I've been kiting all morning on my cabrinha chaos then pumped the kite up this arvo, it held for about 30 seconds then air came rushing out of the end of the LE where the blader gold's over at the tips, so ended up taking out the rpm...
just then pumped the kite up at home and it got to bout 4psi then all of the air came out of the other LE tip, pulled the bladder out of both of the tips about a foot each side to view, pumped it up to 4psi and nothing happened, folded the tips back together and pumped up to 7psi another 3 times while keeping it pumped up for half hour and not one sign of a leak... I'm stumped of what it could be?
nar it only uses one valve, it was like it would pump up then just let go letting the air escape out of the tips
Not often but I have seen this a few times.
If a valve is beginning to peel away from the bladder it can sometimes seal off as the bladder is inflated & presses against the LE.
The few times Ive seen this the glue where the valve is detaching has still been slightly tacky obviously helping the pressure to form the seal.
The next time you pump it or when the bladder moves; eg hitting the water; it may not seal off in the same way & will leak immediately.
The fact that the air escaped at the wingtips - & esp escaping at both wingtips???? makes it even more weird so this may not be your answer.
But I cant think of any other possible explanation.
Pity ur not in WA - I love these detective agency problems even though they can be hugely frustrating & time consuming.
the kites brand new only been used 5 times but it makes sense in what you say, the reason I think the air is coming out of the wing tips is because maybe it's the path of least resistance. I left it pumped up for a hour with the struts closed off and the blader deflated slightly.
How would you test for this? My LE deflated from a crash. Took it home, pumped up and it held air fine. I have had 1 session on it and no prob with deflation. Spooked me out.
Ive seen this a few times especially with 2008-2009 Flexifolil atoms. These were really hard to find a leak cause of more bladder material around the one pump system. Do the usual dishwashing deterget and water trick in a trigger bottle. But massage/bend the leading edge and struts. give your one pump attachments a wiggle as well. hopefully you see some bubbles and find the problem.
I simply cant understand ericsmiths problem - for air to leak is has to come out of a hole! So if the bladder holds air when removed from the leading edge then its not a hole in the bladder material - has to be a valve / connecting valve or tube - but leaking out the end of the leading edge - really weird!! As for Sandyscotts problem - again - if the bladder hasn't got a hole in it, then a bung would almost have to have released under the crash pressure - Im not sure what brand of kite you have but make sure you secure ur bungs properly with the Velcro etc - maybe it was the mother of all crashes beyond which a bung release is the better outcome compared to a split leading edge!!
