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Tips and Tricks to Repair Kites - add your experience!

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Peert
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Re: Tips and Tricks to Repair Kites - add your experience!

Postby Peert » Thu Aug 22, 2019 1:39 am

Reply to Bragnouf, GregK and Dboltenko regarding bladder repairs...

It is not that hard to heat-weld repair your kite bladders yourself.

I have had success on all attempts.
You need a bit of patience and common sense to figure out what to do in which order....

You need a normal household Iron, some baking/oven paper, a pencil or other small strip of wood and a kitchen towel..

Put the pencil at the bottom, the two layers of bladder material you want to weld on top of it, oven paper on top. Use towel to protect the part of bladder you do not want to weld from the heat. Put your iron on the right temp setting (no steam) and apply pressure to the pencil...

You find the right temperature by doing a test on a piece of bladder material. (tip of strutt usually has excess material). The required time is usually around 5 to 10 sec.

Too hot and you will get bubbles and burned material or material totally melted.. When it cools down it will be to hard an brittle. To cold and it doesn't stick.

usually bladders are too big (long and too large diameter) for the strut or LE so you have a bit of room of play for repairs.

I am sure you will be able to find more detailed instructions elsewhere (YouTube) if you search well.

So you can choose: These repairs cost time... or money... :wink:

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Re: Tips and Tricks to Repair Kites - add your experience!

Postby NoHater » Thu Aug 22, 2019 7:58 pm

I need some advice guys. Long story short, I've been flying a 12m 2014 SS rally for the past year. The guy I bought it from said he had all valves replaced just prior to me buying it from him. Last week the LE went limp before I even got it to the water.

I have another 2014 I got for free that is basically new just missing the bladders, so I figured it was the time to swap everything over.

It appears the guy had all valves re-glued, even this airtime valve. I have no idea why he put glue on the bottom of the airtime valve repair. I'm assuming this guy put the airtime valve on wrong and then attempted to glue it back on.

Either way, now I have small hole outside of the deflate hole (within the crappy glued area, an inch to the right of the deflate hole) and the glue on there is too much to remove.

What is the best, quickest way to fix this?

If I get a new airtime valve I don't think it would fill in the uneven crappy glue job that was already done. Should I just cut this section out, replace with a patched piece of spare bladder and then put a new valve on it? Is it better to just send this to airtime to fix it correctly or is that juice aint worth the squeeze and I can do it myself?

I should mention, this is my first time dealing with kite bladders, because this was my first kite. Removing and replacing the struts was a first for me, but was pretty easy.
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Re: Tips and Tricks to Repair Kites - add your experience!

Postby Gigi;) » Fri Aug 23, 2019 6:56 am

Go with this:
https://drtuba.eu/shop/product/deflate-valve-11mm-xl

or better get new LE:
https://drtuba.eu/shop/product/slingsho ... ading_edge

if the old one has too much issues.

:bye:
NoHater wrote:
Thu Aug 22, 2019 7:58 pm
I need some advice guys. Long story short, I've been flying a 12m 2014 SS rally for the past year. The guy I bought it from said he had all valves replaced just prior to me buying it from him. Last week the LE went limp before I even got it to the water.
Last edited by Gigi;) on Fri Aug 23, 2019 9:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Tips and Tricks to Repair Kites - add your experience!

Postby NoHater » Fri Aug 23, 2019 8:19 pm

Gigi;) wrote:
Fri Aug 23, 2019 6:56 am
Go with this:
https://drtuba.eu/shop/product/deflate-valve-11mm-xl

or better get new LE:
https://drtuba.eu/shop/product/slingsho ... ading_edge

if the old one has too much issues.

:bye:
NoHater wrote:
Thu Aug 22, 2019 7:58 pm
I need some advice guys. Long story short, I've been flying a 12m 2014 SS rally for the past year. The guy I bought it from said he had all valves replaced just prior to me buying it from him. Last week the LE went limp before I even got it to the water.

Those links don't work but, I assume its a new deflate valve and a new bladder. Fortunately, the rest of the valves on this bladder and the bladder itself are in good shape. I'm thinking to just murder this thing with glue and re-attach to valve after patching the little hole around the deflate hole. It wont look pretty but, as along as it works. Living in Hawaii, it just takes time to get replacement anything mailed here and the 12 is what I use most. Wind has been really crappy this season here. I've had a new 9m sitting around for the past couple months just waiting.

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Re: Tips and Tricks to Repair Kites - add your experience!

