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Seam Seal ideas?

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revhed
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Seam Seal ideas?

Postby revhed » Sat Oct 03, 2020 9:11 am

I bought for a fair price a UL Aeros Navy 11m2 with little air time, flies GREAT, love it, BUT,
was drowned twice and pulled from sea carefully but still a lot of force needed to rescue, full of water.
We have a feeling that the stiched thread holes were stressed therefore enlarged slightly, and as I used to back pack know that seam seal works on tents to waterproof.
Has anyone used a seam seal on RAM AIR kites to help water AND air proof?
I read somewhere of "original shoe goo" mixed with toluene 1 to 5 ratio and sprayed on entire kite surface to restore.
Anyone heard of this or done?
I am tempted to use small paint brush and apply this or other product only on seams, Thoughts please?
Any and all input info accepted.
Goal is to add as little weight as possible but help keep internal air pressure and water proof for relaunch.
THX!
R H

Herman
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Re: Seam Seal ideas?

Postby Herman » Sat Oct 03, 2020 10:58 am

Sorry no actual experience but I have an old Flysurfer that is easy to pack down without opening the vents and so have noted comments from others.

Xylene may be better or safer than toluene. (I think cotol is toluene base, so may be of use but you need to check that.)

Marinegoop or E6800 maybe better than shoogoo as it may be more UV resistant.

As I said still not tried any of this as I have not evaluated the risk and playing about with solvents can be dodgy! Isn't seam seal the same as aquasure with added cotol. ((Basically Polyurethane dissolved in Toluene). If this is true it may be worth thinning the seam seal with cotol to reduce viscosity and minimise the weight, guess you would have to experiment a little.
Last edited by Herman on Sun Oct 04, 2020 10:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
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revhed
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Re: Seam Seal ideas?

Postby revhed » Sat Oct 03, 2020 8:28 pm

Herman wrote:
Sat Oct 03, 2020 10:58 am
Sorry no actual experience but I have an old Flysurfer that is easy to pack down without opening the vents and so have noted comments from others.

Xylene may be better or safer than toluene. (I think cotol is toluene base, so may be of use but you need to check that.)

Marinegoo E6800 maybe better than shoogoo as it may be more UV resistant.

As I said still not tried any of this as I have not evaluated the risk and playing about with solvents can be dodgy! Isn't seam seal the same as aquasure with added cotol. ((Basically Polyurethane dissolved in Toluene). If this is true it may be worth thinning the seam seal with cotol to reduce viscosity and minimise the weight, guess you would have to experiment a little.
:thumb: :idea:

THX
I will as winter discovery project try some different mixtures and test.
Will provide findings if asked for.
Learned that original SHOE GOO now not legal here in France and toluene hard to get as well.
I have and use often AQUASURE , (LOVE IT) so will mix some xylene and small thin paintbrush a seam let dry and porosity test.
MERCI ,
R H

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Re: Seam Seal ideas?

Postby PugetSoundKiter » Sat Oct 03, 2020 8:44 pm

To reduce porosity I have used Marine Goop thinned with Xylene on:

1. Speed2 15m Silver Arrow.
Bought used and after I got it the guy told me he had washed it and used a strong fan to dry it, which blew out all the coating. This was the worst/lightest/silky fabric I had seen on a kite. The Silver Arrows were known to get porous quickly. I tried several waterproof coatings, none changed the porosity. I then used Marine Goop thinned with Xylene and it helped. I tuned the bridle and it flew but the old worn Silver Arrow fabric was still silky. I coated it a second time and it flies fine now.

Reference viewtopic.php?p=964584#p964584

2. Speed3 19m DLX
Bought used, worn but flew OK, tuned mixer/speed system. Deflated quickly on the beach when landed. Used Marine Goop thinned with Xylene and it improved quite a bit. I still use this kite and the chemical smell went away after about 5 sessions.

3. Chrono1 12m
Bought used, worn out, tuned the speed/mixer system and extended shrunk bridles. Wing tips folded often. Used Marine Goop thinned with Xylene and it improved quite a bit and can have used the kite since. Fixed the tip folding. The metal bucket I used had a finish that kind of went into the Xylene solution so it was not fully clear/opaque but I used it anyway. Areas of the kite had a gray sheen but after a few uses the gray sheen is mostly gone.
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Herman
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Re: Seam Seal ideas?

Postby Herman » Sun Oct 04, 2020 3:49 pm

Had another look at the video where Armin was giving some tuning advice in Canada. Seems Flysurfer may now be using a silicone based coating at least on the inside. If I understood correctly the older Flysurfers have a polyurethane based coating. Depending on use life of ~500hrs for pu coat and 2500 hrs for silicone coat. Not sure this helps but if older kites are all pu than at least any attempt to re-coat may have a better chance of adhering.

The thread mentioned by PugetSoundKiter has a lot of good info, and thanks for that.


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