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Leading Edge repair

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keegster17
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Leading Edge repair

Postby keegster17 » Tue May 30, 2017 2:50 pm

I have a small leading edge tear/rip on two of my kites. The size is the width of my baby finger nail. It is not big, but I don't want to mess with my leading edge, what should I do. I think this was caused from self launching on the beach.
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yomotha
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Re: Leading Edge repair

Postby yomotha » Tue May 30, 2017 5:17 pm

I just did a similar repair (although maybe 4 times longer than that) on my kite. I put a piece of repair tape on the inside and stuck it on. If your rip is close to the bladder opening, put it in with your hand from the inside. If it's too far to get your hand in there I'd skip that step. I was able to tuck a piece of tape in and undo it through the opening and then just pressed it on.

My next step was to use a kiteaid repair kit and stuck a piece of the included mesh on the tear, which I then glued. After drying, stick another piece of repair tape of the glued mesh. You can then put some more glue around the tape edges and let it dry.

Clean everything first with some alcohol of course.

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sflinux
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Re: Leading Edge repair

Postby sflinux » Wed May 31, 2017 3:38 pm

If you can stick your hand inside the kite and reach the tear: I would put Dacron tape on the inside and Tear-Aid on the outside. IMO Dacron tape needs stitches to keep it from delaminating on the outside. Tear-Air will balloon out alone, so tough Dacron tape is needed to support the pressure of the bladder. Supporting the tear early, helps prevent it from getting bigger.
If I can't stick my hand inside the kite to attach Dacron tape: I usually open the leading edge, stitch the Dacron on both sides.
Note: I find briefly applying an iron on a low heat setting (with a piece of paper folded as a barrier) helps to fuse the glue of Dacron tape and Tear-Aid to the kite fabric.

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Re: Leading Edge repair

Postby stephk » Thu Dec 20, 2018 3:08 pm

keegster17 wrote:
Tue May 30, 2017 2:50 pm
I have a small leading edge tear/rip on two of my kites. The size is the width of my baby finger nail. It is not big, but I don't want to mess with my leading edge, what should I do. I think this was caused from self launching on the beach.
This is a great example of when KITEAID's Leading Edge and Strut works wonders. It allows you to reinforce the area without having to open up a seam. Good work keegster17 !

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Re: Leading Edge repair

Postby edt » Thu Dec 20, 2018 7:16 pm

just a warning do not use any kind of sail tape or canopy repair stuff on the leading edge the pressure is too high and it will split open even if you double or triple it. Make sure you use some dacron or other material that is strong enough to hold the pressure. I usually just cut up an old kite leading edge and then sew it on to the damaged portion. struts don't hold as much hoop stress so it's ok to use a single layer of sail tape on the struts, and actually at the very ends of the leading edge where it tapers off you can use sail tape there too. The bigger the diameter of the leading edge the higher the hoop stress, that's where you need dacron or the equivalent.


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