bladder for North Rhino II kite size 18

[Renato Borowski Filho]

 

 

I would like to buy leading edge bladder for North Rhino II kite size 18

[.Joel]

It will most likely cost you more to replace than the kite itself, what's the issue with the current bladder? 

[Renato Borowski Filho]

16 hours ago, .Joel said:

It will most likely cost you more to replace than the kite itself, what's the issue with the current bladder? 

 

I was sailing and after an incident the kite tore in the middle, including the leading edge. The bladder created a huge ball on the brake where I had to fix it and several panels were glued. After a long time, these repairs broke down and I tried to recover with other material and it only got worse. I lost all that part, approximately 1.50 m of bladder, the rest is perfect. I wanted to find a solution for bladders made with easily accessible material, but I see that it is impossible. Either I get a whole new bladder or try to join it with a used one.

[Mfwetu]

On 9/11/2020 at 10:35 AM, .Joel said:

It will most likely cost you more to replace than the kite itself, what's the issue with the current bladder? 

I don't know much about LEI kite repairs so please excuse the noob question but could you use an after-market replacement bladder? They don't seem prohibitively expensive if you do it yourself. Am I just over-simplifying the problem?

 

[.Joel]

Quote

Either I get a whole new bladder or try to join it with a used one.

 A risk with using old bladders is that they rub/wear in different areas on an old kite so if you have the same kite for spare parts then when you swap them you may experience a failure.  However this can be mitigated by taking the bladder out and pumping it up slightly and looking for any deformations in the bladder.  If you see them then place some Tuff Tape patches or Tear-Aid over those areas and you should be ok  

 

8 hours ago, Mfwetu said:

I don't know much about LEI kite repairs so please excuse the noob question but could you use an after-market replacement bladder?
They don't seem prohibitively expensive if you do it yourself. Am I just over-simplifying the problem?

Not complicated, however I like to ask as in many cases the bladder is perfectly repairable vs needing to be replaced.  Some people are resourceful at doing this, another  individual for example a fortnight ago took 4 hrs to get the strut out of his wingtip (this is no exaggeration either 🤣) so in the end sent the whole kite to a repairer.  With old kites sometimes people don't want to spend the money and would rather spend time.  New bladder and valves is certainly the easiest and least questionable about future failures 👍

 

 

[Renato Borowski Filho]

I am even ashamed to post these photos of the repair attempts, but in this case, when I had the problem in the kite, the leading edge tore in full sail and the bladder did not burst creating a giant ball in the middle. It was repaired but with time the situation only got worse, many patches on patches until I tried a solution with this PU glue. Outside the kite the air held, but when you put it inside the sleeve, the pressure was great which made the glue open in another place.

[.Joel]

My eyes hurt looking at that 
Use tape, not glue when repairing holes in bladders  

[andy666]

 

what is that horror show.

[Bobby]

There's a guy on ebay.uk located in Dublin,Ireland does made to measure bladders, says in his ad he'll copy the old one if you send it to him, might be worth a call.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kite-leading-edge-blank-Bladders/193282181352?hash=item2d008408e8:g:TUYAAOSwhOVa62Go

 

Or hang out for a cheap big old Rhino;

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NORTH-KITEBORDING-RHINO-06-16sqm-VERY-GOOD-CONDITION/324296971182?hash=item4b819b13ae:g:pDUAAOSwuTpe~cP1

 

Feel your pain though buddy, my big Ozone split in two after I messed up.  Loads of tape later and a trip through a Singer sewing machine it came out - let's just say not to the original designers specifications.  Still flew though.

[RedSky]

Don't be ashamed. Here is my attempt at a repair. If I were you I would send the Rhino off for professional repair or try your hand with those aftermarket bladders.

I've used a similar bladder company, I think it was U-Stick. You have to position and stick the new valves on yourself, but it was easy enough. 

 

[Renato Borowski Filho]

On 9/17/2020 at 7:48 PM, RedSky said:

Don't be ashamed. Here is my attempt at a repair. If I were you I would send the Rhino off for professional repair or try your hand with those aftermarket bladders.

I've used a similar bladder company, I think it was U-Stick. You have to position and stick the new valves on yourself, but it was easy enough. 

 

 

Regarding the repairs to the fabrics, I managed to do it perfectly, they were perfect, even already building foil kites and NASA, the bladder problem is related to gluing, welding and material, something practically impossible to repair.