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Ever had a bladder where the perforated bladder film securing the ball has torn, allowing the ball to escape into the bladder - here's a great fix, assuming you have access to the inside of the bladder :

The mesh is much stronger than bladder film with a bunch of holes, less flexible, and let the air past with a lot less pressure drop ( i.e. resistance to pumping ).Here's what it looks like from the inside :

Good idea but I hate thoses valves, the ball do not work consistently to stop the air coming out. The Airtime or Kitefix valve is much better IMO if you want conventional valves. Also, you have lot's of wrinkles there. I've replace lots of valves like the one in your picture.

I like it. Being lazy though and not having access to the inside of the bladder, I would probably just say let the ball be in the bladder. Pump up the strut then pinch off the valve stem and insert the stopper. All of my old Core GT kites work this way. In fact, I notice my old Cores are much easier to pump up than any of my kites with ball or flapper valves.

Yeah, it has wrinkles because the vinyl base of the valve was permanently deformed, it would not sit flat, even with the bladder film around it fixtured. However, with the valve base still securely attached to the bladder, the wrinkles are not a leak path.

This came to me as a request to replace this inflate valve with a stick-on valve, but why cut off a valve when the problem is with the film securing the ball.

We already have a redesigned StickIT! Inflate 9mm BALL valve available in our product line, which has stronger "stopper" part which won't break and which allow even easier pumping due to 3 enlarged air holes while still having full non-return feature of the ball valve.



New oversized die cut valve pads will soon be available also as a part of our repair kits.

GregK wrote:Ever had a bladder where the perforated bladder film securing the ball has torn, allowing the ball to escape into the bladder - here's a great fix, assuming you have access to the inside of the bladder :

The mesh is much stronger than bladder film with a bunch of holes, less flexible, and let the air past with a lot less pressure drop ( i.e. resistance to pumping ).Here's what it looks like from the inside :

Great fix Greg! I like the idea of fixing the valve as opposed to replacing it completely.
Thumbs up to Comox Kite Repair!

Seb - ball valves that do not seal properly are usually caused by a rough ball surface ( typically a cheap injection-molded ball with flash along the parting line ) which prevents the ball from sitting flush and sealing against the valve bore. When a nice round & smooth ball is used, they usually work well.

Gigi - nice large 3-hole ball-cover - is the cover TPU or vinyl ? Does the ball end up sitting over & covering one hole during inflation ?

GregK wrote:Seb - ball valves that do not seal properly are usually caused by a rough ball surface ( typically a cheap injection-molded ball with flash along the parting line ) which prevents the ball from sitting flush and sealing against the valve bore. When a nice round & smooth ball is used, they usually work well.

Let me tell you what cause them to not work well here....minus 20C or colder! That is why I hate thoses standard valve and love the Cab/Core style. But over all that, I much prefer my Flysurfer during the winter.

Strong TPU, ball may sit over one hole, but even if it does so the air flow is better than with regular ones.

GregK wrote:
Gigi - nice large 3-hole ball-cover - is the cover TPU or vinyl ? Does the ball end up sitting over & covering one hole during inflation ?