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Possible to replace section in LE bladder?

Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 12:07 pm
by GrodanBoll
I had a LE blowout on one of my old Cabrinha Crossbows. I had the kite itself repaired at a sail maker and I replaced the bladder with a new one. Once back on the water, the kite explodes again when it smashed the water, the fabric in the LE was ripped open where the seams from the sail maker was made *sigh*.
Anyway, I had the kite repaired again with extra reinforcement. The LE bladder I tried to fix by cutting a hole in the bladder around the part that was ripped open and by then putting a huge patch over that hole. One lube of glue and hundreds of bad words later I finally thought that the LE was fixed once for all, but my repair work apparently failed and there is no chance that I can fix the leakage that still is there. Believe me, I tried!

I now have two options.

1. Buy a new bladder, again. I feel though that I don't want to spend a single cent more on this f*****g kite.
2. My final idea of fixing the LE is to cut out a whole section of the bladder. Take a corresponding section from my extra bladder (since I have two of them now) and glue that section on to the bladder. I´m thinking that it perhaps is possible if I thread the bladder on some kind of pipe with the same dimension as the the bladder itself (or slightly bigger) before I glue it to make sure that the surfaces are perfectly flattened out.

Has anyone tried this, or is there another way to replace a section of a bladder. We´re talking about a section that is about 25 cm in length.

Re: Possible to replace section in LE bladder?

Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 12:12 pm
by Jantrit
Glue test results that may prove helpful.

http://www.kitesports.co.za/profiles/bl ... a42NkA3uaU

Re: Possible to replace section in LE bladder?

Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 7:15 pm
by Gigi;)
Hi,

picture of the problem will tell a 1000 words...

the easiest and nicest would be if you have impulse sealer. Eventually you can try welding with home iron but be sure that you protect the bladder well where you dont want the bond. ( :idea: think of carton paper wrapped in baking paper...) ... or send to your local repair guy. Or to us if you can't find anyone ;)

:bye:

PS: If you think that you can repair with monster bladder patch - feel free to contact me we can send you special sized one ;)
GrodanBoll wrote:I had a LE blowout on one of my old Cabrinha Crossbows. I had the kite itself repaired at a sail maker and I replaced the bladder with a new one. Once back on the water, the kite explodes again when it smashed the water, the fabric in the LE was ripped open where the seams from the sail maker was made *sigh*.
Anyway, I had the kite repaired again with extra reinforcement. The LE bladder I tried to fix by cutting a hole in the bladder around the part that was ripped open and by then putting a huge patch over that hole. One lube of glue and hundreds of bad words later I finally thought that the LE was fixed once for all, but my repair work apparently failed and there is no chance that I can fix the leakage that still is there. Believe me, I tried!

I now have two options.

1. Buy a new bladder, again. I feel though that I don't want to spend a single cent more on this f*****g kite.
2. My final idea of fixing the LE is to cut out a whole section of the bladder. Take a corresponding section from my extra bladder (since I have two of them now) and glue that section on to the bladder. I´m thinking that it perhaps is possible if I thread the bladder on some kind of pipe with the same dimension as the the bladder itself (or slightly bigger) before I glue it to make sure that the surfaces are perfectly flattened out.

Has anyone tried this, or is there another way to replace a section of a bladder. We´re talking about a section that is about 25 cm in length.

Re: Possible to replace section in LE bladder?

Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 9:28 pm
by edt
this type of repair you will have to impulse seal like gigi said.

If you search the forums you will see methods that use an iron and dowel, but that technique is finicky I have tried the iron method at least a dozen times never got the temp and pressure exactly right. But impulse sealer works every time. If you buy one for yourself you'll spend about $120.

My advice, ask around your local kite crew, chances are someone already has an impulse sealer (ask your mom too maybe she bags stuff to freeze who knows), and borrow it.

Impulse sealer is kinda pricey gear for something you'll only use once. Even an 8 inch tear can be fixed pretty easy with a roll of tear aid as long as you are careful not to wrinkle the patch, but when the rip goes over the tube seams you need to seal it, glues and tape dont work right across a seam for some reason.

ps if this bladder hole is NOT across the seam buy a 15 foot roll of tear aid type a cut out the burst part and repair it's ok if you have to use several layers, as long as it's not across a seam it will hold indefinitely.

If it's across the seams sending it to to someone like dr tuba or someone is not a bad idea should be cheaper than a new bladder.

Re: Possible to replace section in LE bladder?

Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 2:55 am
by justbob
Had the Velcro end of my leading edge open up while pumping up a brand new bladder, end blew out. The bladder didn't have enough length to just tie a knot or patch it so I had to graft the end of an old bladder onto the new one. I carefully overlayed the two and made sure they lined up exactly width wise, with about a two inch overlap. Then I used tearaid and carefully flattened and smoothed out the sections to be joined. Hard when you get to the little joints, you have to stagger them and make sure there is no gap for the air to escape. It was a 12 m kite so the bladder was maybe 3 inches wide at the point where is grafted. This is a time consuming pain in the arse to do but with enough tearaid it has been holding up fine for me. Not sure about larger sections though. Good luck.
Bob

Re: Possible to replace section in LE bladder?

Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 7:37 am
by SalmonSlayer
I have successfully grafted a new end onto bladder and attached with glue. it worked perfectly.

I have found the ironing method to be a PITA.

I would not cut the damaged bladder. i would just cut a sleeve from the old bladder and slip it over damaged bladder from one end. Then just glue each end to the sleeve to the new bladder.

Re: Possible to replace section in LE bladder?

Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 8:15 am
by dejavu
My advice would be to replace the bladder. You do not want to be stuck offshore trying to wade back on a repaired bladder. Bite the bullet.You can get one for around $100US direct from NP in Hong Kong. Look up www.asap-direct.com on the web.

Re: Possible to replace section in LE bladder?

Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 8:32 am
by Kiwibayer
Not a problem at all. I do it all the time for friends and customers.
You need one of those:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Heat-Sealing- ... 19d8394b35
They are dirt cheap and readily available all over the world.
Another very important tip, clean your bladder with alcohol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Clean, clean and clean. Powder is a killer when repairing bladders. If it is not clean it will not seal and you will start from scratch. I use double sided tape to glue the new piece onto the bladder first. However any other packing or Scotch tape will do.
Good luck.