Tips and Tricks to Repair Kites - add your experience!

[extremecontrol]

may you can find o ring in a diving shop, may you have to bring the old one the be sure of the size ..... hope it will help
marco

[sarc]

You can find the ring inside the beach pump that you buy at Wal-Mart, toy shop, beach shop, or any supermarket large enough.

Oh wait, the whole pump works better, pumps faster, and lasts longer than the KRAP we get from kite manufacturers and costs only $5!!! Why not keep the ring inside the Wal-Mart pump and use the whole pump instead?

[volkswagner]

A method of repairing bladder blowouts that I have had success with is using a regular cloths iron.

-Heat up the iron to full temp.
-Place a WET cloth underneath the area to be seamed
-Make sure both sides of the plastic are COMPLETELY flat and ripple free.
-Then use the very edge of the iron and quickly press and roll the iron off the bladder.
-This will form an air tight seam line similar to factory.

I've used this to repair a seam blowout and to shorten my L.E. so that it doesn't stick out the ends of the kite. I don't know if it would work on the middle of a bladder. Be careful of ripples because the iron will melt through them leaving a hole. If the cloth isn't wet the plastic will melt into the cloth and it will likely tear when you go to separate them. GO SLOW and take your time for best results.

[matt at jibe's]

I've seen valves coming loose of bladders on many different brands of kites, even the new "ultrasonically welded" ones.
Make sure to clean the area first with alcohol, and use polyurethane or urethane glue. I think Aquaseal falls into this category (works for me but hard to get here) but i'm pretty sure that if it's not PU or U glue it will not work. Apply on both surfaces, leave for a little while and then stick the valve back on. We make a ring out of a section of PVC pipe or windsurf mast and then place it over the valve nipple, then put a brick over top to pressure the valve onto the bladder while it sits overnight. Afterwards, for extra measure you can cut a hole the size of the valve nipple out of a piece of Tear-Aid or do the same with a piece of old bladder and stick it on with the same glue.

If your bladder is blown out at the tip, you can use a high-temperature bag sealer like they use in a deli to weld shut the end of the tip. Make sure you try it out on some old pieces of bladder first so you can set the temperature hot enough to weld securely without burning through the bladder.

Matt-0

[FL Kiteboarder]

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Marc
Cabrinha - XBOW '09 16m / Naish - Cult '10 13.5m / GK - Trix '08 12m & 9m / Eclipse -Thruster '08 14m
Kiteboarding Videos: Feat. Nobile, Mystic, GK, Litewave, Flyboards, Ozone, Naish, Cabrinha, & More

[karenkites]

I run Northshore Kite and Sail Repair in Maui and of course I will recommend getting your kites repaired professionally whenever possible. That said, if I was on a desert island I would have with me :
A large roll of tear aid for fixing bladders, a few Airtime Fixit valves,Killer Strips for repairs in canopy, some medium weight dacron for LE repair,scissors, needles and thread.

How to Save Money on Professional Repairs

1. Clean and dry your kite or sail, if we get a wet ,sandy kite or sail it's not a big deal for us to clean it for you, but that adds to the price , so if you want to save money , rinse in fresh water if possible and dry it. Even if you can't rinse it making sure it is dry and free of sand will save you money!
2. Take your battens out of your sails. It takes time to remove battens, that adds to the price , so removing the battens will save you money!
3.If your Leading Edge needs repair, the seam also needs to be opened for us to get inside to fix it, so if you are skilled with a seam ripper,( talk to your repair technician first to know exactly what to do) open the leading edge straight stitch seam a hands width on either side of rip will save you money.
4.Inspect your kites and sails often, finding rips and fixing them when they are small will prevent future large repairs
5.If your bladder is leaking, try to determine where the leak is. Finding "mystery leaks" in bladders is the most expensive kite repair so any info you can provide as to where it is leaking can save money. Pump up your kite , close off your valves and listen for air escaping.
Don't take out your bladder before checking with me as often there is no need and re-installation is what costs you the most after looking for the leak.
Check your valves, you can open your LE zipper and pull the inflate and deflate valve out and have a look, some times they are separating from the bladder
If you want to try to install fix it valves yourself,I recommend gently pulling them the rest of the way off ( take note of the valve orientation here as you want to get your new valve facing the right way). Install a fix it valve rather than trying to glue the old valve back on, (gluing may work temporarily if you don't have fix it valves but almost always fail again eventually and then make it almost impossible to put on a new valve later).
A word of caution when using fix it valves , you only get 1 chance so make sure you get it on right the first time , I advise 2 people for the job, one holding the bladder flat and 1 applying the valve.
More later
Aloha,
Karen

[flyduffer]

Hi, I'm new here and I apologize that I haven't read all posts in this topic. My situation is this:

These are the tapes I got included in the liquid force kite pack and I'm not sure exactly how to use them. I mean, should I use them as they are or they need to be heated with the flat iron and pressure? I saw some youtube videos about this, but I still want to what kind are my tapes? Are they for this part of canopy? What means the text on them? The hole is 3-4 cm long or around 2 inches. Does it need to be sewed up?
Thank you in advance

[2talented]

Ive used Duct Tape to temp. repair leading edges, glue fix for small stuff, but after I had my kite repaired professionally I didnt look back..no guessing if it would hold for that downwinder, just good honest repair makes me happy now. Pluss, i spent just as much on my own repairs...not pimping, but this guy did a good job.

http://www.321kiteboarding.com/Repair/K ... epair.html

[neworleansrich]

AQUASEAL works to re-glue valve stems. We tried several other products with no success. New airtime valves work well, but can add up to real $ if you have a bunch of valves going bad. Recently, we tried Aquaseal on an old back-up kite.

1) Get real Aquaseal not some imitation (available in dive shops or online)
2) Carefully peel off the valve completely.
3) Use sandpaper to gently scratch up both surfaces.
4) Use alcohol to clean both surfaces, don't touch the cleaned surfaces with your fingers.
5) Apply Aquaseal to both surfaces.
6) Use a PVC plumbing fitting or other suitable ring with a weight to hold the valve onto the bladder.
7) Let it cure untouched for 24 hours

I was a skeptic since I had tried other glues, but Aquaseal does work.

[wyndenwood]

Has anyone tried 5200 as a adhesive, Might be a permanent solution to all valve problems.