Recently bought a second hand Core 2011 8M from what seems a reputable Kiteshop in WA sight unseen. There were quite a few photos on the advertisment of the Kite which all looked good in terms of condition of canopy and bar etc. The images on line showed the kite in an inflated state.

Kite arrived and I pumped up and left overnight. In the morning 2 of the struts had deflated. When I removed them, there was clearly water inside both and salt crystals of significant size had formed which had oviously punctured the bladders in at lest 3 or more spots..so far.

It stands to reason that there is or has been water in the LE but that seems OK at this point....stayed inflated for a couple of days.

I understand the concept of buyer beware and obviously dont expect a lifetime of service from a second hand kite...but surely I should be able to use it out of the box for some period of time.

My questions are, has this happened to others and what course of action did you take and what was the outcome. I have contacted the shop but havent heard back as they are most likely still in bed in WA.

I am going to try to repair and flush the salt out of the strut bladders with fresh and hope to dissolve the cyrstals but would it be advisable to try to flush the LE bladder as well to avoid further issues?.

Just looking for some feedback from anyone with similar experience so I might know what to expect,

Thanks All

Ive bought a few kites "site unseen" and I guess I've been lucky with them all. The only damage done was by me.

Maybe the store have limited warranty? At least you bought from the store and not private.

Their reputation is also of best interest so hopefully they will pay for repair or send you some free stuff

good luck

I would imagine they would be happy to help you out with repair costs or allow you to return the kite. Obviously there is buyer beware when buying off the internet and I'm sure the shop is not obligated to help you out, but most places (in my experience) tend to do so. I don't think a kitesurf/wind/surf shop would last very long with the owners acting like used car salesman.

i'd wait until i heard back from the shop before posting on a forum.
odds are they'll do all they can to keep you happy and their reputation intact.

Fair call about posting on the forum....not looking to slag anyone here...Pretty sure the shop would not have realized either

Just looking for feedback from others with similar experience....Any thoughts on flushing the LE bladder??

Don't attempt any repair by yourself straight back to the shop, it is an issue they must sort. I have bought many second hand kites from Kite addiction and Daniel always pumps up LE to check before selling. Never had such an issue shop must sort it for you.

Pretty sure the shop will do what it can to help you out although in the lead up to christmas it will be a lot quicker to fix it up your self. I doubt the shop would of had any idea of the salt in your bladders and will more than likely loose money on your kite to keep you happy. I would check the leading edge bladder but if there is salt in the struts it may even already have a new leading edge bladder so try and check it before pulling it all the way out.

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bermand said...
Don't attempt any repair by yourself straight back to the shop, it is an issue they must sort. I have bought many second hand kites from Kite addiction and Daniel always pumps up LE to check before selling. Never had such an issue shop must sort it for you.

the kite has travelled from WA to QLD so chances are the salt would of damaged the bladder after being checked by the shop.

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TurtleHunter said...

bermand said...
Don't attempt any repair by yourself straight back to the shop, it is an issue they must sort. I have bought many second hand kites from Kite addiction and Daniel always pumps up LE to check before selling. Never had such an issue shop must sort it for you.

the kite has travelled from WA to QLD so chances are the salt would of damaged the bladder after being checked by the shop.

So what you're saying is, the shop shouldn't have checked the condition of the kite fully including struts, before selling?

Which begs the question, when selling second hand kites, should the shops take the time to pull out all the struts to inspect, or just supply a bladder repair kite with each second hand kite (especially in case of interstate sales), just in case?
Either way it'll cost the shop time, or the price of the repair kit to make sure the kite is flyable right away, or relatively so.

I don't know what other shops do exactly but I would bet they all pump the kites up to check for leaks and check the canopy' but if you want them to pull the bladders out then your going to add a fair bit to the price. Even then there is no guarantee you wont have problems yet as I said the shops will do what they can to keep you happy.

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TurtleHunter said...
I don't know what other shops do exactly but I would bet they all pump the kites up to check for leaks and check the canopy' but if you want them to pull the bladders out then your going to add a fair bit to the price. Even then there is no guarantee you wont have problems yet as I said the shops will do what they can to keep you happy.

Of course, but when there's a case of salt crystals clearly being inside the bladders, well that's why I was asking the question; should they pull all the bladders out or supply a patch kit to avoid to and from freight, and the bad feelings that go with it?

I agree, the shops are keen to keep you happy, surely a preventative measure rather than a fix up measure is better?

I'm not bagging the shops, I know they all have passion for the sport and people in it and operate with the best of intentions.

Send it back, the same as I should have, when I bought a piece of crap from WA that was full of holes....I would never buy unseen again. Still waiting for my pump hose by the way mate, it's only been 3 years......

