Ski Builders Forum

I am currently in the bladder construction phase but I am having a tough time getting a hold of air valves for the bladder. I am just wondering where other people have sourced their air valves from.

thanks,

Steve.

We got ours from mcmaster carr.

part #: 36895K111
www.mcmaster.com

we used 2 metal flanges threaded on the inside and an adapter and then a quick connect valve for the air compressor from home depot

I just used a 1/4" quick connect fitting and a pipe nut, two washers, and a whole lotta marine sealant. It pumps up to 60psi no problem.

greg, do you have any issues with air leaking from the quick connector? i tried that but for some reason i could hear a ton of air leaking out. maybe i had a bad connector.

Thanks for the help, I appreciate it. You guys saved me about $30 by going with the Mcmaster valve.

I just used some basic valves and some marine sealent AND some plumbers epoxy (hard as a rock). just did it today, so I will be testing it later this week.

Yes, I had air leaking around my quick connector, then I got a new connector and it solved the problem.

Hey guys, I am having a serious problem with my connectors leaking. I have the same connectors as the kam's (mcmaster). Tonight will be try #3 as to weither they are going to leak or not. The sysytem holds air to about 40 psi, then the seal fails. Any advice?

I am using a 4" diameter fire hose. Perhaps I haven't let the silicone dry long enough? How long have you guys left your silicone to dry?

This leaky connector has been a real pain in the ass. I'll try and post a pic soon.

Here are some pics of my valves. The black shit is the original sealant that I tried, which turned out to be total crap. I was able to clean it off of everything except the threads. For round three I sealed the connectors and then inflated the hoses to approx 1-2 psi. After that I used a contact cement adhesive around the valves to form a seal that contours to the shape of the inflated hose. I am hoping this will now work. I will let it dry for a few days before I pressure test again.



God they look messy, don't they? I would really like to find an alternative to fire hose at some point.

sealing your firehose can be a tough problem. i've found that ShoeGoo works really well.

On the same line as shoe goo, I used some heavy duty construction sealant/glue. It was pretty flexible (which is necessary) and works really well. My bladder was airtight at one time, but now it leaks a little.

One thing to keep in mind though is that the regulator on your compressor won't work very well unless there is a flow. I found that before my bladder started leaking, it needed constant monitoring and adjustment to keep it from getting to too high a pressure. With the leaks there is enough flow that I can set it at 40 psi, leave it alone and it stays at a constant pressure. So, moral is: a few small leaks are actually a good thing.

Ya, I have found out the hard way that properly sealing the bladder is a very tough job. The contact cement stuff I was talking about is actually very similar to show goo, it also said that it was a sealant. I am going to pressurize the system tomorrow and see if it leaks.

I also noticed the increasing pressure problem. Even though I only had the system pressurized for a short time the gauge seemed to be increasing slowly.

I think that I am going to deticate some time to coming up with a better solution to this bladder problem. Hopefully I can figure something out.

Thanks for the help guys! I'll let you know how it turns out.

I was having the same problem with our bladder and no amount of shoe goo or anything would seal the leak. Our hose is coated with silicone and absolutely nothing sticks to it. I think the problem is the rubber washer does not seat well and twists when you screw in the top nut. Here is my solution:



I made a wooden washer out of 1/4" ply with a proper size hole (1 3/8" I think) drilled in the middle. Put the rubber washer on the flange, slide it through the hose, put you wooden washer on top and tighten it down with the nut. It worked pretty well for me and didn't require any goo of any sort.

littlekam- I've had a couple of bad quick disconnects- all from harbor freight.
-kelvin

I just pressurized the system today and it totally leaked again.

Kelvin, I was thinking of a similar idea. I too noticed that the rubber washer wants to move around and not seal correctly. I am going to try your wooden flange in the next few days.

Thanks for the help.