Postby GregK » Sun Feb 03, 2013 9:10 am
OK, what tony just said, but in detail, here's something to try before replacing the valves :
Take the strut bladders out of the kite.By looking through the back side of the bladder opposte the valve, examine the 85%-sliced internal end cap of the vinyl valve bore to determine where it's sliced and where it is still attached.
You should see the sliced cap hanging a bit open, having take a set from years of having the draining-probe holding the cap open.
Using a blunt-tip or rounded probe-shaped tool, like the drain probe but probably stiffer, push the sliced cap back into the valve bore as far as possible ( the opposite of how it was stored for years ) and leave it pushed in for a day. You will be pushing on it through the opposite side of the bladder, make sure your tool tip is rounded so that you don't deform or puncture the bladder.
After a day the sliced cap should be sitting more closed and not gaping wide open. Inflate the bladder ( alone ) pumping very slowly ( to not force the cap wide open ) to the point where the bladder is tight as a drum and starting to bulge at it's largest circumference. Pull the pump nozzle out of the valve quickly. You want the pressure inside the bladder to act suddenly on the cap and slam it shut.
If the caps are now doing their thing, put the bladders back in the kite. If not, give them more time with the caps pushed into the bore.
If this works, then for a while, don't use the drain probes to deflate the struts, just pull the plugs and let them deflate on their own. The more time the sliced caps spend with internal pressure pushing them shut the better.
If it doesn't work, then replace the valves with stick-on 1-way valves.
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- glasso (Tue Jun 09, 2020 7:15 pm)