One cause of wing explosions when inflating

Gong made an interesting post yesterday: they identified the cause of at least half of wings explosions while inflating. And it seems it can happen for any brands, so I guess it deserves its own topic.

In a nutshell: they recommend taking some simple caution when inflating that the bladder is not stuck to the cloth by moisture, like you do when you change a bike air chamber, you inflate it a bit to be sure is does not get stuck between the tire and the rim and explode when inflating...

Patrice Guenole' writes:

it's a real subject that explains a lot of explosions: when you roll a wing, the bladder in the batten or the leading edge can move and that's normal. Except that when the Wing is soaked, the bladder can get stuck by suction at the wrong place in the sheath. It sticks 10cm further than its normal place for example. The next time it is inflated, the bladder is put under tension and may explode as a result of this movement and tension.

This phenomenon has been neglected for a long time because it didn't happen with Kites. No reason to imagine that this problem would happen with Wings.

But a Wing is different from a Kite:

1/ It is always wet. What is rarer in Kite is a constant in Wing. If only to get in and out of the water.
2/ The diameter of the bladders is two to three times bigger, leaving a lot of room for the bladder to move in the sheath when you deflate.

The solutions :

A/ Try to roll your Wings only when they are dry. But this is often impossible.
B/ Unroll your wing completely flat before inflating. Do not inflate them while they are still rolled up.
C/ Gently shake the struts before inflation to remove the bladder from the fabric. Gently.
D/ Make sure that the bladder is not wrinkled during the inflation process: you can see this at half pressure.
E/ At the slightest doubt, deflate and re-inflate. It takes one minute.

The bladders are made custom for each strut and each leading edge of each Wing. Nothing is standard. And we can't lock them in place because they have to be removable and light.
So to this day, only being aware and cautious can protect you from this problem.

Reminder: do not rinse your Wings with chlorinated tap water as this would remove the chemical protection of the fabric, thus its strength and durability.

Be vigilant because it is estimated that one out of every two explosions comes from this concern.

Thank you.

For the record, "stevelebanni" ("Banished Steve") is one of the "Karen" trying to vindicate a perceived grudge I was speaking of recently.
(e.g: www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Stand-Up-Paddle/Foiling/Gong-HIPE-5-3--review?page=2#2632416 )

Apparently he created an account here on seabreeze to whine, so welcome "stevelebanni", and may this new year bring you peace and prosperity!

I had a superpower 6 for a few months. After a couple of hours of winging, exiting the water the main strut deflated. I took it for repair and it turns out the bladder wasn't anchored properly up front. It caused a haemorrhoid that popped.

All of the guidelines presented above were followed, always. The guy who repaired it told me it was the second one he'd fixed that week for the same reason. There are very few of these around here so was surprised to hear he'd seen a second with the same manufacturing fault.What does "mistake" mean, Colas?

Mistake being "erreur" in french meaning by your own fault . So if something ever happens To your wing 50% is the cause explained by coolas which is your fault and 50% by "erreur " which is also your fault ! So it is easy to see who's going to pay the repair bill ! You are warned . Ours a ?crit : ?Hello,

c'est un vrai sujet qui explique beaucoup d'explosions : lorsqu'on roule une wing, le blader dans la latte ou le bord d'attaque peut bouger et c'est normal. Sauf que lorsque la Wing est tremp?e, le blader peut ventouser ? un mauvais endroit dans le fourreau. Il colle 10cm plus loin qu'? sa place normale par exemple. Lors du prochain gonflage, le blader est mis en tension et peut exploser suite ? ce d?placement et cette mise en tension.

On a longtemps n?glig? cette piste car on ne l'avait jamais ?prouv?e en Kite. Aucune raison d'imaginer que ce probl?me arriverait en Wing.

Mais la Wing est diff?rente du Kite :
1/ Elle est toujours mouill?e. Ce qui est plus rare en Kite, c'est une constante en Wing. Ne serait ce que pour rentrer et sortir de l'eau.
2/ Le diam?tre des boudins est deux ? trois fois plus gros, laissant ainsi beaucoup de place au blader pour bouger dans le boudin lorsqu'on d?gonfle.

