Kite Pressure

[jblates1]

Ok i know this topic has already been discussed to no end but i wanted to ask all of you a question. I bought a griffin chimera and was setting it up for the first time on the beach. I met a more experienced kiter on the beach who helped me set up. i asked him about kite pressure and he basically said its impossible to over inflate. So i started to pump up, my pump has a gauge on it but from what i have read they are crap. Anyway i started to pump and the pump was getting pretty hard. The gauge read about 9 psi. When flicked i heard a ping. So i decided it was full. Then i heard "pshhhhhhhh" from one of the struts. After i opened the end and looked in i found a hole about the size of a penny right before the seal on the end of the strut bladder. I contacted the company i bought the kite from and he said the recommended inflation pressure is between 6 and 6.5 psi. So yesterday i decided to take the kite out and i clamped the hose that connects to the strut with the leak. i started to pump up the leading edge and the other three non damaged struts. I pumped until my gauge read 6.5 psi. when i felt the bladder it seemed not stiff enough. with a little force i could push my finger into the bladder maybe 1/8th to 1/4 inches in. I wanted to ask if i need to pump up more, or if the leak was just chance. Thanks a lot, Jonny

[Hawaiis]

9PSI is definitely too high, most manufacturers recommend 7-8PSI. I usually test the stiffness by bending one of the smaller struts. The purpose of the bladder is to hold the kite in shape, so if you can bend a strut easily, it is too soft.

[edt]

It depends on the size of the tubes in the kite. What really matters is hoop stress, that's what gives the kite structure. So a big kite with fat tubes needs less pressure than a small kite with thin tubes.

Every kite is different. The only way I know to tell for sure if a particular brand of kite has enough air is to throw as hard of a kite loop as I can, and if it tacos, there's not enough air. But you should go with what the manufacturer suggests.

[Nico]

The leading edge of the kite should not bend/kink when it is "walking" up to the windows edge when the kite is on the water. Thats how hard you L E bladder should be
Nico

[jumarcil]

Really depends on the model; in my nemesis I put a good 10 psi pressure, in my switchblade 2013 I put about 8 psi. One thing for sure is that 6.5 seems very low unless they have really big struts and leading edge. The bigger the leading edge the less pressure it will take. Another kite that takes a lot of pressure is the Epic screamer, it has to be rock solid to perform good (10 psi) and Dimitri even puts more I think.

[Toby]

my frontube says 6 psi...at this pressure it will bend like crazy when I edge hard..so I pump it to 8 psi...and all works perfectly.

[jblates1]

Hey thanks for the replies i will probably pump it to about 7 next time and try that out. Thanks for all the suggestions, JOnny

[tractionmanuk]

my frontube says 6 psi...at this pressure it will bend like crazy when I edge hard..so I pump it to 8 psi...and all works perfectly.

I have been wondering about the pump pressure gauge as when you push down you get a reading that is different to the reading when you pull the handle up, this is also different to the reading when you stop pumping.
This might be a real dumb ass question but which reading is the one to watch? up, down or at rest?
I am interested to hear how other people read their gauges as i am sure i am not the only one who is thinking this (or maybe i am). Anyway the pushing down is the highest second is the pulling up and at rest it is the lowest. The range of readings can be anything up to 3 psi difference.
I have been using the pushing down on the pump as this is the highest reading is that correct?

Tell me how you read your gauges folks.

[Toby]

forget the gauge...I never use it!

pump it hard so when you push it it just bends a bit....

[dyyylan]

The gauges are never accurate, or are accurate for about 3 times then they are off. What do you do when you use someone else's pump that doesn't have a gauge? (95% of other peoples pumps)

Just get used to how hard your kite should be, my c-kites have a thin leading edge and have to be pumped rock hard so they get better performance. when I used to have switchblades I didn't have to pump them very hard because they have massive bridles and a thick leading edge to support it from every direction. You'll figure out how hard to pump it for the best performance