Hi Foosh,

Most people deflate their LE by using the Deflate valve (funny that eh?) but they leave the inflate valve in until next time. As you can imagine the inflate valve will become stretched if you leave the plug in it, so start by removing the inflate plug as well as the deflate plug when you are finished with the kite after a session.

You can 'reset' the valve by placing it in hot water. The valve neck, not the bottom of the valve and flange otherwise you run the risk of removing the whole valve flange from the leading edge.

Just let the neck of the valve sit in a glass of hot water for a few minutes, then allow it to dry and cool on it's own without resetting the plug in it. You should find that the plastic will shrink back to it's designed size.

Again, be careful you don't heat the flange where the valve connects to the leading edge bladder otherwise you'll have bigger issues than a loose plug.

Cheers and good winds,

Stay out of public toilets after dark

There was a great reply here once (with pics and all) re this problem but I cant find it
Probably so old it is now tucked away in a dusty archive box in Lauries attic.

Basically -
1) cut the end off a pump hose nozzle so that the end is a bit fatter than standard.
- cut where the new cut end only just fits at the very end of the valve stopper.
2) put the valve stopper; ie the male piece; into very hot water.
3) when its softened push the tapered nozzle into the valve stopper & allow it to cool.

May be a bit hard to reinsert into the valve - but only the first time.
Works a treat and you can do it as often as necessary.

HINTS :
1) If the cut nozzle is rough or sharp or a bit too big to insert into the valve end easily you can smooth & taper it in a pencil sharpener.
2) I keep my short mod'ed nozzle in my kit. Every now & then I do the above by just warming the stoppers in my mouth. Keeps them snuggly tight all the time.
Never had to do the hot water thingy since I started with the preventative treatment.

cable tie around the valve stem. Tighten and leave for about a day.

The rubber valve stem will regain some memory.

Cut off the cable tie carefully and your laughin

I had this problem

Fixed by putting a tight O-ring around the outside of the valve

And not leaving the stoppers in the valve.

Personally i'm not convinced that enlarging the stopper is a great solution

walshd said...

cable tie around the valve stem. Tighten and leave for about a day.

The rubber valve stem will regain some memory.

Cut off the cable tie carefully and your laughin

You can get those adjustable cable ties now (so not sure if they are called cable ties). They are very handy as they are strong and reusable.