Postby knotwindy » Fri Aug 23, 2019 8:30 pm

Cut it out, Tear Aid tape, new small hole, new (or old valve) over it, done
Just don’t tape the top of the bladder onto the bottom of the bladder
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Re: Tips and Tricks to Repair Kites - add your experience!

Postby Gigi;) » Fri Aug 23, 2019 9:36 pm

Links are updated now. DHL is 5 days to Hawaii from us. ;)
NoHater wrote:
Fri Aug 23, 2019 8:19 pm
Gigi;) wrote:
Fri Aug 23, 2019 6:56 am
Go with this:
https://drtuba.eu/shop/product/deflate-valve-11mm-xl

or better get new LE:
https://drtuba.eu/shop/product/slingsho ... ading_edge

if the old one has too much issues.

:bye:
NoHater wrote:
Thu Aug 22, 2019 7:58 pm
I need some advice guys. Long story short, I've been flying a 12m 2014 SS rally for the past year. The guy I bought it from said he had all valves replaced just prior to me buying it from him. Last week the LE went limp before I even got it to the water.

Those links don't work but, I assume its a new deflate valve and a new bladder. Fortunately, the rest of the valves on this bladder and the bladder itself are in good shape. I'm thinking to just murder this thing with glue and re-attach to valve after patching the little hole around the deflate hole. It wont look pretty but, as along as it works. Living in Hawaii, it just takes time to get replacement anything mailed here and the 12 is what I use most. Wind has been really crappy this season here. I've had a new 9m sitting around for the past couple months just waiting.
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NoHater
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Re: Tips and Tricks to Repair Kites - add your experience!

Postby NoHater » Fri Sep 13, 2019 2:54 am

Gigi;) wrote:
Fri Aug 23, 2019 9:36 pm
Links are updated now. DHL is 5 days to Hawaii from us. ;)
NoHater wrote:
Fri Aug 23, 2019 8:19 pm
Gigi;) wrote:
Fri Aug 23, 2019 6:56 am
Go with this:
https://drtuba.eu/shop/product/deflate-valve-11mm-xl

or better get new LE:
https://drtuba.eu/shop/product/slingsho ... ading_edge

if the old one has too much issues.

:bye:


Those links don't work but, I assume its a new deflate valve and a new bladder. Fortunately, the rest of the valves on this bladder and the bladder itself are in good shape. I'm thinking to just murder this thing with glue and re-attach to valve after patching the little hole around the deflate hole. It wont look pretty but, as along as it works. Living in Hawaii, it just takes time to get replacement anything mailed here and the 12 is what I use most. Wind has been really crappy this season here. I've had a new 9m sitting around for the past couple months just waiting.
I saved myself the drama and bought an AirTime leading edge bladder. I flew the kite last weekend successfully without any issues. With that, my first full strut and LE bladder replacement is complete. I'm sure it wont me my last.

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Re: Tips and Tricks to Repair Kites - add your experience!

Postby Flyboy » Fri Sep 27, 2019 6:09 pm

Looking through pages of this thread ... can anyone confirm the best glue to use to restick a bladder valve? PVC cement? Is there anything particular I should ask for at the hardware store? Thanks!

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Re: Tips and Tricks to Repair Kites - add your experience!

Postby JakeFarley » Fri Sep 27, 2019 7:59 pm

I've used 3M 5200 (fast cure - red) as well as Storm Sure and Aqua Seal. I prefer the 5200 as it is white and I can see that I have enough of it (and not too much) on the valve. It's probably been said before but be sure to prepare the valve and the bladder by roughing it up with some fine sandpaper/emery cloth (400 grit) and cleaning with rubbing alcohol before gluing. Also, I put a piece of wax paper inside the bladder where the valve will be so that if some of the glue gets inside the bladder it does not stick the bladder together.
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Re: Tips and Tricks to Repair Kites - add your experience!

Postby Flyboy » Fri Sep 27, 2019 10:25 pm

JakeFarley wrote:
Fri Sep 27, 2019 7:59 pm
I've used 3M 5200 (fast cure - red) as well as Storm Sure and Aqua Seal. I prefer the 5200 as it is white and I can see that I have enough of it (and not too much) on the valve. It's probably been said before but be sure to prepare the valve and the bladder by roughing it up with some fine sandpaper/emery cloth (400 grit) and cleaning with rubbing alcohol before gluing. Also, I put a piece of wax paper inside the bladder where the valve will be so that if some of the glue gets inside the bladder it does not stick the bladder together.
Is there a problem simply using regular contact cement? I have read somewhere that PVC cement works well - but this plumbers cement is apparently designed to melt the PVC plastic somewhat, which makes me a bit nervous. A bit of melting of the bladder material would be good ... too much would be bad!


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