Contact   Imprint   Advertising   Guidelines

Multiple micro bladder leaks?

Forum for kitesurfers
longwhitecloud
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 3676
Joined: Fri Sep 11, 2009 3:15 am
Style: Master Baiter. Oracle of windsport.
Gear: 2 sets of Flysurfer VMGs 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 15, 18. Foilboards ( Masts 75 90 110 125 Wings 880 950 1100 1350 1750) all with Ronix Ones attached. Soon to retire to Wingfoiling.
Has thanked: 108 times
Been thanked: 175 times

Multiple micro bladder leaks?

Postby longwhitecloud » Sat Oct 19, 2019 3:28 am

Wierd thing I have never seen before after fixing up some of my other torches. I have 6 or 7+ super small , super slow leaks in leading edge of a 7m torch. I know ants were eating into bladders a few years ago?

Got no idea.. pita to find as only show when under high pressure.. naish octopus of course making it even more painful to deal with... cant get leaks to show with bladder outside kite. Kite is nowhere near flapped out.
Can session for an hour before bladders collapse with turns..

Very frustrating. Any ideas of how to sort it out without buying 200g of urethane for $200 let me know ( ie a new bladder)

User avatar
kjorn
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 831
Joined: Tue Feb 11, 2003 10:42 am
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: uk
Has thanked: 55 times
Been thanked: 29 times
Contact:

Re: Multiple micro bladder leaks?

Postby kjorn » Sat Oct 19, 2019 11:38 am

Big patches? Use soap to see holes (bubble) while in kite.
Measure hole position from inflation nipple and strut to give good estimation of hole location.
Take bladder out. Inflate inside house. Use measurements to find hole. If not possible use giant patch. I used an LED lamp and shine it from all angles. You can usually see a tiny spec where the hole is
These users thanked the author kjorn for the post (total 2):
longwhitecloud (Sat Oct 19, 2019 12:54 pm) • ThickAir (Thu Oct 24, 2019 5:35 pm)
Rating: 6.06%

User avatar
FLandOBX
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 1765
Joined: Sun May 04, 2014 1:58 am
Kiting since: 2007
Weight: 81 kg
Local Beach: Hatteras Island, North Carolina, USA
Central Florida, USA
Style: Freeride, Airstyle, Hydrofoil
Gear: Cab. Apollos, Cab. Contra One-Struts, FS Speed 4, FS Souls, Axis Ltd 132, RRD Poison 135, SS Ankle Biter, Moses 633, 679 & 590, SS Dwarfcraft 100cm, LF Galaxy 4'2"
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 183 times
Been thanked: 219 times

Re: Multiple micro bladder leaks?

Postby FLandOBX » Sat Oct 19, 2019 12:16 pm

With multiple small pinhole leaks, you'll need to remove the bladder. I've found the best technique for precisely locating small leaks is submerging the bladder in the shallows or in a swimming pool. If it were me, with multiple pinholes in an octopus inflation system Naish kite, I'd buy a new bladder (or a new kite).
These users thanked the author FLandOBX for the post:
longwhitecloud (Sat Oct 19, 2019 12:55 pm)
Rating: 3.03%

User avatar
Greenturtle
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 978
Joined: Fri May 12, 2017 6:51 pm
Local Beach: Presque Isle, Erie PA
Favorite Beaches: Bahamian Cays
Gear: Edge 19, Flite 17, 14.5, 12, 10, 8, Cloud 13.4, 10.4, 8, 6.2, 3.7
Tons of boards for water, land, and snow
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 240 times
Been thanked: 276 times

Re: Multiple micro bladder leaks?

Postby Greenturtle » Sat Oct 19, 2019 12:38 pm

These users thanked the author Greenturtle for the post:
longwhitecloud (Sat Oct 19, 2019 12:55 pm)
Rating: 3.03%

User avatar
jumptheshark
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 2169
Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2017 6:36 pm
Local Beach: Shhhhh
Favorite Beaches: Nude
Gear: The good stuff
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 387 times
Been thanked: 707 times

Re: Multiple micro bladder leaks?

