Investigating an Exped mat failure
Posted: Wed 30 May, 2018 1:54 pm
With all the discussion of Exped sleeping mat failures and given I have a failed one just sitting around I thought I'd cut it open and give it an autopsy/investigate the possibility of repair. My mat is a synmat winterlite that had about 25 - 30 nights use and of course it died a bit outside the warranty period. The baffle blew while turning over (not violently). I tried to use it carefully, i.e. be gentle, less than full inflation, use pumpsack for inflation, allow any moisture to dry from the surface before packing. I also have an original neoair from 2010 that has over 200 nights on it (I think well over), it's now stone cold I think because the reflective layers have deteriorated but that's another story, the baffles are still intact, so it was of course a bit disappointing to get so much less use out of the Exped.
Classic Exped baffle failure
Making the incision
So actually on inspecting the baffles it hasn't failed because of delamination of the weld between the baffle and the outside material, instead the baffle has torn. Close inspection shows that it tore right at the edge of the weld (the flap you can see still attached to the bottom (uncut) layer of fabric is the seam allowance of the baffle). The Baffles are some kind of plastic film and seem like they would be susceptible to tearing from any defect or weak point.
You can see where the baffle material tore around the end of the weld
From a first look inside the thing it seems like the baffle material itself is the weak point in these mats (at least from the same generation as mine) and durability could be improved substantially if Exped used a stronger material for the baffles. Not sure if I gained any insight into how best to avoid failure or what actions cause it, maybe it's just luck.
As for repair, it might be possible to re-glue to baffle with an appropriate glue then glue a strip of TPU fabric over the cut, hmmmm. I wonder what sort of glue would be best, Aquaseal, Seam Grip? It would probably take a fair bit of glue to re-seal.
Classic Exped baffle failure
Making the incision
So actually on inspecting the baffles it hasn't failed because of delamination of the weld between the baffle and the outside material, instead the baffle has torn. Close inspection shows that it tore right at the edge of the weld (the flap you can see still attached to the bottom (uncut) layer of fabric is the seam allowance of the baffle). The Baffles are some kind of plastic film and seem like they would be susceptible to tearing from any defect or weak point.
You can see where the baffle material tore around the end of the weld
From a first look inside the thing it seems like the baffle material itself is the weak point in these mats (at least from the same generation as mine) and durability could be improved substantially if Exped used a stronger material for the baffles. Not sure if I gained any insight into how best to avoid failure or what actions cause it, maybe it's just luck.
As for repair, it might be possible to re-glue to baffle with an appropriate glue then glue a strip of TPU fabric over the cut, hmmmm. I wonder what sort of glue would be best, Aquaseal, Seam Grip? It would probably take a fair bit of glue to re-seal.