2008 Eclipse Owners. Reading This Could Save A Swim In

[RipItUp]

Hi Guys

I have a new quiver of 2008 Eclipse Thrusters, but this applies to all Eclipse and other brands with One-Pump systems that use a connecting tube with plastic union and wire ties to keep everything secure. I pumped up my new Thruster for the first time and was just about to plug off the LE when Psssssssssssssssst..... the air came out just like I had pulled the deflation valve. After inspecting the kite I found that someone in China did not install the plastic barbed union correctly (half should be in the nipple and half should be in the tubing) and also the wire ties were installed wrong. Chris and Dimitri you guys should get with the factory on this right away. Below is a series of photos I took to document the problem. Keep in mind that if one of these connections comes loose like mine did from the LE nipple, your whole LE will go flat in a matter of seconds which could mean a long swim in. At the very least inspect all the connections and tug on them a little to see if they are secure. One of my kites had several connections that were bad, and another kite only had one that was wrong.


In this first picture it looks harmless enough, but if you look closely you will see that the barbed union is not inserted very far into the nipple.

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In this picture you can see that the wire tie is right at the end of where the plastic barbed union is through the nipple. It basically is not holding the union at all because it is at the end of the union where it tapers down.

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In this photo you can see the full size of the plastic union. It should be inserted halfway into the tubing and halfway into the nipple.

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In this photo you can see that the union is stuck way too far into the tubing which leaves only one barb sticking into the nipple.

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This photo shows how the union was inside the nipple with the wire tie attached. The union is clearly not inserted far enough into the nipple to hold.

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If you do have to remove the wire ties BE VERY CAREFUL not to cut the nipple or tubing. In this photo you can see the proper way to position a small clipper to remove the wire tie without cutting the nipple. Make sure you are only cutting the wire tie or you will need to buy a new bladder or tubing.

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Here is a different connection on the same kite. In this one the union is installed correctly, but the wire tie is installed way too low on the nipple to hold the union in place.

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This photo shows the same connection with me having been able to just pull the connection apart without removing the wire tie. You can also see that I positioned the union outside of the nipple to show that the wire tie was not really holding it at all.

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These two photos show how the union should be positioned with half in the tubing and half in the nipple.

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[RipItUp]

If you look closely you will see three black lines through the nipple with the union positioned correctly. These are the contact points for the barbs of the union. You want to position the wire ties inbetween these black lines to hold the union securely in place.

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In the next series of photos you will see that I used four wire ties instead of two, and the wire ties are positioned correctly to hold the union in place.

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The last thing I do is take some emery cloth (sand paper made for metal) and carefully sand off the rough cut areas of the wire ties that are left when you cut the end of the wire tie off.