Postby jumptheshark » Sat Oct 19, 2019 1:11 pm

Landed a kite on a thistle hidden in the grass once. Instant multiple micro bladder leaks. Very hard to find. A buddy did all the real work. Think he took out the LE and had to clamp off the end section in question and really pressurize it with soapy water. He just used the little square sticker patches that come with most kites to do the job but it took at least 6. Said it took forever, but he got em all. I still use that kite all the time and it has held up for the two or three years since just fine. Worth the effort if the kite is in good shape.
These users thanked the author jumptheshark for the post:
longwhitecloud (Sat Oct 19, 2019 10:50 pm)
Rating: 3.03%

User avatar
cglazier
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 2639
Joined: Sat Apr 13, 2002 1:00 am
Gear: Naish, Flysurfer, Alpine, Moses
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Has thanked: 64 times
Been thanked: 119 times

Re: Multiple micro bladder leaks?

Postby cglazier » Sat Oct 19, 2019 3:03 pm

The soapy water technique described by kjorn above works well and is how we find the leak location while the bladder is inside the kite. Then we remove the appropriate part of the bladder and when part of the bladder is outside the kite we often have to pump it up very hard before the leaks show by spraying on soapy water. (We rarely remove the whole bladder.)

One thing that can cause multiple pinholes is sharp grains of sand inside the kite leading edge.. between the bladder and leading edge material. Simply shake the kite vigorously while holding it up so that any sand will fall out of the leading edge cavity. (note that a little sand inside the bladder itself is common and not really a problem)

:wink: CG
These users thanked the author cglazier for the post:
longwhitecloud (Sat Oct 19, 2019 10:50 pm)
Rating: 3.03%

revhed
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 1373
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2008 6:15 pm
Local Beach: france
Gear: kites
Location: France
Has thanked: 106 times
Been thanked: 34 times

Re: Multiple micro bladder leaks?

Postby revhed » Sat Oct 19, 2019 7:34 pm

Remove L E Bladder.
Inflate never to much to cause hernia! :!:
Submerge, bathtub works great, or find other means.
Insert half tooth pick in to holes.
Use 3M blenderm to patch, drug store, dry H2O and clean with pure alcohol first.
Do one at a time. Using clean glass as platform then pressing with spoon helps.
Sometime I mark pin hole axis with black perm felt tip marker, far enough away to allow patch, but not so far as to not be able to align.
Been there, done that.
R H
These users thanked the author revhed for the post:
longwhitecloud (Sat Oct 19, 2019 10:50 pm)
Rating: 3.03%

pj sofine
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 1022
Joined: Thu Jun 16, 2011 2:21 am
Kiting since: 2001
Style: silly
Gear: naish pivots 9,11, rpm 7,8,10,12 cf raptor ltd 136,140
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 79 times
Been thanked: 56 times

Re: Multiple micro bladder leaks?

Postby pj sofine » Sun Oct 20, 2019 1:19 am

Great advice ! you take the bladder out and those tiny holes will not leak when pumped up. Check the pressure , not enough to detect small holes, just buy a bladder or new kite.

User avatar
edt
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 7309
Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 6:27 am
Kiting since: 2010
Local Beach: Michigan
Gear: ride hard, no regrets
Has thanked: 529 times
Been thanked: 658 times

Re: Multiple micro bladder leaks?

Postby edt » Sun Oct 20, 2019 2:17 am

if you can't find the hole when the bladder is outside of the kite, submerge the bladder bit by bit and sort of massage or stretch the bladder, watch and listen for bubbles. You can't overinflate the bladder when it's outside of the kite so that's why you need to massage and stretch the bladder when it's outside of the kite. You'll have to patch all the holes you can find put it back inside the kite pump it up hard again and then throw it back in the water for the rest of the microholes you missed. So yeah, if there are enough microholes holes just not worth patching them, get a new strut or leading edge.

tmcfarla
Frequent Poster
Posts: 447
Joined: Sun Apr 16, 2006 6:35 am
Has thanked: 9 times
Been thanked: 54 times

Re: Multiple micro bladder leaks?

Postby tmcfarla » Sun Oct 20, 2019 2:28 pm

I've run into this twice. In both instances I spent untold hours trying to fix before buying a new bladder. To save money, you can buy an uncut bladder and use your existing valves (hot water to remove them,aquaseal to glue them on). Maybe you'll have better luck then me, but I will never again try to fix multiple holes.


Return to “Kitesurfing”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Azzieo, Steve271, vladi elthve, vp and 142 guests