Inflatable water slides have become extremely popular and if you’re lucky enough to own one, you’ll know why. You’ve come to the right place if you’re looking for information on how to fix an inflatable water slide. Banzai Falls happens to be one of the most recognized and best-selling brands available. Unfortunately, they also seem to be one of the more problematic slides.
There are some repairs that are easy to fix and others that are beyond hope. I am going to cover the four most common problems and how you can solve them yourself and save what is probably one of your children’s favorite toys.
one. Mold: Well summer is here again and that first hot day your kids are begging for the water slide and you take it out of storage to find it’s all moldy. Mold is unsightly and could be a potential health hazard, but sometimes, if it’s not too extensive, you can get rid of it. Start by getting a thinner that is safe for polyester canvas. I would recommend Aurora Boat Clean Plus. You may want to consider washing your inflatable once a year to help keep it clean.
2. Tear or puncture in the fabric: No matter how careful you are with your inflatable slide a tear or puncture may occur. You may not notice it until you inflate the slider and notice that it is under-inflated or not inflated at all. If this happens, you need to start looking for tears in the fabric.
If your slide doesn’t inflate at all, the damage may be extensive enough that you can easily find it. If your slide is slightly less inflated, it probably means the tear is small and may be hard to find. One trick to make this easier is to inflate the slide and spray it with a spray bottle filled with a mixture of dish soap and water. If you have a leak, the escaping air should cause the mixture to bubble and you can pinpoint the source of your problem. Once you find the leak, you may want to check the rest of the slide to make sure there isn’t more than one.
To repair a rip or tear in the fabric, start by sewing up the hole to prevent it from getting bigger. Once you’ve sewn it on, you’ll need some adhesive and a piece of material for a patch. You can buy a tarp repair kit almost anywhere that sells camping equipment, they must have them for repairing tents.
Follow the instructions that come with the kit, just be sure to use a patch large enough to cover the entire tear. If the patch materials are not large enough, you can use more than one piece, just be sure to overlap the seams by about 1 inch.
3. Split seams: Unfortunately, if your slide is falling apart at the seams, you have the most difficult type of repair to do. Most of the time, this type of damage may be too extensive to repair, but since these slides are expensive, you’ll probably want to give it a try. You will follow the same steps as to repair a hole.
Start by sewing the seam up, be sure to go just past where the split stops. Once this is done, you are going to cover it with the patch material. Then cross your fingers and turn on the blower if the slide contains air and then give yourself a pat on the back.
Four. A faulty or broken blower: If the fan unit is faulty, unless you are experienced in electric motor repairs, then you really should replace it. You can buy replacement blowers on eBay for between $50 and $200, depending on type and condition. You will need to match the size and power of the blower to the one you have in order for it to work properly.
Banzai Falls is not the only manufacturer of inflatable water slides, there are other brands like Blast Zone and Bounceland that offer a higher quality product in my opinion. Banzai seems to have a lot of issues with durability, leading many people to seek instructions on how to do it. I hope you can fix your slide but if not check out some of the other brands.