Tent fly leaking.....advice ?

[sambar358]

A brief history....I bought a Fairydown Assault 2 4 season tent off Ebay a while ago. The owner had used it only a few times and said that it was in very good nick.....which it is....physically anyway ! My first inkling of a possible issue was seeing all the seal seam tape on the underside of the flysheet seriously deteriorated and after popping the tent up in the yard I decided to give it a light watering down with the hose set on "mist" to see if any of these seams leaked. Well......the whole flysheet leaks like a seive and there was more water in the tent than on the outside so not just a matter of re-doing the seals will Seam Seal etc.....the whole fly lets serious water thru everywhere. I sent the fly to Remote Equipment Repairs for pressure testing to see if the PU coating on the underside of the tent is OK and if it was then RER can re-seal the fly outer. Unfortunately the fly failed the test dismally not even getting past level 1.....so RER cannot do anything with the fly at all.

So.....Plan A : I'm seeking some suggestions as to any products that may be able to apply a waterproof coating to the outer surface of the flysheet......it'd be non-sil nylon fabric I'd think. Thinking of Nicwax Tent & Gear waterproofing solution or maybe the silicone/turps treatment....or anything else that's worth a try. Plan B : Anyone got a good flysheet from a FD Assault 2 they want to sell.....must be 100% waterproof though ! Plan C : Anyone want to buy a FD Assault 2 inner tent and poles in VGC ?

Any suggestions gratefully received. Cheers

s358

[neilmny]

Plan D..............keep the inner and make a light weight tarp to put over it??????????

[Franco]

Sambar,
If I had that tent I would attempt to fix it.
This is what I would do :
1) wipe all of the inner tent with isopropyl alcohol if you detect any sticky feel on the outside face of the fabric
(if not just give it a good wash with pure soap and warm water and rinse well after.
Pure soap (like down soap/Velvet soap not detergent)
2) do the fly with Gear Aid Tent sure.
Because the seam tape is peeling I am assuming that the fly is not silnylon.
You will need to seal the seams after with Seam Grip (I would do that on the outside)

[Moondog55]

My alternative suggestion is to wash in a mixture of ammonia and Bi-Carb and rinse really well and after it drys spay or brush on a diluted neutral roofing silicon
Is this the Purple and Green fly? If it is it's the same vintage as my Plateau and a goods strong tent and worth trying to rescue

[sambar358]

Neil.....yep I had considered your Plan D too and that may be my "last resort" option. One thing I hate is chucking tents and I've been after one of these FD Assault 2's for quite a few years and I thought that I'd finally snagged one so I'll try and get it going for sure......but having the inner under a nice big silnylon fly may be a good option if all else fails.

Franco....RER gave the fly a good wash before pressure testing it so it should come back from them nice and clean. No stickyness in the fly at all and RER's opinion is that the PU coating on the underside of the fly is no-more although there's no evidence of it flaking or anything.....just leaks like a seive all-over. Apparently the fly failed at level 1 pressure testing......the lowest of multiple levels that they test the PU coating at......about as waterproof as a flywire screen door....LOL !

With the Gear Aid Tent Sure product.....I'm assuming this goes on the outer surface of the flysheet.......it looks to be a pretty small bottle......is it a concentrate or will I need multiple bottles as this is a fair sized flysheet with twin vestibules both quite large.....so probably a Scarp 2 area. Thanks for the input on this. Cheers

s358

[Moondog55]

If it is clean then just the diluted silicon should give it a reasonable WP coating, if you can see the coating you've probably put too much on. Make sure the tent fly is well stretched before applying

[Franco]

In the US there is a product called Atsko Silicone Water Guard.
It is a very easy product to apply to a tent fly with just a rug.
However it only comes in a 1 gallon size and it is not imported here anyway.
I don't know what the dilution is but I have seen a tent that had that application and looks nothing like my failed attempt at doing the same with my own home made version.( maybe mine was around 5:1)
That is why I suggested the Gear Aid version.

[benjabimon]

you can get atsko silicone spray here in melbourne at BCF, and also ray's i think. i've only used it on a few things, such at the bag i use for cycle commuting everyday, but it seems like good stuff. it goes on thicker than the nikwax spray. here's a link to the product page at BCF: http://www.bcf.com.au/online-store/products/Atsko-Silicone-Waterguard-300g.aspx?pid=166167#Recommendations. only word of caution is make sure you use it outside, and if possible wear a mask! the first time i used the spray without one i ended up feeling a bit poorly, oooops.

if you do try it i hope that it works to restore the waterproofness of your tent. it is really encouraging to see others putting effort into repairing and restoring gear, diverting it from landfill

[Franco]

My impression is that the spray version (Atsko) wears off whilst the liquid type sinks in .

[Moondog55]

Also I saw that Bunnings have a new waterproofing product that may work

[sambar358]

Franco's "Gear Aid Tent Sure" product seems to be the go as it replaces the PU coating on the underside of the fly which Remote Repairs said had failed in the pressure test......in fact they reckoned that there wasn't any PU coating on the fly at all ! Reading-up on this : the product comes in a 4oz. bottle with an applicator and is used undiluted and one bottle "should" do up to 84 square feet once and 2 coats are recommended. So a few bottles required it seems to do the job properly.....got onto some from a US-supplier for around US$10 a bottle and minimal postage to AU......so I'll get enough to do the re-coat a couple of times plus a bit of spare and see how it goes. Then probably do the outside of the fly with Moondog' silicone/turps solution as well as an extra water barrier.

McNett also recommend the "isopropyl alcohol" wipe-down before applying the Tent Sure.....what's this stuff and where do you get it ? Not at a drive-in bottle shop I assume ! Thanks for all the input so far. Cheers

s358

[whitefang]

Bunnings sell isopropyl alcohol. They have the Diggers branded one for about $8 in a 125ml bottle. As for what it is its a rubbing alcohol with low toxicity. They use it in hand sanitizer as well as those alcohol wipes you can get too.

[Franco]

isopropyl alcohol
I used to buy that at the chemist , to clean negatives and occasionally lenses with.
But probably less expensive at Bunnings.

[benjabimon]

My impression is that the spray version (Atsko) wears off whilst the liquid type sinks in .

I'll get back to you, I've only just sprayed my bag about a month ago It seemed to soak in nice and good like when I was applying, and I did notice in some of our recent downpours in Melbourne that water was beading and pooling on my bag. Whether this translates into something good for a tent... well.... might not matter anyway, now that sambar is using the McNett stuff, which sounds pretty good.