It is a very likely possibility that the reason the stitches pulled
thru & tore the clear plastic is due to UV degradation. In fact, unless you
are aware of some specific event where there was a mechanical overload, UV
degradation of the clear plastic is almost certainly the cause of
failure. An example of a mechanical overload would be if someone lost their
balance as the boat moved under them & fell into the pop top's window,
putting all their weight against the plastic window.
You didn't say how old the pop top is. You might want to take a good
hard look at the rest of the windows in the pop top. If it is UV
degradation, the rest of the windows may not be far behind the one which failed.
Look for any yellowing &/or brittleness. Good window material should be
clear, flexible, & have a certain elasticity to it. Try to extend the tears
in the window material which failed. Good window material is pretty tough
stuff. If you can cause the tears to extend by hand, then the material is
too far gone to be worth saving. If the plastic is UV degraded, you don't
want to attempt to repair the tears. It is a far better option to replace the
window with fresh plastic.
If you are dead set on repairing your present window, you could take
a good rubber contact cement, like Goodyear Pliobond, & glue a strip of new
window material around the perimeter of your torn window. Then, sew thru
the old + new material to make your repair. I hope you have a very powerful
sewing machine &/or a good sailmakers palm!
In any case, if it were my pop top, I would unstitch the old torn
window & replace the entire window with new material. You will end up with a
better looking, longer lasting repair.
Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
06 Apr 2001
Good advice (as usual) from Roger, but a quick, inexpensive repair
would be to use a product called VLP (for: Vinyl, Leather, Plastic). Its
designed to repair car seats.
Rummy
06 Apr 2001
try glue used for pvc inflatables (not hypalon), it's flexible, unlike
crazy glue.
Brock Barnes
06 Apr 2001
