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Video manuals are a great way to learn self repair of your gear. In the following article we will show you how you can easily and painlessly to fix huge number of problems on your kite. You will also find answers on many stuff in our FAQ.
We advise to get familiar with the repair procedures and have ready all the materials before starting with the repair. We also advise to pre-sand and clean the area before starting actual repair.
When putting bladders into the kite always make sure that bladder is properly inserted into the kite. If not you can blow it and even damage the kite! It's advisable to get a friend to help you. With 2016 we also switched the bladder adhesive from TEAR-AID to our new ULTRA REPAIR adhesive tapes. With new adhesives additional valve base gluing is not needed anymore (maybe only in really damaged or heavily talced bladders), altho it never hurts. If you will be using additional gluing then leave the repair to cure overnight!
Video manual of how to repair smaller tears in the kite canopy. For greater tears or tears in high load area please use our FiberFIX mesh tapes or send the kite to pro repair.
Step by step procedures:
CANOPY REPAIR (WITH RIPSTOP TAPE)
S1. Cut off to damaged fabrics and fabrics threads
S2. Pre-sand the damaged area with fine sanding paper
S3. Clean the area with alcohol swabs and leave to air-dry
S4. Cut the tape to desired length and round the edges
S5. Peel & stick the tape over the tear overlapping it by at least 2cm
S6. Firmly press the tape and remove all air bubbles
S7. Heat the repair with hair dryer to get better bond (do not overheat!)
WARNING
Using hair drier on too big temperature, too close or too long may damage your kite!
Step by step procedures:
HOT-MELT BLADDER REPAIR (CLEAN CUT)
S1. Pre-sand the area with fine sanding paper
S2. Clean the sanded area with alcohol swabs and leave to air-dry
S3. Cut oversized piece of hot-melt patch and round the corners
S4. Place the patch over the tear (hot-melt side facing down!)
S5. Place heat shield over the patch and iron the patch for 3 - 5 seconds
S6. Remove air bubbles as much as possible after 1st phase
S7. Repeat ironing for 12 - 15 seconds, apply pressure
HOT-MELT BLADDER REPAIR (BLOWOUT)
S1. Cut off the wrinkled area (if any)
S2. Pre-sand the area with fine sanding paper
S3. Clean the sanded area with alcohol swabs and leave to air-dry
S4. Cut 2 oversized pieces of hot-melt patch and round the corners
S5. Place 1st patch inside the bladder (hot-melt side facing up!)
S6. Place 2nd patch over the tear (hot-melt side facing down!)
S7. Place heat shield over the patch and iron the patch for 3 - 5 seconds
S8. Remove air bubbles as much as possible after 1st phase
S9. Repeat ironing for 12 - 15 seconds, apply pressure
WARNING
Bladder must be well cleaned and dry at least in the ironing area from the inside and outside. Dirt, sand or salt may damage the bladder when ironed if not properly cleaned!
TIPS
You can even invisibly repair a small tears in the kite's canopy! The procedure is the same as fixing bladders, but iron the patch for 20-30s. Lay patch on the bottom side of the kite.
S1. Remove damaged material off the valve base (if any)
S2. Pre-sand both valve base & valve area on the bladder with fine sand paper
S3. Clean both base & area with alcohol swabs and leave to air-dry
S4. Peel & Stick ValveFIX circle on valve base
S5. Peel & Stick valve back to original position
S6. Glue the valve edge to the bladder to make a permanent repair
Mark orientation/closing direction of original valve BEFORE removing. Make sure that you cover any exposed bladder area with blank TPU so that the adhesive on the valve circle doesn’t stick the bladder together. Make sure that the layer of the Dr.Tuba PU glue covers both valve base and bladder for few millimeters.
S1. Clean the damaged area with alcohol swabs and leave to air-dry
S2. Peel & stick the dot over the tear
S3. Firmly press the tape and remove all air bubbles
Dots are perfect to repair pinholes and small cuts on the inflatable bladders, canopy and even dacron parts.
If you are repairing the canopy then place the dot on the inside of the kite.
For better bonding results you can always pre-sand the damaged area with fine sand paper and then clean the area with alco-swabs before doing the repair. Preparation is the key to success.
When the repair is done you can strengthen sticky back ripstop, dacron and bladder tape by heating up the adhesive with a hair dryer. NOTE - Using a hair drier on too high a temperature, too close or for too long may damage your kite!
After inserting any bladder back into a kite make sure that the bladder material isn’t trapped between the valve and kite. You can repeat inflations and tapping several times by pumping the kite to 1/3, 1/2, 2/3,... and deflating it each time. If it is twisted, remove it and start again.
Although the adhesive tapes have good initial tack, final bond is achieved after 24h. PU glue cure time is 10-14h, but leave it to cure overnight. Final bond is achieved after 24h.