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Bladder Problems

Postby squires on Sun Jan 07, 2007 3:57 pm

Whilst trying to find the culprit of a slow puncture in my leading edge, I noticed the bladder becoming distorted. Is this normal?

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/136/3490 ... 99a0_m.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/152/3490 ... 4b5a_m.jpg

I'm worried that this could be weakness and potentially blow up.

Couldn't find the culprit of the slow puncture :x

These one pump systems are great until you need to do something like this :twisted:
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Postby squires on Sun Jan 07, 2007 3:59 pm

Forgot the tags :roll:

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Re: Bladder Problems

Postby lazydog on Mon Jan 08, 2007 3:16 am

Doubt this will help but?

I don't know about the bladder but perhaps the leak is from a valve. The valves might be okay when the kite is inflated on the ground but when the kite is flying bending of the leading edge might putting pressure on the valve resulting in it opening up a little bit and leaking. I had something like this happen on my Strike except I had a small split in the side of the valve. I fixed it with lots of glue. I guess you could test this by blocking the valve with blue tack or something like that and see if cures the slow puncture.

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Bladder destortion

Postby nekitesu on Mon Jan 08, 2007 10:22 am

I wouldn't worry too much about that distortion. The same thing has happened when I've been hunting for holes in a bladder and it didn't cause any problems when repaired.

If the air is leaking out of the hose inlet / valve as Ben has described, this can happen when the inlet expands over time so that the plug is no longer a snugg fit. It happened on my North Rhino. The fix is really easy, I just got a clear electrical cable tie and tightened it around the outside of he problem inlet / valve and it did the trick.

Cheers,

James
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Postby squires on Mon Jan 08, 2007 2:03 pm

Thanks for the tips fellas, I'll try what you suggested, although with the one-pump system I have 9 valves to consider (in, out and 7 strut connectors).

Just spoken to Mike from Surfstore who reckons Marram Grass is a likely suspect.

Going to Cape Verde in mid March Orange_Colorz_PDT_01 so want to get it sorted for then, almost tempted to bite the bullet.

How much are 12/14m Waroo 07's?
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