AdvancedElements.com

[Sandy_01]

I am a newbie and I got my new expedition last week. I am so excited to get out on the water with it. Only problem is when I inflate it here in the apartment, there is a kink in the bow on the port side. I have tried every trick I could find here to work it out. Seems like nothing works and the kink comes back in the same place. Does anyone have any secret tips to rid my kayak of the kink?

[Pearly]

The tubes are connected to the outer cover by a large grey octagonal nut on the outside. Remove the nut and the tube can be removed.

Once you take off the nut, separate the outer cover so you have the grey cover and the inner tubes. Unzip the grey cover so you just have the tubes. PARTIALLY inflate the tubes so it forms its shape. You should now see the tubes have no kinks. If this is now ok, let some of the air out and put the grey cover back on - with the tubes partially inflated. This will keep the shape of the kayak and will allow you to position the tubes inside the cover to get rid of the kink. Once you have zipped the cover around the partially inflated tubes, you can inflate the tubes and re-check for kinks. If all ok, let some of the air out and put the outer cover back on. Re-inflate and check again. You may need to adjust the cover to make sure it lines up ok.

Once you have done it in this manner, you should not have to do it again. Just deflate, fold up and it's ready for the next outing.

There was a big discussion about this in this thread..

http://www.advancedelements.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=642&highlight=kink

Please also ensure you follow the instructions for inflation. Inflate the outer tube first so the kayak takes shape. This tube should not be "hard" if you squeeze it, but just full and will still squeeze on you fingers. Then inflate the inner tube.

The image on the left is a top view of the tubes if you take them out of their cover. The Dark grey is the outer tube, the light grey is the inner tube.

The image on the right is a section through the tubes - as if you cut through the tubes with a knife. Two chambers separated by a membrane - one valve for each chamber.



Please let us know how you get on.


Thanks,

Ian

[Sandy_01]

Thank you Pearly for your reply,

I have had the whole thing separated to insure the integrity of the inner tubes; they partially inflated fine as far as I can tell. I put them back in there cover with some baby powder to try to allow a little more free movement during inflation. I inflated again at this point and once again it seem fine to me. I then reinstalled the tubes in the outer skin insuring that both ends were secure with my bare feet and inflated again. I put about 1 PSI in chamber #1 and about 2 PSI in chamber #2. At this point I get the kink. I will give another try tomorrow after work to see if maybe I am missing something.

Thank you for your help.

[Pearly]

If the kink is on the front left, with the tubes partially inflated in the unzipped cover, try to push the tube as far toward the front as possible. Put your hand deep inside all the way to the front of the cover and ensure the tube is all the way in. Zip her up and try again.

Hope it helps!

[Sandy_01]

Ok, Today I did what you recommended. Since the kink was on the left side I had to unzip to tub cover almost all the way around to get to it, I stopped just short of the end of the zipper. So I worked the tub in the cover while partially inflated all the way around to zip it back up. It defiantly looks better to me. Now I am afraid to deflate and fold it up so I guess it will sit on the floor for now. I will let some of the air pressure out.

One of the coaming chamber inflation tubs is missing so I will have to try to contact customer service to see if it can be replaced without too much trouble.

All I need now is some time off and a good sunny day. Back Bay is calling my name.

Thank you for all of your help.

[rsimpson]

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[Sandy_01]

I finally got my new Expedition out for a paddle Friday on a local creek. It was perfect timing as the new Coaming Chamber arrived in the mail that same day. A big thank you to customer service for sending a replacement.

I didn’t take a fishing rod with me because I really just wanted to get a feel for the kayak. The Expedition inflated with no issues thanks to the help of this web site. I didn’t time it but, I would say I was in the water in less than 15 minutes. Once on the water it took no time at all for me to feel completely comfortable with the performance of the Expedition as I paddled down and back for about an hour. It was a fantastic although short time on the water.

Well, I went back to the creek today but the fish were not to be found. Maybe still too cold for them. There were lots of turtles sunbathing though and I did see a Hawk that was hunting over the creek. I spent about 3 hours and had a great time even though there were no fish biting.
I definitely like my new kayak. It is a blast.


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[Pearly]

I'm happy that you're happy!

Looks a wee bit colder than I am used to, but tranquility has its own rewards.