hello, the valve on the wing tip of my norht vegas is desoldered from the bladder. seems that the sticking was not done well or else. any idea how i should stick them together again. does urethane glue or hot glue works or with the iron maybe but since this part is round that might be difficult. thanks for your advices. marc-a.
You can't use an iron around the valve, you can only use an iron for a seam, like the end of a strut for example. You need to use pool liner glue, or the glue that comes in the repair kit that you get when you buy a kite, if you have it. If not most kite shops would sell it. If only a little of the welding has lifted, you can glue it using a toothpick or something to get the glue right in between the bladder & the valve. If a lot of the welding has lifted, you can pull the whole valve off & glue it back on again.
G'day Marc, I've had to do mine recently as well (master deflate valve). I didn't have much luck with the repair glue and as it was Sideshow Bobs' didn't wish to empty his repair glue (those repair tubes are small as). After the first attempt deflated and ended my first session. I was guided toward Silicone. The first attempt with this product was a little messy and I wasn't aware you have to be super (I repeat SUPER!) careful not to put wrinkles between the flange and the thin bladder. These wrinkles are where the air comes though as it becomes a week point. After it defalted once more I used a type of G-Clamp to keep a small amount of pressure on the two problem surfaces with Bostik "Clear Seal" (after finding the leak via water immersion-pool is useful here). Also, use baby powder to slide bladder in and out.
Naish have a bladder repair video http://www.naish.tv/ Goto the Kitesurfing section for some sound advice.
No, probs so far with the Bostik "Clear Seal" but remains to be seen 2 months kiting 3 or more times a week with kite crashes + water relaunches.
Bunnings have heaps of different Silicon products for about $7 for a massive tube 270g that you may chose to use around the home as well.
cross shore kiteboarding now supplies stick on valves which is way better than gluing them on. You should get a few for spares. Easy to fix when you're out.
took forever to find a shop with them already in australia
A friend put me onto the magic cure. Its called Aquaseal, available at any dive shop, $16.00 for the tube, and it will fix it up better than new! Just apply in thin layers, rather than blobbing 1 x thick layer on.
