
The guy at Weaver told me with using the heat gun the handle will "pop right off". Sure made it sound easy.

And he said to use Toluene to remove the remaining cement and clean the area before proceeding.

As for taking it to a shop........no one around here who does any of this stuff. So it's going to be up to me this week.

Will let you know how things go.
 
Last edited:
Done.

With the heat gun the handle came off very easily. Kept the gun moving so as to not burn a spot,,,,,heated an edge and then started poking at the edge with a small plastic putty knife. Once I got an edge lifted I just kept heating the handle and sliding the putty knife deeper and deeper under the handle. It really did come off surprisingly easy....and there was virtually no glue residue left behind. They apparently used very little adhesive.....kinda surprising how sttrong it was with so little adhesive.

Once everything cooled down I did a little light sanding with 80 grit sand paper just to smooth it out.

I couldn't find any Tolulene around here for cleaning after sanding as per Weavers instructions.....so I called them and they told me I could use acetone but to be very careful and use it sparingly just wiping the area lightly with a lightly dampened cloth. Important not to get the Hypalon material too wet with too much acetone....I guess it'll eat it.

Then I followed Weaver's instructions for the application of their adhesive.

Got the new pads stuck on and leaving it sit now for a week or so since Weaver says it takes about 6 days for their adhesive to cure 100%.

Also glued the handle back on in another location.

One problem I have now though is...for some reason one small spot on the edge of one of the pads did not stick down completely so I have to figure out what to do with it. The entire rest of the pad seems to be stuck down good and solid.....just that little spot right along the edge...maybe an inch or so didn't take. I was sure I had good adhesive coverage but.....

May call Weaver today and see what they suggest.

All in all things went along not too badly. Proof will be in the pudding I guess in a week or so when the adhesive is totally cured and I see how well it's holding.

Bottom line is I guess....it's not as bad a job as I feared it might be......pretty easy actually....except for that one little bit of the edge not sticking for some reason.

Good luck with yours.
 
Update.......

Spoke with Weaver today........she just told me to get some more of their adhesive and apply a bit more under the edge and press it back down. Easy enough I guess....just wasn't sure if that would do it or not but she says it should. Will give it a go tomorrow when I get more adhesive.
 
Thanks for the follow-up on this. Did you leave the dinghy inflated throughout the job or deflate it to set the pads on? What setting did you use on the gun and how long until the corner started to lift? Thanks again
 
I left it inflated. I figured it was firm enough for me to roll the pad once I got it positioned....hope I was right. They seem to be stuck on there pretty darn solid now. Just leaving it sit now until next week so the adhesive can cure completely. Then I'll see how strong it is when I hook it to my boat.

Once I placed the pads into position I used a small plastic roller on them. It appeared that I got the whole pad surface stuck down quite well.....except for that little bit of an edge that let go. And I guess that was my fault.....I'll explain in a sec.

I had the heat gun on the higher setting but made sure I kept it a few inches away from the handle and kept it moving around. It didn't take long at all before the edge of the handle got soft and freed up as I poked at it with the plastic putty knife......just a minute or two. Once that edge lifted I kept the gun moving around the area and just kept pushing that putty knife farther and farther under the handle breaking the adhesive free. Once I had one end of the handle completely free I didn't need that putty knife anymore. I just grabbed the handle and starting pulling it off slowly while continueing heating......it really pulled off pretty easily.

As for the corner that let go on me......I guess it really was my fault because I thought I had a good idea and did something with the first pad I guess I shouldn't have.:smt009

DON'T DO THIS!!!

I thought it might be a good idea to apply some continuous pressure to the pad to hold it down as the adhesive cured. So I ran a strap across the middle of the pad....one of those webbing ratcheting straps......and cinched it down. Sadly what this did was kinda bow the pad a bit.....yeah I had it pressed tight onto the dinghy across the middle but I guess that slight bowing of the pad caused that one edge to lift a little. I guess. "shrug" I suppose if doing this I needed a couple more straps.....one on each end of the pad as well. But I didn't have anymore.

Anyway......just lay the pad on and roll it all around....across the middle and around the edges to make sure you get any air bubbles out and to ensure complete contact of the entire surface.....and LEAVE IT! Don't do anything else....just let it sit there and allow it to set up on its own. Don't try to move it....DON'T touch it again.

On the second pad that I DIDN'T try to strap down.....it appears that I got good complete adhesion all around it.....no edges letting go anywhere at all.

Going to pick up some more adhesive today to restick that edge of the first pad.

All in all....it really is pretty straight forward.....just don't try to get creative the way I did.

Good luck.....I'm sure you'll do fine with yours.
 
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