LOL,, buyer beware.. (thats me)
Just bought a Slingshot Turbo Diesel off Egay, only $250 with bar and bag...
Only problem is,, once I got it home, pumped it up and predictably it had a leak. Removed the leading edge bladder and found 8 of the 9 nipples either fallen off, or leaking badly. Struts not much better.
In all 2 good nipples out of 15! Not bad eh?
Anyone got one similar?
Anyone beat that??
they're obviously cheaper in WA!
normally you'd pay more than 250 for 15 nipples
Can be expected, pretty old kite now man. But hey it's actually super easy to stick those nipples back on if you know what you are doing, I have given instruction a few times on here of how to do it.
Basically goes like this:
1. Put nipple in hot water and pull it fully off bladder.
2. Clean nipple and bladder with metho, get all old glue off.
3. Get "sweeda" glue.
4. Put said glue on nipple and bladder
5. Wait the required time (yes actually wait, dont be a rook and put them together early)
6. Put the two togther and sit a weight off a dumbell over the nipple (it is the exact size of the nipple and will put equal weight on the nipple, yes I worked that out myself and yes it is because I am totally awesome.)
7. Wait until glue has fully cured, then test for leaks.
8. Put back in kite (and for god sake use talcom powder, don't be a rook and think it is fine without, that is why one day your bladder just explodes for no reason.)
Yeah, is easy to fix. I just bought some glue from a pool shop (the type that is used to fix inflateable duckies), and stuck them back on after cleaning around the area. Good as new.
Occurs when the kite gets hot, so could have happened during shipping. 7 of my nipples unstuck when in 1 afternoon (sitting in my hot car)
Lol,, yeah 15 nipples would be WAY more than the kite is worth...
Thanks Rowdy, already fixed all of em though,, got my method down pat (involves a tennis ball and some dive weights). Not my first time redoing a slingy!
Question (if anyone knows) - whats the temperature based glue they use to attach in the firstplace?
Daaave
I am not sure, but I think they may be ultrasonic welded together in the first place so no glue is used.
But because the two parts are made of slightly different material they expand and contract differently as they get hot/cold and this causes the wleded seam to delaminate over time.
This did happen to lots of brands between 04 & 06
But my old 08 REV1's last me three years without one valve come unstuck, so they must have sorted it out
I am sure 15 nipples should cost more than 250 bucks. so the kite was free
I have an 06 14 metre octane in good nick (i glued up its nipples) and only 400 bucks. i am sure there are probably a couple of others out there as well. they are pretty easy to fix.
Some other but brand new kite under warranty, 3 times blowups at the same place - wingtip.
3 months and still waiting for the warranty claim...
BTW, it's not just Slingys--All kites with enough heat applied over enough time will perform this same trick!
TIP: Put a 2.5kg dumbbell over the valve while the glue is drying to hold the valve in place to ensure a nice even distribution of the glue around the nipple contact area.
To make sure none of the glue ends up on the other side of the bladder, you can put a piece of paper behind the hole then rip it out later.
...
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I reckon most of the damage done to to the kites I have had is sitting in the back of the car for a week on end hot and cold . they definitely do not like high temperature or continous light. now keep in dark shed in shelving(when they're dry). use 50mm length of 40 mm pvc pipe to sit over valve with block of wood to hold down tarsans grip worked well but proper repair glue is better
Rowdy, wandering if you could tell me where I could find this "sweeda" glue? I'm thinking that my 2 season old kite is not worth the replacement of the 8 valves that are possibly about to fall off. Was pumping up the 6m only to find that the valve had completly parted from the bladder as if it had never been attatched. Would be appreciated if you could enlighten me google was not helpfull. Cheers.
