Case Study Overview

Site Boat
Location United Kingdom
Repair Type No pressure pipe repair
Defect Pinhole leak in rubber hose connected to boat engine

Repair Products

Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape, SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage,
SylWrap Standard Pipe Repair Kit

Case Study PDF

Case Study Details

The hose was connected to the engine, carrying water as part of the cooling process. Once the pinhole leak had developed, water was able to spray out at high pressure whenever the engine was in service. This was dangerous and unsustainable.

Repairing the leak was made challenging by the pinhole being located on a bend in the rubber hose. The hose itself was in a confined space below deck, surrounded by other pipes and engine components. A pipe repair clamp could not be fitted because of the constraints.

The boat owner contacted Sylmasta seeking a versatile repair method capable of sealing the leak despite the difficulties in accessing the hose. A SylWrap Standard Pipe Repair Kit containing all the products needed to repair a pipe when pressure can be turned off was recommended for the application.

First, the pinhole was sealed using Superfast Steel Epoxy Putty. The putty was kneaded by hand and whilst soft, applied over the pinhole leak. It easily adhered to the rubber. After 5 minutes when the putty had started to harden, it was overwrapped using a SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage.

SylWrap HD is a composite wrap with a water-activated resin, which sets rock hard in five minutes. As the Bandage was wrapped and smoothed around the hose, it forced the Superfast Steel as it cured further into the pinhole, completely sealing the leak. Once SylWrap HD had set, it formed an impact resistant sleeve to increase the repair’s effectiveness.

When used together, Superfast Steel and SylWrap HD create a repair with pressure resistance up to 30 bar and temperature resistance to 200ºC. When the boat engine was started, no water was escaping from the hose. The vessel could return to the sea.

Completing the boat hose repair took under 30 minutes and cost less than £25, including delivering of the SylWrap Pipe Repair Kit. This represented a significant cost saving compared to quotes offered by specialist marine engineering contractors to fix or replace the hose.

Products Used

Superfast Steel
Fast working steel-filled epoxy putty seals leaks by filling holes and cracks in pipework

SylWrap HD Bandage
Water-activated wrap sets rock hard to reinforce repairs made with epoxy putty

Standard Pipe Repair Kit
Kit containing Superfast Steel and SylWrap HD for permanent offline pipe repair

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