Click here to zoom in Inflatable Boats Materials Polyvinyl Chloride

Click here to zoom in Inflatable Boats Materials Polyvinyl Chloride

Click here to zoom in Inflatable Boats Materials Polyvinyl Chloride

Click here to zoom in Inflatable Boats Materials Polyvinyl Chloride

Polyvinyl chloride, more commonly known as PVC, is the absolute delight of plumbers everywhere who no longer have to struggle with heavy pipes that are made of metals such as steel, copper or cast-iron. The advent of the lightweight but able PVC meant that the piping industry was one of the first to pick up on its use, replacing the majority of the older metal pipes with lightweight PVC plastic pipes. In fact, in this day and age, it would be practically impossible for you to go through an entire day without encountering PVC at least once in the day. After the invention of PVC, some boat manufacturers discovered that it was actually ideal for the construction of inflatable boats, and today a growing proporti on of inflatable boats on the market are made using PVC.

The PVC that goes into inflatable boats is basically the same as the PVC that is used to manufacture PVC drain pipes. The main difference between the two is that the material used in the construction of inflatable boats has a variety of sticizers added to it that impart a greater degree of elasticity to the material. This makes the PVC used in the manufacture of inflatable boats more flexible than that used in the manufacture of regular PVC piping. Dyes are also often adde d to the PVC used in the manufacture of inflatable boats in order to achieve the desired coloration for the boats.

There are two main advantages to using PVC-coated fabric in inflatable boats in the place of Hypalon-coated fabric. The first and most obvious to the consumer is that inflatable boats made using PVC-coated fabric are significantly cheape han those made using Hypalon. The other advantage is that the seams of an inflatable boat made using PVC-coated fabric can be thermoelectrically welded together, with only semi-skilled workers to operate the mostly automated machinery. Hypa lon-coated fabric, however, requires that each and every seam be hand-glued together by skilled workers working with a paintbrush and a pot of glue. The manufacturers' savings on labor costs are another reason why inflatable boats made usin g PVC are much cheaper than those that are made using Hypalon.

Sadly, PVC as a material for making inflatable boats has several drawbacks. The first is that PVC is highly sensitive to ultraviolet radiation, and prolonged exposure to direct sunlight causes PVC to break down relatively quickly. If a P boat is left in direct sunlight for an extended period of time, the material will first lose its elasticity, followed by the appearance of cracks, and the eventual failure of the waterproofing on the boat. Manufacturers who make inflatable boats using PVC coat them with a substance that protects them from ultraviolet radiation, but whether this is an effective defense against ultraviolet radiation has not been properly determined.

Another drawback of using PVC is that the plasticizing compounds used to give it greater elasticity also reduces the overall stability of the PVC. Most inflatable boats made using PVC suffer from quality control issues, as the durability the boats can vary greatly from one batch to the next.

While the welded seams of PVC inflatable boats are extremely song, the areas where the fabric is glued to a part of the frame of the boat are much weaker than with Hypalon boats. This is because a PVC surface welds very strongly to anoth PVC surface, but it will not glue well to another surface that is not made of PVC. An added disadvantage from this is that tears occurring at seams where the PVC is joined to a non-PVC surface are relatively difficult to repair on your own.

The main advantage of using PVC over Hypalon or neoprene is that PVC is significantly cheaper than either of the other two materials. These savings in costs are passed - at least in part - from the manufacturers to the consumer, making P boats extremely attractive to consumers, particularly to those who do not understand the important differences between PVC boats and Hypalon or neoprene boats.

While it may seem like a fairly straightforward conclusion that PVC boats are very much inferior to Hypalon and neoprene boats, it must be remembered that most of the conditions in which PVC breaks down are found only in the tropics. Stu s and surveys have found that many boating enthusiasts in temperate climates who do not use their inflatable boats on a frequent basis do not specifically favor either Hypalon or PVC boats.

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