This is a puncture on the leading edge bladder of my 9m kite. Is it repairable or should i replace the entire bladder?

Thanks in advance!

I repaired a hole that big with tearaid, worked well.
bought the biggest pieces I could find on ebay.

Yes
Tearaid type -a
A good clean with alcohol wipe
I'd do an internal patch 1st as this stops the tearaid sticking back to back as your hole is more like a blowout
The wife's hair drier makes the tearaid extra sticky, and a hard nylon roller gets a great contact
Tearaid IMO is leagues ahead of other brands I've repaired with
If it's an ozone you'll be in luck
They have both tearaid and alcohol swabs in their kit

Piece of cake . You can remove and add entire sections of bladder. Years ago , many actually , some chap called Chris Glazier , or Grazier put together a guide on bladder repair, not a vid , pic by pic . With a variable heat iron and an optional bag sealer there isn't a bladder you can't reconstruct if ya happen to be handy.

You just need some bladder material, if you have trouble getting bladder material I can chuck ya some , if you post me an SAE , or hand it to ya if you're local . Check out Chris' repair guide , you'll be surprised , cheers , J

I had a bladder the was essentially minced. Thought it was well beyond repair. Whist trying to hunt down a new one (which was proving to be quite difficult!) I called Kitepower in Sydney.

When I told the guy about it he reckoned he could fix it. So I sent it to them. Had it back in a week and haven't had a problem since.

^^^^ How much $

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cauncy said..
Yes
Tearaid type -a
A good clean with alcohol wipe
I'd do an internal patch 1st as this stops the tearaid sticking back to back as your hole is more like a blowout
The wife's hair drier makes the tearaid extra sticky, and a hard nylon roller gets a great contact
Tearaid IMO is leagues ahead of other brands I've repaired with
If it's an ozone you'll be in luck
They have both tearaid and alcohol swabs in their kit

I love the way you say "..The wife's hair drier..." just sort of ensuring we understand your masculinity.

Yes its repairable like everyone has said but my suggestion is just do it right the first time. Read how to do it, get the right stuff and put aside some time when the misses won't nag you to do something else!!

I've done a few repairs but a couple I was rushed, on the beach wanting to kite or just to busy with other stuff in life so didn't do it right. I ended up with the bladder out, bladder in, bladder out, bladder in, slow leaks, fast leaks (you get the idea).

For a couple of repairs (about 10 years ago before lots of helpful internet info and before I found tear aid) I looked at the hole, realised I did not have time (or the know how) and just bought a new bladder.

To heat and set a self adhesive glue repair, iron it with a sauce pan filled with hot water, or us a bottle with hot water as a roller.

Rig up an ironing board like surface (table with a blanket or towel on it). Lay the patched area out flat and iron or roll it. It will set the glue and roll out any bubbles or wrinkles.

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LostDog said...

cauncy said..
Yes
Tearaid type -a
A good clean with alcohol wipe
I'd do an internal patch 1st as this stops the tearaid sticking back to back as your hole is more like a blowout
The wife's hair drier makes the tearaid extra sticky, and a hard nylon roller gets a great contact
Tearaid IMO is leagues ahead of other brands I've repaired with
If it's an ozone you'll be in luck
They have both tearaid and alcohol swabs in their kit

I love the way you say "..The wife's hair drier..." just sort of ensuring we understand your masculinity.

If you looked at my chrome dome you'd know I'm long past the hair dryer
I went to the barbers last week and asked for a hair cut
He said which one

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Jono77 said..
I've done a few repairs but a couple I was rushed, on the beach wanting to kite or just to busy with other stuff in life so didn't do it right. I ended up with the bladder out, bladder in, bladder out, bladder in, slow leaks, fast leaks (you get the idea).

For a couple of repairs (about 10 years ago before lots of helpful internet info and before I found tear aid) I looked at the hole, realised I did not have time (or the know how) and just bought a new bladder.

Like Jono77 says bladder repairs can be a nightmare especially if you have no previous experience. I've had a similar experience to the above and ended up having to buy a new bladder anyway.

Having said that I coincidentally did a LE bladder repair last week and all went well with no headaches on the first attempt, but it was a small hole, not a major patch like yours.

Yes - No Problem - Tear-Aid type A
A good clean with alcohol wipe or Metho
Make sure you get it perfectly flat (no creases)
Put a piece of old bladder, sail cloth or bit of plastic bag inside, to
stop it sticking to the other side.
Try and get at least 3cm coverage around the outside of the blowout.
Take your time setting everything up before you apply the tear-aid.

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James said...
^^^^ How much $

Can remember but wasn't much.

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FlyByKite said..
Yes - No Problem - Tear-Aid type A
A good clean with alcohol wipe or Metho
Make sure you get it perfectly flat (no creases)
Put a piece of old bladder, sail cloth or bit of plastic bag inside, to
stop it sticking to the other side.
Try and get at least 3cm coverage around the outside of the blowout.
Take your time setting everything up before you apply the tear-aid.

Now this is good advice - finally.

Also best to cut off those torn and stretched bits of bladder around the hole. Helps keep it all flat

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Hunter S said..

FlyByKite said..
Yes - No Problem - Tear-Aid type A
A good clean with alcohol wipe or Metho
Make sure you get it perfectly flat (no creases)
Put a piece of old bladder, sail cloth or bit of plastic bag inside, to
stop it sticking to the other side.
Try and get at least 3cm coverage around the outside of the blowout.
Take your time setting everything up before you apply the tear-aid.

Now this is good advice - finally.

Also best to cut off those torn and stretched bits of bladder around the hole. Helps keep it all flat

Thank you - I did mean to add this
Also best to cut off those torn and stretched bits of bladder around the hole. Helps keep it all flat

I'm doing a valve replacement atm and the setup might give you an idea for your job to keep every in place and crease free... Just remember Tear-Aid is a brilliant product but sticky as hell so you want to get it right first time...

You can use Aquaseal glue around the patch. This glue is the best for bladder and valve repairs. I repaired my LE with the same blow out as yours and unfortunately had some creases in the tear aid patch which will allow air to escape. Used the glue around the patch and it has been going strong for the last six months. If you dont won't to repair it yourself I highly recommend you send it to Moti Levy to get repaired. Does a great job and great prices. Get on you tube to watch how to Le bladder repairs.
Good luck!

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Hunter S said...

FlyByKite said..
Yes - No Problem - Tear-Aid type A
A good clean with alcohol wipe or Metho
Make sure you get it perfectly flat (no creases)
Put a piece of old bladder, sail cloth or bit of plastic bag inside, to
stop it sticking to the other side.
Try and get at least 3cm coverage around the outside of the blowout.
Take your time setting everything up before you apply the tear-aid.

Now this is good advice - finally.

Also best to cut off those torn and stretched bits of bladder around the hole. Helps keep it all flat

Your humble opinion is noted , thank you, J

The exact same thing happend to me... I just bought a new bladder, put the thing in pumped it up and forgot to zip up the ends on my Ozone c4. The thing made an almighty bang. Just repaired it with a kite patch thing.. Worked perfectly. I do freestyle so I crash my kite a lot learning new tricks and it has held up amazingly .