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tmcfarla
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Postby tmcfarla » Mon Feb 07, 2011 10:00 am
I have a few small (1-2 inch) rips in my leading edge. Professional repair would involve shipping the kite, which I'd like to avoid, and would probably be pretty costly so I would like to do it myself.
Should I go with kitefix (a combination of glue and cloth) or kiteaid (iron on patches)? Both companies say they work for leading edge repairs, both are about the same price. Kiteaid looks a lot easier, but I haven't found any reviews of it.
Alternatively I could hand-sew the rips, but I really don't think I could open the leading edge main seam because I don't have access to a sewing machine to close it back up. Any advice on hand sewing LE rips? What kind of stich works best? The rips are small enough that I don't think sewing by hand would take too long, but I don't know how well it works and what kind of stich to use.
Thanks for any input.
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Nico
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Postby Nico » Mon Feb 07, 2011 11:59 am
For small LE repair to the kite material a sticky patch of selfadhesive dacron on the inside of the tube does the job fine.
For Baldder repairs I use tear aid which is a very good "band aid" for this. This of course gets stuck on the outside of the baldder and will press against the dacron patch which is inside the tube.
a final outside patch of selfadhesive dacro or ripstop on the outside if you are the kind of person that likes things tidy.
Hope that helps a bit.
I havn't used the kits you mentioned.
Nico
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windmaker
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Postby windmaker » Mon Feb 07, 2011 2:11 pm
Using some rip stop as Nico said or plain duct tape will do to repair small tears. Beware though that the use of resin and glue based DIY repairs ( kitefix/kiteaid etc) greatly devalues the re-sale price of your kite and sometimes make it more difficult to repair professionally in the futur.
If you ad devaluation of your kite, price of the repair kit, and risk of repair not holding properly (further damage) contrary to what you believe having it repaired professionaly is often the cheapest solution.
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Gigi;)
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Postby Gigi;) » Mon Feb 07, 2011 4:35 pm
Hi,
if you're a DIY guy then obtaining of a good repair kit is probably best option. If the tear is on non-heavy load (more to the wingtips area) you can go w/o meshing+gluing, but do insert good adhesive dacron from the inside and outside (protect the edges of the tape with PU glue on the outside)...
Here's details for the repair using
Dr.Tuba products:
Final result is looking like this:
If you don't feel like DIY guy then probably it is the best to take your kite to the pro's...
PS - I wouldn't go with self stiching as a permanent option atho we did it many times on vacations...
tmcfarla wrote:I have a few small (1-2 inch) rips in my leading edge. Professional repair would involve shipping the kite, which I'd like to avoid, and would probably be pretty costly so I would like to do it myself.
Should I go with kitefix (a combination of glue and cloth) or kiteaid (iron on patches)? Both companies say they work for leading edge repairs, both are about the same price. Kiteaid looks a lot easier, but I haven't found any reviews of it.
Alternatively I could hand-sew the rips, but I really don't think I could open the leading edge main seam because I don't have access to a sewing machine to close it back up. Any advice on hand sewing LE rips? What kind of stich works best? The rips are small enough that I don't think sewing by hand would take too long, but I don't know how well it works and what kind of stich to use.
Thanks for any input.
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kiteaid
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Postby kiteaid » Fri Apr 12, 2013 7:05 pm
Hi,
KITEAID now has a product specifically designed for repairing struts and leading edges.
Check it out here:
http://www.kiteaid.com/leading-edge-strut-repair-kit
What is cool is that it is not sticky when cool which allows the patch to be easily inserted into the tear with the adhesive side up. Then, use an iron to activate the adhesive for a permanent bond. No curing time is required!
See pictures attached.
For any questions, email us at
info@kiteaid.com.
Thanks!
The KITEAID Team
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tmcfarla
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Postby tmcfarla » Wed Apr 17, 2013 1:53 am
I've had good luck hand sewing LE repairs. Make sure you use a high quality sail repair thread, the thread from you wife's sewing machine will not work. I would hand-sew repairs up to 4 or 5 inches long, then put a layer of sail repair tape over that, then sew the sides of the repair patch/tape down. I usually put a layer of the tape on both the inside and the outside. I've done a number of such repairs, none have given out yet. It will drastically affect resale value, but any non-professional LE repair will (professional repairs will too, but less so).
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kiteaid
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Postby kiteaid » Fri Mar 14, 2014 2:30 am
Hi!
Unlike glue based repairs, the KITEAID LE and Strut Repair tape uses a thermoplastic adhesive that will not stick to a sewing machine needle like glue based products would. The product is also made out of Davron, a material found on your kite. The advantage? The fact that if you can chose to sew the KITEAID repair afterwards when back from your session. You will not get caught with an expensive sewing job due to the time spent removing the glue from the kite.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXj39dj ... BKATTrBGwg
Stephan
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jyetley
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Postby jyetley » Fri Mar 14, 2014 4:06 am
Kiteaid is a fantastic product! Their thermoplastic patches are awesome, almost entirely invisible, and easy to do yourself. If done well, there is no need to ever sew, or worry about devalueing your rig. In fact, I'd perfer not to have my bladder removed, factory seams torn open, and the lengthy shipping cost. Those are simply problems of the past. Kiteaid's revolutionary products and repair methods are faster, stronger, less expensive, and better looking than sewn on patches.
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Pedleym
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Postby Pedleym » Fri Mar 14, 2014 9:53 am
Kiteaid dacron repair patch is awsome very easy
Kite fix is shit looks bad and very messy
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