Hi, i saw someone earlier on this post having the same problem as me, namely very small holes in the leading edge and one piece of advice was not to repair but just to keep an eye on them.

Is this what i should do? or should i repair them and, if so, then how? Just a piece of Dacron tape to cover each hole or more? (basicaly there are 4 or 5 tiny holes where i can just see the bladder beneath)

Thanks...K

kid
I always sew patches when dealing with the leading edge. I have repaired kites that people brought in with dacron and they often said it worked for some time. Keep in mind if the dacron doesn't work you will most likely have a bladder blow out and a more expensive sewing job as well.

depending on how much you crash your kite, how old it is and how long you intend to keep it, may or may not make sense to fully repair. Are the holes spread out or in a tight area? if you post photos I could tell you cost to send it to deep south texas for repair.

Thanks for your reply K.
I would have to reinflate my kite to get photos and im not sure it would be easy to capture on film. My kite is a 12m banditdos. I would say that the holes are perhaps the size that a pin might make i.e. very small. They are spread over an area of about 2 handswidth.

So when you say that if i attempt to repair with dacron and it doesnt work it could lead to a blow-out, i wonder how that might happen?

Are you suggesting that it may be better to either get it fixed professionally or not at all? (and right now, professional fixing is not possible and certainly not sending it to texas as i am currently living in Mauritania, West Africa!)

kid
if the holes are super small the dacron adhesive tape might be ok. If the holes are close to the zipper put patches on from the inside as well. Be sure to clean well with alcohol. cut the patches to circle as they usually last longer. You can heat the patches (blow dryer) after applying them to help get the adhesive worked into the fibers of the LE fabric. Keep an eye on the patches and if the start coming off replace them.

There is also the product KiteFix which I have seen work well for canopy tears, I haven't tried if for LE. Has anyone else tried KiteFix for LE Dacron repairs? Any luck? How many sessions/hrs has it held up?

Bladder Repair
You will need:
-Two sheets of clean glass
-Marker pen
-Bath/pool/sink (depending on size of bladder)
-Parcel/duck/gaffa tape (i prefer parcel tape)
-pre sticky bladder patch for small holes, Large non-glued bladder patch
-bladder glue
-sand paper

The repair
-Find the hole, in water, and mark it with a marker pen
-Dry the area off
-use the tape to glue the bladder flat to one sheet of glass, so the area you need to repair is perfectly flat with no creases.
-use the sand paper to rough the bladder where you want to repair it.
-put a circle of glue all the way round the rip/hole so that the glue fully encloses the hole (no gaps in glue)
-place the patch ontop of the rip/hole
-place the second glas sheet ontop making sure that the patch doesn't fold.
-leave to dry
-repeat again with a bigger circle of glue round the edge of the patch to ensure the repair is air tight.
-(optional) you can then smoothe some glue over the edges of the patch to make it look nicer.

I have used this technique to repair a 20cm rip and a 15cm rip in the same bladder. the bladder di then leak but that was from a pin prick hole i found at the other end. perfect repair still going strong.

I have 2 bars that need both their power/front lines only replaced, steering lines are still perfect condition, and I have a replacement set of lines from slingshot, (here is the website http://www.boardcrazy.com/p/345360/slin ... s-25m.html).

I know there is front lines and back lines in this pack, but are the back lines the same loading strength as the front ones, so can i use the back lines as front line on the 2nd bar I have? or are they only made strength wise for steering/back lines.
I know all lines should be replaceed at the same time but there is nothing wrong with the back lines on the bars.

Cheers for any advice.
Conor.

anyone?

I have not seen anyone mention this fix yet...

I use a "food saver" machine to fix my bladders when I get blowouts in the ends or anywhere along the seams. Makes a really professional factory like seam. Only takes a few seconds to do.

http://www.foodsaver.com/Product.aspx?id=c&cid=87&pid=392


For delaminating valves I like to use vinyl glue to stick them back on. Place a small piece of wax paper inside the bladder to prevent sticking the bladder together. Just leave the wax paper inside bladder when repair is complete...it does not effect the bladder. Place 2 electrical tape rolls over the valve (the holes are perfect size) and then place a heavy object on top of tape rolls to provide firm pressure on valve until the glue dries.

is it OK to use aquaseal as a bladder glue?
I need to repair a 3cm blowout not on a seam, and was going to use a piece of old bladder as a patch stuck on with aquaseal.
thanks

I use Aquaseal all the time to glue valves onto the bladder once the factory sonic weld fails. Never had an Aquaseal glued-on valve fail. It works super. I do follow the instructions and treat it like a contact cement... -i.e. apply to both surfaces, let stand 10 minutes, then press together, put a 5 lb weight on it to hold the two surfaces together and let it cure over night.