Tips and Tricks to Repair Kites - add your experience!

[kiteaid]

I have been using this stuff, its amazing, you can pull of and reposition but after rubbing down it sticks like crazy.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004BD ... UTF8&psc=1

That product is most likely a Polyethylene product and will not move well with the bladder.
Bladders are made of Polyurethane and can stretch 500%. Polyethylene does not stretch that much, more like 50%.
The price point of the product on amazon suggest that it uses a cheap rubber based adhesive that is just that, cheap. It will degrade over time.

[gilana]

I have been using this stuff, its amazing, you can pull of and reposition but after rubbing down it sticks like crazy.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004BD ... UTF8&psc=1

That product is most likely a Polyethylene product and will not move well with the bladder.
Bladders are made of Polyurethane and can stretch 500%. Polyethylene does not stretch that much, more like 50%.
The price point of the product on amazon suggest that it uses a cheap rubber based adhesive that is just that, cheap. It will degrade over time.

Hate to disagree with you. I have used this stuff for a year now on a windsurfer sail that split when I went through it learning a carve gybe, It sticks like crazy, and you can re peel it provided the surface is smooth like the laminate on a sail. I have used it on my kite leading edge to protect a chafe area, you do have to put it on to an inflated kite, and rub the tape with a sharp edge like a coin, also remove or round off the corners, but boy it sticks.

I have no idea what the material is, but it does not stretch at all, more like 0.05%

[Sternhufvud]

Hello
Sorry for just breaking in here, but I'd really much apprecciate any help I can get with repairing a kite. To start off I'm a total newb, and only kited a few times. The kite that's damaged is a RRD vision mk2 which was bought in used, still almost mint, condition pretty cheap which is why I feel sending it in to a professional repair center would not be a worthwhile investment. Now I probably also learn a little bit more how to repair kites
As you probably can see on the image the leading edge got partially ripped up in the edge next to the stitches, about 60 cm. This happend after a random explosion of the LE. bladder while in the air.
So how should i go on with this? I bought some strong polyester thread, a needle for the sewing machine that fits the thread and some dacron tape. First off I guess I should start taking away the old stitches in the damaged area, then I thought to put dacron tape on the inside and outside along the damaged edge and lastly sewing them on with a sewing machine.
What is important to think about? Do you have any tips for me?

Cheers
Sternhufvud

[reyrivera]

Hello
Sorry for just breaking in here, but I'd really much apprecciate any help I can get with repairing a kite. To start off I'm a total newb, and only kited a few times. The kite that's damaged is a RRD vision mk2 which was bought in used, still almost mint, condition pretty cheap which is why I feel sending it in to a professional repair center would not be a worthwhile investment. Now I probably also learn a little bit more how to repair kites
As you probably can see on the image the leading edge got partially ripped up in the edge next to the stitches, about 60 cm. This happend after a random explosion of the LE. bladder while in the air.
So how should i go on with this? I bought some strong polyester thread, a needle for the sewing machine that fits the thread and some dacron tape. First off I guess I should start taking away the old stitches in the damaged area, then I thought to put dacron tape on the inside and outside along the damaged edge and lastly sewing them on with a sewing machine.
What is important to think about? Do you have any tips for me?

Cheers
Sternhufvud

If you are not sure, you probably just want to send it to the shop for repair.

You have a couple of ways of doing this.

Technique 1:

Remove the stitches, tape the ripped parts together with dacron on the inside and outside, and sew the kite together.

Pros: Quick and easy. Done in a couple of hours.
Cons: That area of the kite will be thicker and a bit heavier. You probably will need a strong sewing machine to go through the thick material. Remember, you will need to fold the cloth, so you will end up bunching up thick dacron. You probably will need a machine that can sew through three layers of denim to get this job this way.


Technique 2:

Remove the stitching and tape together the parts as best you can to recreate the shape of the leading edge material.

Cut the area of the damage in clean sections. Use the cut sections as template and trace it to your recently purchased dacron cloth. You may have to undo stitches to do an accurate trace. Don't forget to add sewing allowances. You want to be able to sew the new part back in. Make sure to match the shape of your original cloth.

Once you have the template, sew it back in the kite.

Pros: Clean professional looking repair. Added negligible weight and repair looks clean
Cons: You need to know what you are doing.

Here's an example, the tear is similar to your kite, I went ahead and changed three sections of my leading edge instead of patching the whole thing with dacron tape.
https://plus.google.com/photos/10262168 ... 2067913921

[Gigi;)]

Hi Sternhufvud,

I'm afraid to say that without stitching it would be really hard to make a lasting repair.

We repaired a lot of this kind of blowouts:


LE Blowout - before


LE Blowout - after

Feel free to check out more repair pics on our FB page here.

I think the best would be to find out a good kite repair loft around your home,

Hello
Sorry for just breaking in here, but I'd really much apprecciate any help I can get with repairing a kite. To start off I'm a total newb, and only kited a few times. The kite that's damaged is a RRD vision mk2 which was bought in used, still almost mint, condition pretty cheap which is why I feel sending it in to a professional repair center would not be a worthwhile investment. Now I probably also learn a little bit more how to repair kites
As you probably can see on the image the leading edge got partially ripped up in the edge next to the stitches, about 60 cm. This happend after a random explosion of the LE. bladder while in the air.
So how should i go on with this? I bought some strong polyester thread, a needle for the sewing machine that fits the thread and some dacron tape. First off I guess I should start taking away the old stitches in the damaged area, then I thought to put dacron tape on the inside and outside along the damaged edge and lastly sewing them on with a sewing machine.
What is important to think about? Do you have any tips for me?

Cheers
Sternhufvud

[Sternhufvud]

You have a couple of ways of doing this.

