I've got several Ozone Edges spread across 2013, 2014 and the V8. So far 3 out of the 4 have needed leading edge and bladder repairs at exactly the same point. They all burst open about 1 inch from the bridle connection point closest to the centre strut?

Now one or two in the same spot is a coincidence but I'm up to five repairs on three different kites on either side of the centre strut. At this stage I'm assuming the V8 hasn't failed yet as it's only been on the water a handful of times?

Is anyone else having this problem? If so is it just the freeride guys or do the guys that race on them have this same problem?

I have a 19 m 2013 , a mate has a 9, 11 , 13 and 17 all 2013 , allso a lot of other guys use edges in our area ,****loads of use on all kites , never seen or heard of this issue , how much pressure do you put in your kites? I run minimum of 10 psi ( rock hard ) I find if they are under inflated they Bend and flare under load , this could cause a week point over time.

I have a quiver of 2013 edges (9, 11 & 13), also a 2013 Zephyr.
I usually inflate to minimum 8psi, never had any issues with any of them (*touchwood*).
Apart from them folding a bit (under certain conditions) when I really load them up..........110 kg dry btw
So no, don't have the same problem.
But 3 out 4 with the same tear at exactly the same point does seem strange.

I know there are others out there with the same problem, so I was just wondering how big a problem it is. It's got me stumped now others are saying they've never heard of it.

I know how they behave when under-inflated and that's not an issue, though I normally inflate to 6-7 psi - in as much as you can trust the gauges Ozone supply with the pumps. It seems be inflated enough, gives a nice ping and doesn't fold easily? It's interesting that the gauge goes into the red above 7psi but guys are running 10? I just checked the manual and it doesn't give a recommended psi that I can see, but it does have a photo of a gauge at 8 psi, again well into the red?

Maybe Ozone don't want us over-inflating their kites to reduce warranty claims and hassles from burst kites so the gauges have a pretty little colour guide to discourage suckers like me from going above 6-7 psi. I might not be under-inflating but a bit more might make this problem go away? I might make my 6m a test, it's only had a couple of sessions so I might pump to 8-9 from now on and see whether this problem still appears.

I have run many edges for the last 10 years - never have any major issues. Yes - some pin hole probs where there is pressure from the valve on the kite - but I never bother repairing and had no issues. I race and have hammered the kites and I don't repair holes or small tears. I have a V8 10m - would rate it one of the best kites for flat water gusty conditions I have ever ridden.

Add on - yes I find the ozones like high inflation pressures and I inflate 8-10 psi. Fly better and less issues.

Always had this issue Chris, apart from the 1st instinct edge, I've got my 7 and 10 in for repair as we speak,
If you talk to Neil at htl it's a very common issue, I've looked into those who generally don't have faults, they don't live where we do simple
I had a 9 that split 5 times, if you look inside it's where the white reinforcement material ends, IMHO it forms a weak link,
They need to make them a more freeride orientated build , they are finished as a race kite,
I'll suffer no more, it's a new brand for me after years on the ozones
I've dozens of photos to prove my point
Exactly the same point every single time

Just checked location of posts, none have been out at coros loading up in 35 knts today

In this year , I had my 7 and 9 metre pop within 5 weeks of each other . The 9 had a very easy life with little use . I binned both of them . The small compensation patch at the bridle attachment point doesn't cover enough area creating high point loading over a small area leading to premature failure. That's what I think anyway. Here's a pic of my 9 . J

Bloody hell guys. Every now and then inspect your le for wear and damage. If the le is even slightly damaged it is likely to pop. Slap a bit of sticky sail take on all le wear and you will never have randomly poping le's again.

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Plummet said...
Bloody hell guys. Every now and then inspect your le for wear and damage. If the le is even slightly damaged it is likely to pop. Slap a bit of sticky sail take on all le wear and you will never have randomly poping le's again.

Bullocks, it's got nothing to do with that on the edges, it's simply a weak spot that's prone to this,
Prior to a downwinder both me and Chris talked about if he had a failure with the new d2 rip stop edges
At the end of the dwinder his kite was on it's way for repair, all we did was ride hard in strong wind, from memory it gave way as he was about to release the valve
They're a great kite performance wise, but lack that strength in this area,
I'd say you'll not have a drama if your a cruiser on these kites, but if your constantly loading up and going hard and putting the bridal points under load it's a matter of time
As I've mentioned on this topic a few times a freeride model of the edge with the extra reinforcements at these points of load would not be such a difficult process in manufacture,

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Plummet said..
Bloody hell guys. Every now and then inspect your le for wear and damage. If the le is even slightly damaged it is likely to pop. Slap a bit of sticky sail take on all le wear and you will never have randomly poping le's again.

I've had wear and tear damage on LE's and canopies and I cop that, thats' not the case on this one. All are failing at the same spot and it's because I do check my kites I was lucky enough to catch this one before it ripped all the way around and blew the bladder as well (like it normally does).

I do like the idea of a beefed up free ride Edge, it's been discussed on the beach before.

