How to fix strut blow out

[DariKite]

Could anyone tell me what the best way is to fix this? I'm not sure what I did wrong when I installed it and it blew out.

I cut out the stretched PU and was thinking to glue a new PU patch inside the strut with Aquaseal. And then apply a patch of Tear Aid on top.

The problem is that the hole is really close to the seam (less than 1cm) and that may lead to leaks. Thoughts?

[foam-n-fibre]

Someone might be able to tell you better about the repair there, but what went wrong is that the bladder was pulled in by the valve and the front end was folded over. If it was more slippery with talc powder, that would have helped. When the bladder was 90% full of air with no pressure you can stop pumping and manipulate the thing to work the folded bladder out. Better still, before you pull the bladder into the kite, turn the front of the bladder inside out. As in push it down into the rest of the bladder. When you pump the bladder it will fill and roll outward into the right place with no p[inched folds.

For any repair make sure you lightly rough the surface, and even more important, wipe it with rubbing alcohol or the bond will fail. With a top quality aqua seal bond near the seam I would expect it will seal OK

Peter

[DariKite]

Someone might be able to tell you better about the repair there, but what went wrong is that the bladder was pulled in by the valve and the front end was folded over. If it was more slippery with talc powder, that would have helped. When the bladder was 90% full of air with no pressure you can stop pumping and manipulate the thing to work the folded bladder out. Better still, before you pull the bladder into the kite, turn the front of the bladder inside out. As in push it down into the rest of the bladder. When you pump the bladder it will fill and roll outward into the right place with no p[inched folds.

For any repair make sure you lightly rough the surface, and even more important, wipe it with rubbing alcohol or the bond will fail. With a top quality aqua seal bond near the seam I would expect it will seal OK

Peter

I did what you said about folding the bladder inside out above the valve. When I pumped it, it would not inflate above the valve. Maybe it got stuck in the valve like you said. Then I was able to inflate it above the valve but there was a crease somewhere in between. I thought that crease was normal as many kites have a similar crease on the strut near the LE. But when I touched there to feel it, it blew out. I think the talcum powder would have helped but I should have done the procedure all over again (remove and reinsert strut) since I was in doubt. Better to be safe than sorry.

[kitexpert]

Cutting stretch area off makes it only worse, then there is also a big hole in bladder. What you need to do is to press stretched area down and use some thin tape strips to keep it flat. You have to find flat edge of the damaged area and use big enough patch to cover it with a reasonably margin - that is the part you'll have a critical glue seam.

Before glueing both bladder and patch have to be flat. So bladder must be taped to some flat board or table and also patch (from the edges) to some piece of cardboard or even better to transparent sheet of thin plastic. Whole area can be glued and then pressed firmly, rolling with a roller tool is also useful.

If damage is near edge patch is best to reach to the other side. Then it is a two stage fix, one side at the time.

Repair tape works well for smaller damages but you cant put several layers or it will fail. Using iron for hot seaming is also possible but not in all cases.

[DariKite]

Update: a friend and I were able to repair it by stretching out flat the bladder, applying an internal layer of bladder patch (no glue) and on top applying a Tear Aid patch right to the edge.

[Matteo V]

Update: a friend and I were able to repair it by stretching out flat the bladder, applying an internal layer of bladder patch (no glue) and on top applying a Tear Aid patch right to the edge.

Thanks for the update, that is valuable info on the internal patch. I've been using sticky patches internally and that is a total pain!

[windmaker]

[CanadianGringo]

You should consider buying a replacement strut now online.
Personally I don’t like flying kites with repairs.
To avoid getting stranded - etc.

[edt]

I always fix blow outs like that. Grab a roll of tear air type 1 and start taping. I never use talcum powder because microscopic particles bond to the polyurethane and make future repairs difficult as nothing sticks.


Always always always blow up at half pressure. Check everything. Deflate. Then pump it up for real. Never pump a recently repaired strut or leading edge up to full pressure immediately. That's how you get blowouts

I cut away the stretched out part and use as much tear aid as required. Properly repaired it will be as strong as a brand new strut

Sounds like you have a good repair

If you need several layers of tape you have to run a bead of aquaseal along the edge of the tape as said above double layers of tape won't seal properly on their own.

I was never able to get the hot weld technique to work so I just use aquaseal on problem areas

[Gigi;)]

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