2013 Griffin Argo 9m
75kg
Beginner

Hey, I am having repeated blowouts of my bladder in my struts. The rips vary from small blowouts with your typical burst pattern to inch long rips going around the bladder. I feel like I pump the kite up to the right pressure; until I almost can't pump it up anymore and the leading edge makes a ping sound when you flick it.

The blowouts generally occur where the bladder has been folded back on itself so that it fits in the sleeve. This seems to allow small pockets of air to be created within the folds that create a localised high pressure zone on impacts that allows the bladder to rip.

I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem (couldn't find anything after searching) or if there is a particular folding technique to minimise the chance of strut blowout?

Thank you

Maybe you're just pumping it up too hard? Most people seem to love pumping as hard as physically possible, but I find they fly just fine with a bit less air. It's certainly a lot gentler on the kite if you are new and still having full power dives into the ground.

GOOD NEWS! I have found the real source of the problem and I;m sure you have all been dying to find out what it was :P

My Problem: Bladder constantly blowing out on the leading edge

Source: The stitching of sleeve that sits in the end of the leading edge, that you fold over to secure the bladder, was coming undone. This was allowing a space to form between the leading edge and the sleeve which the bladder would expand into and pop.

Fix: Ensure the sleeve is sewn properly into the leading edge and that there are no gaps between the layers.

If your sleeve is wrecked then a piece of nylon cloth should be a suitable replacement. Sew a velcro pad onto and get it sewn into the leading edge. You're essentially making your own sleeve so just copy what you already have, this is just how mine is designed. There is a bootmaker in corrimal (www.truelocal.com.au/business/cg-lewis-bootmaker/corrimal ) who has the sewing machine required and will do it for $10. You do need to glue the sleeve in place before it can be sewn so that the machine doesn't pull it out of place, do that before you go there.


My "Fix" (Temporary): I have already got mine sewn back in but I had glued mine too far up the leading edge and now the diameter of the sleeve was smaller than the diameter of the leading, leading to a cavity between the two surfaces. To fix this, I cut the sleeve where the cavity was to essentially create a flat sleeve. I then got a woolies shopping bag and cut the bottom corner out of it, at around the same size as the diameter of the leading edge. I then put the bladder inside the woolies bag and the woolie bag inside the sleeve, then fold as normal. This stops the bladder from expanding out down the side of the sleeve where you made your cut.

Hopefully this helps anyone else who was having the same problem as me or is need of a quick fix. I haven't tested my fix on the water yet but it worked when I tested everything in the garden, so fingers crossed. I'll update you if there are any issues.

Haha, I know right. I have watched pretty much every kitesurfing youtube video out there.I was on a borrowed 12m for most of it, so the summer wasn't a complete loss. I just finally got down to the actual problem and wanted to share incase anyone else found themselves in the same situation.

Hopefully this helps anyone

Helps me deciding to never buy a Griffin kite

Hi all, its important to know the below

1) Aftrshox took out all the bladders from the kite after getting the kite being a engineer to see how a kite works, and then put the bladders back in again without experience or previous knowledge on how to do this properly, that's when the trouble started :)

2) The 9m was purchased 2nd hand as a ex teaching kite the previous owner had no problems with bladders

3) Aftrshox got a boot maker to do a repair on the kite incorrectly making a sleeve the wrong size which caused the bladder to pop

I spent some time explaining how to put bladders in and how to avoid twists and identified the fault with a bad repair job and supplied replacement bladders each time I was contacted. Even though this was purchases as a 2ND hand, ex teaching kite without Warranty

In the last 3 years we have had almost no issues with bladders.

With any brand kite, if you take all the bladders out, and put them in incorrectly without any knowledge or experience on how to replace bladders, and have a repair done incorrectly, then you will have issues :)

Even if your kite is out of warrente, 2nd hand or whatever I will do my best help out :)

All the best :)

just imagining my kite in a bootmakers sewing machine ;p - priceless advice aftrshox

www.truelocal.com.au/business/cg-lewis-bootmaker/corrimal

thanks for the link
lol