What I mean though kiterboy is the shop isn't going to know the salt crystals are there unless they pull the bladders out.
Paul1 you don't sound like a happy customer. If it was from salt crystals even if you had a look at the kite how would you know

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TurtleHunter said...
What I mean though kiterboy is the shop isn't going to know the salt crystals are there unless they pull the bladders out.
Paul1 you don't sound like a happy customer. If it was from salt crystals even if you had a look at the kite how would you know

I know, that's why I'm asking the question.
Unless specified otherwise for a particular item, the shops are meant to be selling kites in good usable condition.

And yes, most people who buy a kite don't pull out the bladders to inspect them.

It seems to be a bit of a problem doesn't it?

If you buy private, should you have to take the bladders out to inspect?
Or do you take it on word from the seller that no water has gotten inside the bladders?
And if there was, do you go back to them asking them to fix the problem?

If you buy from a shop, should you have to inspect the bladders?
Or do you take it on word from the seller that no water has gotten inside the bladders?
And if there was, do you go back to them asking them to fix the problem?

Obviously salt crystals in bladders is not good and is gonna end in tears, but better they are shed onshore.

How then do we check if there has been water, and hence salt (or even sand) in the bladders?

Is pumping up the kite and listening to the bladders a good way to hear anything rattling around in them?

@kiterboy;

I'd think the shops would have pumped up the kite and checked for leaks, inspected it's overall condition and then used their experience to list the kite for sale as close to the condition they believe it to be in and at a fair price. Whether that be a mint condition ex-demo or a 3-4 year old kite with 'issues'.

I wouldn't expect them to start pulling the bladdders out, provide bladder repair kits, sail cloth or whatever. If you want to buy a kite sight unseen from a shop with somewhat of a guarantee there is nothing wrong with it, then buy new.

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Chris6791 said...
@kiterboy;

I'd think the shops would have pumped up the kite and checked for leaks, inspected it's overall condition and then used their experience to list the kite for sale as close to the condition they believe it to be in and at a fair price. Whether that be a mint condition ex-demo or a 3-4 year old kite with 'issues'.

I wouldn't expect them to start pulling the bladdders out, provide bladder repair kits, sail cloth or whatever. If you want to buy a kite sight unseen from a shop with somewhat of a guarantee there is nothing wrong with it, then buy new.

That's cool, just thinking out loud here.

Buying a kite unseen that's meant to be in good usable condition and then finding a hole/s in the canopy would be a major p*ssoff, bladders however are another issue, as I said no one really inspects those.
So yeah, just thinking out loud about the issue, as the subject got me thinking.

Personally I don't have a problem fixing holes in bladders, finding them full of salt crystals would be slightly annoying though, as it would mean washing them out & draining them properly, meaning lost time on the water, or buying a new set of bladders, potentially costly.

As I said, just thinking out loud about the issue, not having a go at anyone.

Sounds like I've stirred up a Hornets nest here...unintentionally..

Happy to say that the shop in question replied to my issue pretty quick and are working to help me out...even though a little bit of a hassle from my perspective, Dan from Kite Addiction in WA is doing all he can to get me out on the water...Thanks Dan and everybody for the feedback
Merry Christmas All

yeh grillsy second hand kites can be a bit of a hornets nest (hence I don't touch them now). Often those selling gear don't even know the problem exists whether it's water in the bladder, valves about to peal off or a million other things.
If you want the best chance of getting out straight away without any problems you have to go new. As you have found though shops will do whatever they can to keep you happy vs private sellers don't really have any interest in keeping you happy once you buy the kite (not saying there out to scam you or anything just they have little incentive to keep you happy after you take the kite)
Any way good luck and hope you don't miss out on too much kiting because of the problem.

I purchased a secondhand kite online from an East Coast retailer and when I received the kite I found the lines were frayed, actual bridle lines looked like the would not last another session. Anyway, I contacted the shop and they supplied me with new bridle lines at no extra cost and kite lines at an awesome discount, kitelines probably didn't need replacing, but I am paranoid about my lines breaking.

I would not hesitate to buy online again from the above retailer, not sure if I would buy from anyone else though.

Have just paid for second hand kite from W.A. kite shop. Waiting for delivery.
Description 'kite is in mint condition'. Hope my expectations match.
Have previously bought from same shop, no problem.

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grillsy said...



Kite arrived and I pumped up and left overnight. In the morning 2 of the struts had deflated.

I would not expect a shop to leave a kite inflated for that long. How far/ long are you planning on kiting in one session? Across the Tasman?

If I didn't notice significant deflation after 2 hours than I'd be hard pushed to think there was anything to complain about (a 2nd hand kite). But as others have said, perhaps the postman contributed to this issue.

Good point to raise with prospective 2nd hand kite buyers regarding salt water & crystals in the bladder. Not really sure how you could successfully check it out without a keyhole camera. Perhaps the Gopro can make a new accessory.

buying second hand no matter from what source has these kinds of risks. This is not a bad problem its easily and cheaply fixed.

Flush your kites bladders with water, hang out to dry, pump up and leave over night, use detergent to find exact location of leaks, and fix.

Problem sorted.