Technique 1:

Remove the stitches, tape the ripped parts together with dacron on the inside and outside, and sew the kite together.

Pros: Quick and easy. Done in a couple of hours.
Cons: That area of the kite will be thicker and a bit heavier. You probably will need a strong sewing machine to go through the thick material. Remember, you will need to fold the cloth, so you will end up bunching up thick dacron. You probably will need a machine that can sew through three layers of denim to get this job this way.


Technique 2:

Remove the stitching and tape together the parts as best you can to recreate the shape of the leading edge material.

Cut the area of the damage in clean sections. Use the cut sections as template and trace it to your recently purchased dacron cloth. You may have to undo stitches to do an accurate trace. Don't forget to add sewing allowances. You want to be able to sew the new part back in. Make sure to match the shape of your original cloth.

Once you have the template, sew it back in the kite.

Pros: Clean professional looking repair. Added negligible weight and repair looks clean
Cons: You need to know what you are doing.

I've decided to do it myself as I find it a good opportunity to try it on this cheap kite i bought for around 370 usd and hopefully I'll learn some basics for my next kites.

So I removed all the stitches in the area now. Haven't really decided which technique to go with. However I've got an old pfaff tipmatic 1019. When I googled about the machine I heard it would easily sew through layers of leather or denim so both techniques would be options for me.

Is technique 2 effecting the performance of the kite less than 1 or is it mostly about how it looks?
If I would go for technique 2, should I cut away the part that is folded ( like shown in picture ) in a straight line and also cut the other side in the same way so I end up with 2 straight lines. Then, should I add 1 or 2 layers?? of adhesive dacron, and fold it over one of the edges like it was before?
Regards
Sternhufvud

[reyrivera]

The damage on Gigi's kite seem to be closer to what you have. But his does not have as much leading edge tear, a guess, since taped reinforcements were done on the inside. That was a very good looking repair. You don't have to replace large panels.

If you just want to use repair tape, then I suggest using dacron on the outside, and then thin spinnaker tape on the inside. Dacron cloth with sewing tape is also an ideal alternative instead of using dacron tape because you can color match your kite.

If you are going to use all tape, you will have to put together the ripped parts like a jigsaw puzzle. If you decide to color match and use dacron cloth, you will only need the parts to recreate your pattern. Only remove the ripped material if you use cloth.

Might be a safer choice for you until you get good at sewing things. Don't forget to pay attention to the curves of your panel or you will bunch your repair into a thick mess.

EXPLOSION.freedraw.png (325.05 KiB) Viewed 2438 times

You have a couple of ways of doing this.

Technique 1:

Remove the stitches, tape the ripped parts together with dacron on the inside and outside, and sew the kite together.

Pros: Quick and easy. Done in a couple of hours.
Cons: That area of the kite will be thicker and a bit heavier. You probably will need a strong sewing machine to go through the thick material. Remember, you will need to fold the cloth, so you will end up bunching up thick dacron. You probably will need a machine that can sew through three layers of denim to get this job this way.


Technique 2:

Remove the stitching and tape together the parts as best you can to recreate the shape of the leading edge material.

Cut the area of the damage in clean sections. Use the cut sections as template and trace it to your recently purchased dacron cloth. You may have to undo stitches to do an accurate trace. Don't forget to add sewing allowances. You want to be able to sew the new part back in. Make sure to match the shape of your original cloth.

Once you have the template, sew it back in the kite.

Pros: Clean professional looking repair. Added negligible weight and repair looks clean
Cons: You need to know what you are doing.

I've decided to do it myself as I find it a good opportunity to try it on this cheap kite i bought for around 370 usd and hopefully I'll learn some basics for my next kites.

So I removed all the stitches in the area now. Haven't really decided which technique to go with. However I've got an old pfaff tipmatic 1019. When I googled about the machine I heard it would easily sew through layers of leather or denim so both techniques would be options for me.

Is technique 2 effecting the performance of the kite less than 1 or is it mostly about how it looks?
If I would go for technique 2, should I cut away the part that is folded ( like shown in picture ) in a straight line and also cut the other side in the same way so I end up with 2 straight lines. Then, should I add 1 or 2 layers?? of adhesive dacron, and fold it over one of the edges like it was before?
Regards
Sternhufvud

[Gigi;)]

Here you go one more closer to your damage.

Happy repairing!

The damage on Gigi's kite seem to be closer to what you have. But his does not have as much leading edge tear, a guess, since taped reinforcements were done on the inside. That was a very good looking repair. You don't have to replace large panels.


Sternhufvud

[/quote]

[norcom]

I got an old kite to play around with in doing some repairs. The rip is very close to the strut. I was just going to tape this off on both sides with ripstop tape and sew it up but now that I'm looking at the picture I'm not sure if there's enough material next to the strut to hold it together. Any thoughts?

This kite will only be used for playing around with repairs, so I won't be flying to test them out. Just though I'd learn from what I already have as it very well may happen on a kite I will want to fly again.

thnx

[reyrivera]

I got an old kite to play around with in doing some repairs. The rip is very close to the strut. I was just going to tape this off on both sides with ripstop tape and sew it up but now that I'm looking at the picture I'm not sure if there's enough material next to the strut to hold it together. Any thoughts?

This kite will only be used for playing around with repairs, so I won't be flying to test them out. Just though I'd learn from what I already have as it very well may happen on a kite I will want to fly again.

thnx

What kite is that? It looks like you might get away with not touching the strut, but it depends on how the stitching looks like on the other side of the kite. From the picture that you posted, looks like the dacron reinforcement is left untouched. If you have the same amount of material on the inside, half an inch to 3/4 of an inch, then yeah, you might not need to open up the strut. Can you post another picture of the tear with strut showing right beside the tear?
You have two spots where you might not have enough material to just patch the kite: