See full version: How to identify the fabric of your RIB, inflatable boat, dinghy, life raft or inflatable kayak collar, tube or sponson. Hypalon or PVC
Older PVC fabrics gained a reputation for the plasticising additive degrading over time due to exposure to ultra-violet light (UV), which made the PVC brittle and lead to cracking. Modern advances have significantly addressed this issue and quality PVC fabric manufacturers provide 10 year+ UV guarantees on their marine grade fabrics.
If you need to undertake any repair to your inflatable boat collar or tubes then you first need to establish the inflatable tube fabric that your boat, RIB, dinghy, kayak or life raft is made from. The type of inflatable collar or tube fabric determines the type of adhesive, solvent and fabric repair patches that you will need to complete a successful repair [links]
Hypalon: This is a synthetic rubber coating onto polyester or nylon fabric and usually with a neoprene coating on the back of the fabric. The rubber coating is very hardwearing and can last for over 20 years if cared for by keeping your boat clean and applying a UV conditioner. more
PVC: This is a plastic coating that is chemically known as polyvinyl chloride and is applied as a sandwich coating to polyester or nylon fabric. PVC is not a flexible material in its simple state and requires an additive to make it pliable and to be utilised as a coating to the base fabric. [links]
Hypalon joints are glued by butting the fabric together and applying glued cover strips or tapes over the seams, or the sections can be overlapped and glued. Hypalon fabric is considerably more expensive that PVC but is a similar cost to good quality PU fabric. more
A tender is a submission made by a prospective supplier in response to an invitation to tender (ITT). It makes an offer for the supply of goods or services.
In the first stage, a limited appointment is agreed allowing the supplier to begin work and in the second stage a fixed price is negotiated for the contract. It can be used to appoint the main contractor early or more commonly as a mechanism for early appointment of a specialist supplier such as a cladding contractor.
This article describes in detail the tender process for a typical commercial construction contract. For a wider description of the range of tender processes that might be adopted on different types of project, see Tender processes.
The OP refers to 'ingress', and the transom seam being a possible culprit, so I take it he is talking about a leak of water into the boat, rather than a leak of air out of the tubes. more
Assuming that to be the case, to help track down the location of the leak try partially filling the boat with water when it is dry and while supported a little off the ground. It is much easier to see where the leak is on the outside than it is on the inside, where the exact location of the leak may be hidden in a corner or between the tubes and the floor. here
I had a wonderful Zodiac 240, a brilliant tender for over 30 years; however it eventually developed multiple leaks and I had to bin it.
The tightness of the weave is another measure. You may have a 9x9 weave (threads/square centimeter) or a 3x3. The weight of the thread is important when considering weave density. You can put many pieces of thread in a square centimeter, but a 2x2 weave of 1/8" line will
be stronger. Density must make sense with fabric weight. more
Synthetic materials allow compounds to be formulated for the specific application. The external coating can be designed for UV and abrasion resistance, while the inner coating can be focused on air integrity. With natural compounds, this becomes more difficult. here
1000 Denier = 1100 Decitex
From a reality point of view, both are excellent materials. Each has its weaknesses. The most noticeable difference is that the natural rubber compounds will chalk in the sun. This means you' might get a red butt when going ashore in your dress whites. [links]