If you use a North bar with an Iron Heart, you should pay attention to this.

Following happened to me:

I crashed my kite and came closer to shore (sideonshore winds).
The kite tumbled around. The kite wanted to start in the power zone and in order to avoid getting dragged onto the beach I wanted to release the Iron Heart quick release...well, it didn't work! The red plastic didn't move at all, it was stuck.
Luckily I was able to unhook the chicken loop and the kite didn't power up in the power zone.

I also heard from a girl who had the same problem some days later.

I examined both Iron Hearts and found the problem.



To the right you see a burr (part that sticks out) which caused my IH to fail. It is sharp and pushing it with a certain angle it gets stucked in the red plastic.
Check both sides as shown on the picture for burrs.
If you have these, sand them with sand paper until it is smooth, then it will work properly.

If you have a burr, your Iron Heart will work if you push up the plastic straight up without any angle in the push. If you have a little pressure on the side of the red plastic, it gets stuck if you have a burr.

I informed North about the problem and they told me, they have in their manual an info under maintenance.
But North would also like to know, if more people had/have the problem.
So please reply if you have a burr too.

It looks like the metal part, that is at the end of the chicken loop and locked with the pin, works on the metal under pressure and causes the burr.

Thanks for your attention and cooperation.
Toby

Thank's Toby.

Checked mine, looks fine but will keep an eye on it. Have used my 2007 bar about a dozen times.

Some one suggested soakinig the chicken loop line with Rain Ex to cut down on wear and tear caused by friction with the bar. Seems to work. Has anyone tried that?

Sorry, not directly related to the topic, but I might as well answer the question.

"Some one suggested soakinig the chicken loop line with Rain Ex to cut down on wear and tear caused by friction with the bar. Seems to work. Has anyone tried that?"

There are many ways to reduce wear on the chicken loop: Rain Ex, Wax, Plastic Tubing, and many more.

I just wax the line to keep all of the fibers in place, Tubing is the best as then there is no wear at all, but you can only do this on single-line sheeting systems.

Toby; was it the 2006 or 2007 ironhart?
I've got both and the 2007 and the 2007 has a different "ring" wich has to go in the metal pen. It's less triangular and more the top of a trapezium. The 2007 looks like it fits better in the groove of the metal pen.

I've used the 2007 for 3 months, twice a week, now and it looks better than the 2006, which has a little wear/bur.

hope this helps.

i just checked my two 2007 , bought on 15th august 2006), (70 sessions each already)

on both bar, small blurrs on each side.

i had to realease lately and i found it became somehow harder than before, without understanding , i thought it was because of sand).



Thank you Toby.

it happened on a 2006 and 2007 bar.

So check any Iron Heart, no matter which model.

North is being irresponsible with its bar. Every time there is a known production fault with it they keep very quiet and let their users pick up the faults.Its only when Toby tells the world that they seem to react. If there are known faults why can they not recall the faulty parts. Their not small issues but big ones. Their kites are the most expensive on the market and they don't seem to care but to make money. I bought 2 kites once and they came without pumps and I was like look it says kite complete with bar and theirs no pump and I don't have one. Oh yes the reason is.....bla bla bla. Oh piss off.

If you read toby's post North aren't trying to hide it there trying to find out how many people are haveing the same problem. The easiest way to do that is have Toby ask around on his web site.

As for you pump problem, North doesn't sell kites directly if you got screwed over on not getting a pump thats something you need to take up with the store or web site you bought it from. I bought 4 kites at the same time and got 4 bars and 4 pumps with them (only took 2 bars though and used the price of the other two towards one of the kites).

Hope they find out what causes the burs on the metal was looking at buying a new kite this year from them might have to wait. Thanks for keeping us informed Toby.

My '06 Vegas came with a pump, bag and spare battens.

The burr could cause a serious problem. Hard to do a "recall notice" like in cars and boats although if North knew who owned their kites through a warranty registration program, they could mail out a notice to those owners to inspect for the burrs. It may be up to purchasers to register their warranty.

Great that we have Toby's kiteforum to get the word out and I guess that he owned a North bar!