North Bladders

[lbatbeach]

From Dan at North....

As far as the bladders delaming... This was an issue for some people in hot areas in '09 (we didn't run into a whole lot in mainland USA), but we have a different source for bladders and completely different valves for 2011 so we hope to see these issues disappear. I'd like to guarantee they'll last forever, but only time will tell. If it helps, I haven't heard of any delams at this point, but it's only been 6 months.

Dan, that is great news! Down in PR, many of us have had chronic valve delams for years. Generally our experience has been that the valves do not delam until after the first season. Therefore they have never presented a warranty issue for North. I personally know guys that have moved from North to other brands due to North's apparent unwillingness to address or at times even acknowledge the issue. So this is big news for us!

Was the change in bladders more of a supplier issue or was it an attempt to address the problem? Have the adhesives been changed? Are the bladders lighter?

I found it curious that a North valve could be removed simply by putting the valve in very hot water, where as the replacement Airtime valves wont come off no matter what you do.

[Puetz]

... sorry Dan, we've had the valve delam problem for years, not just '09! From my first north kite in '05 til now or 2010 to be exact. This time last year we had already had our first problem after only 1 month old with the 2010 kites!! Just thinking about it, all those bladders and all those valves I had to repair, I spent a lot of un-necessary money and time, and no compensation. I lost sessions, I lost my patience and whinging about it now, people are loosing interested. And it wasn't just me, we had a bunch of people in the same boat.

But on a bright note, so far so good on the 2011 Rebel!!! Time will tell!!! I have a good feeling about this years experiment!

cheers for now,

Robbie

[Ivel]

Given time and heat very bladder from every company will delam, not just north

[lbatbeach]

That is probably true, but it seems that some brands will certainly delam faster than others. It should not be unreasonable to think we should get more than one season from a kite bladder before it fails. I have had several kites with Airtime replacement bladders with their stick on valves that I sold to a friend 2 years ago that are still going strong. Clearly not all bladder/valve systems were created equal. Glad to see that North is taking action on this one.

[lbatbeach]

Any updates from the 2011 kites?

[Johnny Rotten]

Ok, keep my kites in my car.

North Delaminated
Liquid force Delaminated....
Cabrinha No problem.....



Come on guys it's a hot weather sport...design it to 60C.... (black car in the sun on a hot day)
We take our kites to work and go kiting after work.....don't just hope based on suppliers, set a specification to meet your customers expectations. Test each bladder at 60 C before it leaves the factory if you have to. .

I'm CERTAIN there are adhesives capable of handling this. Airtime will come up with a solution when you have to replace a worn valve and are forced to cut it out of the bladder.

This is WAY better than a valve that delaminates. but can be removed with warm water.

[tmcfarla]

Delaminating valves are one of the many reasons I hate one-pump systems- more valves to deal with. I've had the same problem with older flexifoils (they did spend a while in the trunk of my car).

[L0KI]

Three strut kites, no one pump and no North.