Hi all,

I just noticed today that on my new Rev 2 there is a small 1 square cetimeter hole in the leading edge fabric. The bladder is totally fine, but I still think I should fix it.

What are the best way to fix this? I'm a bit strapped for cash at the moment so I don't want to pay for professional repairs.

Cheers,
Tom

Fix it now, patch and a bit of sewing, $20 at worst, 15 minute repair, kite same day.
Don't fix it now - new bladder $100 minimum, repair to a blown out leading edge, $50 minimum, 2 days no kiting

you do the math!!

Hey tmiddled,

If you can get yourself a bit of Leading edge dacron and cut out a square about 3" x 3", then get yourself a roll of spinnaker seam tape. SS tape is super sticky and double sided.

Now lay lines of cut tape across the entire surface of the patch so that every part is covered. Peel off the backing tape and place the patch in the palm of your hand.

Reach inside the leading edge casing with the patch sticky side facing outwards and place the patch over the hole from the inside of the leading edge. Press it down firmly and make sure it sticks well.

Re-inflate your leading edge. Check the patch, trim any loose threads and voila!

As long as the hole is only small and you place a big enough patch on the inside, it is a permanent repair and shouldn't need to be stitched. Of course stitching removes all doubt, but I have done repairs same and bigger than the one you talk about and have had them last forever without further repair being required.

Ask Kitepower if they have some Dacron and go to any sailmaker and buy a roll of spinnaker seam tape, it should cost about $5 for the tape and about $5 for an A4 sheet of Dacron.

Have fun and it should give you enough left over to do about 20 similar patches.

$10 and no downtime! If however you don't want to go to the trouble and you want to save some more coin, unpick the leading edge seam about 20cm both sides of the puncture to save the sailmaker having to unpick it. That way he can run a zig zag over a patch and then simply close the leading edge again. Should probably cost you $20 tops!

Cheers,

KH

On a budget?? A five dollar note placed inside the leading edge will stop it, we always carry a fiver when mountain biking - only thing that fixs a sidewall tyre blowout.

this also improoves your resale value

Hey Tmiddled,

I tore a 2 inch cut in my LE and I did not want to get the LE seem unstitched as I feel that would weaken the LE much worse so I did like Kitehard recommended but with a twist.

1. Hand stitched the cut so the dacron would not separate (could have stepped this step, made it a bit raised on the finished product)

2. Remove the bladder and basically reached inside and pulled the cut part out the zipped hole (don't over stress the material as it tends to breakdown the sealant impregnated in the dacron - I suppose on the cheaper kites, material looks diff on the REV)

3. Stuck a piece of adhesive dacron (from kitefix) on the inside, pushed the material in the through the zipped hole.

4. Cut a patch and stuck it on the outside, marked out a grid with a pencil and stitched a zigged zagged pattern. Pushed tip of needle through first point and line up tip to come out second point and threaded nylon through (just make sure you are not stitching the other side of the LE). Did this around whole patch twice so the second lap completed the zig zag. Used Kitefix glue and smeared it over the patch for a better abrasion protection.








Made a couple of mistakes by not working out the start and finish points and playing around with different stitches.

Cheers
Rich

Hi timiddled,

I just had my leading edge professionally fixed. The rip was about 50 - 100mm on the underside of the leading edge. It cost $50 to fix (happy as) . Yours should cost no where near this i suspect.

Cheers