Les solutions :
A/ Essayer de rouler vos Wings uniquement quand elles sont s?ches. Mais c'est souvent impossible.
B/ D?rouler enti?rement votre wing ? plat avant le gonflage. Ne pas les gonfler encore roul?es.
C/ Secouer doucement les boudins avant gonflage pour d?coller le blader du tissu. Doucement.
D/ Surveiller au gonflage que des gros plis ne se fassent pas dans le blader : ?a se voit ? mi pression.
E/ Au moindre doute, d?gonfler et regonfler. Ca prend une minute chrono.

Les bladers sont faits sur mesure pour chaque latte et chaque bord d'attaque de chaque Wing. Rien n'est standard. Et nous ne pouvons pas les fixer car ils doivent ?tre d?montables et l?gers.
Donc ? ce jour, seul une utilisation ?clair?e et pr?cautionneuse peut vous pr?munir de ce souci.

Rappel : ne pas rincer vos Wings ? l'eau du robinet chlor?e car cela retirerait la protection chimique du tissu, donc sa portance et sa solidit?.

Soyez vigilants car on estime qu'une explosion sur deux vient de ce souci, celles que les clients n'expliquent pas par une erreur.

Here is the post in french as you can see the last two lines were left out ! Now why was that ?

Exactely what i said ! The explosions Patrice explains are the 50% not due To a customer mistake , but the customers Will still pay for the repair of that 50% not being able to prove it was not their fault , and also the other 50% which was their fault , so in all a 100% of all explosions . That is what i claim .

Apart from the irrelevant banter, great post and great information. Thanks. I remember back in the day with the 2011 north dyno. 7 strut beast (individual inflation) and the biggest leading edge you've ever seen! It would ruin you pumping by hand.
anyhow, that leading edge was also prone to inflation blow outs. Had to kind of do what was said above. Makes sense. Blow outs are happening with all brands if the above isn't adhered to.... and even then, sometimes ya just bloody unlucky.

So I have been rinsing my wings with tap water. That is after a session I get a watering can & rinse both sides then lightly wipe dry with a towel.
I thought salt water would affect material & bladder more? Let alone leash swivels to corrosion.
I see that crystalized salt attracts water & makes material damp.

I hang mine fully open in the shade under the patio, or more recently the very warm garage. They are bone dry in a couple of hours but the handles and leash cuffs etc take longer. They seem to stay crispy for longer when they get a good toasting between sessions.

I use a surfboard "sock" - they come in a variety of different lengths. The fabric is breathable. I leave the centre strut semi-inflated, and fold each side of the wing towards the centre. The sock is stretch fabric so the wing slides easily in leech first (compared to having to jam it into the bag the wing came with). I remember reading somewhere that folding is safer than rolling - less chance of the bladder twisting inside the sleeve during storage and transport. I try to get the wing as dry as possible before folding it up. When inflating next session, always lay the wing out flat prior to pumping it up. Pump it half way, check for any suspicious wrinkles prior to going to full pressure.

Select to expand quote

Hey BT just to clarify with your method ,
leave centre strut semi inflated,
roll the wings to centre,whilst wet?
Then placed inside a suitable size tube.
What are the sizes width of tubes.?
What sort of material are they made off?
Do they dry completely if rolled up in tubes of material?
Sorry about all the questions.
Maybe a photo may explain.
Cheers

I treat the wings basically like I do kites. I simply roll the wing tips into the semi-inflated centre strut (or boom). I then put them into nylon bags with a draw string loop to close them. The lengths vary from 2.4m to 1.5m and the diameter is roughly 350mm. They were made by sailmaker. They do leak moisture through the stitching and opening (so they do evaporate some moisture).

They do not completely dry in the tubes, but my wings are always wet.

I do occasionally pull them out when super wet and stand them up so they drain out the draw string end. This mainly to protect my van and not the wing.

I have no issues with gongs, duotones (boom), wasps or clouds using this method.

The primary driver for this was because I got sick of wasting my life waiting for wasp centre struts to deflate and pumping up fat centre struts on a 7m gong and 6m cloud.