SO JOHN - is THIS now the way forward for skirt fabbers or are we still in the "suck n sea zone"?
Do you sea what I did there?
Like everything, thorough testing is required - that should happen over the next year or two (new materials are also involved in this case in an attempt to produce a lifetime, zero maintenance skirt). The welding process itself is well established so, unless I've got something badly wrong, it should work as advertised.
The skill level might make it difficult for some to master, PVC in particular often comes lacquered to keep it shiny - and it's easy to weld the lacquer together to produce a joint that looks OK but isn't very strong!
BTW anyone using one of those hot air guns should remember to turn the temp down and let it cool before turning off the fan - they won't last very long if you don't!
BTW2 I assume you bag skirt owners out there are regularly checking the skirt for wear?
If the coating wears to expose the fabric (little white/grey spots appear) it will rapidly lose tear strength risking a disabling failure. The skirt contact line should be re-coated every 20-40 hours or so with adhesive (contains PU which helps protect the PVC) - more often if you see wear marks (deep scratches and small patches of fabric spotting). If you let it get to the point were large areas of fabric are exposed (which means the fabric itself is being worn away) then the skirt really needs renewed. With reasonable maintenance, the current 910gsm PVC most use should be good for at least 300 hours with no major tears or holes (it is highly tear resistant - until the fabric is exposed that is!). PU material is at least 5 times more wear resistant (but costs 4 times as much as PVC!).