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2014 north dice , inflate valve leaking

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Westozzy
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Re: 2014 north dice , inflate valve leaking ...wtf

Postby Westozzy » Wed Jan 15, 2014 2:53 am

Hey fabs only yesterday for the first time since September, blew kite up and the valve was leaking a bit even when closed. Got my pump with the thin nozzle, opened up the screw valve, blew it into the valve and presto no leak. Have been kiting in some real windy spots lately with fine sand. Try it. Don't need to be down the beach to work on your kites, better to try and sort it while the wind is not around I'd say.

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FabsPH
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Re: 2014 north dice , inflate valve leaking ...wtf

Postby FabsPH » Tue Mar 11, 2014 10:55 am

so, here it is:
No leaks anywhere on kite other than:
FKN inflate valve, and oh, surprise,... deflate valve.
Reminds me of the good old days when North valves sucked.
Cool. I wanted to go retro.
why do they have to leak? 20 years of RND and they leak when velcro strappy flappers are applied?
Took me for ever to find that BS. Did not think that would be the cause. Stupid.
But still, the intake leaks as well. North says big cap is a secondary seal... ehhh, what?
anywho...it leaks, it sucks, kite is awesome, love it....but valves no so bueno.
don't tell me to put the valve into hot water.... unless north provides the pot and propane :D

Westozzy
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Re: 2014 north dice , inflate valve leaking ...wtf

Postby Westozzy » Tue Mar 11, 2014 11:01 am

Dude honestly we run 9 dice kites at last count with the crew and not one issue.

A 5m, 6m, 3 9m, 3 12m...that's eight hey...oops. Anyhow I reckon you then send this back and get it sorted.

And we kite on any wind direction since September including several trips north and south and not one issue.

You must have a faulty one dude, get it sorted. Because it's not a problem with the valve design per say.

Sorry 4 12ms so it is 9...thought I was going nuts.

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Dan-at-Duotone
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Re: 2014 north dice , inflate valve leaking ...wtf

Postby Dan-at-Duotone » Tue Mar 11, 2014 5:31 pm

Fabs-

I never heard back from you after the last message I sent you a couple months ago, but apparently you haven't solved the issue... Have you tried taking the kite to your retailer as I asked you then? Where are you located, I may be able to help you out directly.

First off, I'm (still) sorry that you're having problems with your new kite and we'll do whatever we can to sort you out, but you need to communicate with us (me and/or your dealer) in order for us to be able to help you. I'm going to venture a guess on your issues based on the symptoms you described, but please don't get upset if my guess is incorrect. If I'm wrong, just take a minute and PM me with the symptoms that don't match with what I describe below, where you are, and who your dealer is and we can take it from there.

My guess is still that your inflate valve is fine, but your deflate valve may be stretched.

Having the one-way (inner) inflate valve hiss and slowly lose air is normal... Remember that the inner valve is for inflating convenience only... It is like the flap inside the older 9mm inflate valves... It would hold the air just fine while you plugged the valve itself, but you'd never leave the cap out when you went kiting. Similarly, the big yellow cap on the new inflate valve is what holds the air in while you kite... The inner flap is just there to keep the air in while you undo the hose and screw the cap on. Assuming you have the black rubber ring on the inside of that cap, I would be extremely surprised if it was the culprit of your leak. In fact, we have not found a single inflate valve that leaks when the cap is on. The very fact that a small amount of air comes rushing out when you unscrew it suggests to me that the cap is working perfectly... If it were leaky then there would be no pressure behind the cap to come rushing out when you unscrewed it.

All that being said, I'm not denying that it's possible that you've got the one bad inflate valve out there, but my guess is that you're losing air through the deflate valve, and blaming the inflate valve.

The deflate valve is the same one we've been using for years, and occasionally we (as with any brand with any aspect of their gear) find a bad one. Generally the problem is that the valve itself is slightly stretched, so the cap doesn't quite seal when inserted. The easy way to test this is to inflate the kite like normal, then use a zip tie to cinch the deflate valve tight against the cap. If the kite holds air then you've found the culprit and there are several easy fixes from there, and you also have a short-term work-around (the zip tie) while we work on getting you a more permanent fix.

Let me know if this works and if there's anything else I can do to help you.

-Dan

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Re: 2014 north dice , inflate valve leaking ...wtf

Postby flu » Wed Aug 15, 2018 12:23 pm

North valves have now ruined my third consecutive kitesurfing vacation. This a 12m2 DICE 2016 model. It had the old now-infamous valve whose thin inside plastic lid had a tradition of disappearing inside the tube, if you used any pressure pump or even pimp a little hard by hand. The first time in Jericoacara I found a magic repair man to recoup the lid and glue it back as well as possible. Back home: The dealer „forgot to mention this“, but had a hard time getting North to replace tube.

Replacement valve, second vacation in Dakhla, just plain leaked - again. This was the new and improved version with a contraption inside the valve that should prevent the lid from tearing off. Ali, another magic repair man at the kite station, just laughed when he saw it („Oh North valves, I repaired so many, I am out of them“!). He cut out the entire valve and just - somehow - stitched in an ancient Switchblade valve he found in a corner somewhere.

Should have have kept the kite that way. Instead, ordered new tube. North would not replace it for free. When I pumped it up first time here in Lamu, the valve lost air in both postions, „open“ and „closed“, kept the air out only by the outer cap, but losing aur over time.

So now, I am out there kiting, just glued the valve completely shut, using the air outlet on the side to pump up the the kite. So much for North valves.

Never give up. Keep kiting.

Stefan, presently Lamu


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