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Plummet said...
Bloody hell guys. Every now and then inspect your le for wear and damage. If the le is even slightly damaged it is likely to pop. Slap a bit of sticky sail take on all le wear and you will never have randomly poping le's again.

That's called a Band Aid fix

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cauncy said..

Plummet said...
Bloody hell guys. Every now and then inspect your le for wear and damage. If the le is even slightly damaged it is likely to pop. Slap a bit of sticky sail take on all le wear and you will never have randomly poping le's again.

Bullocks, it's got nothing to do with that on the edges, it's simply a weak spot that's prone to this,
Prior to a downwinder both me and Chris talked about if he had a failure with the new d2 rip stop edges
At the end of the dwinder his kite was on it's way for repair, all we did was ride hard in strong wind, from memory it gave way as he was about to release the valve
They're a great kite performance wise, but lack that strength in this area,
I'd say you'll not have a drama if your a cruiser on these kites, but if your constantly loading up and going hard and putting the bridal points under load it's a matter of time
As I've mentioned on this topic a few times a freeride model of the edge with the extra reinforcements at these points of load would not be such a difficult process in manufacture,

You're both wrong.

The issue is the LE bladder, not the LE canopy of the kite. I had the same problem with my Ozone C4s and Catalyst. Exactly the same on the same spot too! Pop! Glad this thread got posted. I thought I was going mad.

Anyway, I've replaced the LE bladders entirely (after 5-7 times repairing these things to no avail) by using Tuff bladders. Never had a problem since.

Maybe Ozone's supplier of bladders has changed to someone cheaper? To test this, I inflated one of the strutts outside of the kite and sure enough near the valve area, a bubble started forming. Any more pressure and pop! Now under load it's ok, but over time it will weaken.

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Loftywinds said...

cauncy said..

Plummet said...
Bloody hell guys. Every now and then inspect your le for wear and damage. If the le is even slightly damaged it is likely to pop. Slap a bit of sticky sail take on all le wear and you will never have randomly poping le's again.

Bullocks, it's got nothing to do with that on the edges, it's simply a weak spot that's prone to this,
Prior to a downwinder both me and Chris talked about if he had a failure with the new d2 rip stop edges
At the end of the dwinder his kite was on it's way for repair, all we did was ride hard in strong wind, from memory it gave way as he was about to release the valve
They're a great kite performance wise, but lack that strength in this area,
I'd say you'll not have a drama if your a cruiser on these kites, but if your constantly loading up and going hard and putting the bridal points under load it's a matter of time
As I've mentioned on this topic a few times a freeride model of the edge with the extra reinforcements at these points of load would not be such a difficult process in manufacture,

You're both wrong.

The issue is the LE bladder, not the LE canopy of the kite. I had the same problem with my Ozone C4s and Catalyst. Exactly the same on the same spot too! Pop! Glad this thread got posted. I thought I was going mad.

Anyway, I've replaced the LE bladders entirely (after 5-7 times repairing these things to no avail) by using Tuff bladders. Never had a problem since.

Maybe Ozone's supplier of bladders has changed to someone cheaper? To test this, I inflated one of the strutts outside of the kite and sure enough near the valve area, a bubble started forming. Any more pressure and pop! Now under load it's ok, but over time it will weaken.

Wrong
My le bladder in approx 5 instances hasn't popped, it's the le on the end of reinforcing material which is on the inside of le is where this occurs every single time
I've had every model of the edge apart from latest and all models and sizes has done this
When repaired , so basically the area is reinforced/ doubled is when I've not had an issue in that spot,
I asked Neil at htl onece to reinforce a brand new edge for me, the cost due to unpicking the whole le became not viable

Yep mine went in the same spot. Same with my brothers. Must be one fckn big coincidence hey! (2013/2014...the years are important, D2 should hopefully stop this..or is Chris's D2?).

This is what happens when you buy a race kite and use her as a basher

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Loftywinds said..

cauncy said..

Plummet said...
Bloody hell guys. Every now and then inspect your le for wear and damage. If the le is even slightly damaged it is likely to pop. Slap a bit of sticky sail take on all le wear and you will never have randomly poping le's again.

Bullocks, it's got nothing to do with that on the edges, it's simply a weak spot that's prone to this,
Prior to a downwinder both me and Chris talked about if he had a failure with the new d2 rip stop edges
At the end of the dwinder his kite was on it's way for repair, all we did was ride hard in strong wind, from memory it gave way as he was about to release the valve
They're a great kite performance wise, but lack that strength in this area,
I'd say you'll not have a drama if your a cruiser on these kites, but if your constantly loading up and going hard and putting the bridal points under load it's a matter of time
As I've mentioned on this topic a few times a freeride model of the edge with the extra reinforcements at these points of load would not be such a difficult process in manufacture,

You're both wrong.

The issue is the LE bladder, not the LE canopy of the kite. I had the same problem with my Ozone C4s and Catalyst. Exactly the same on the same spot too! Pop! Glad this thread got posted. I thought I was going mad.

Anyway, I've replaced the LE bladders entirely (after 5-7 times repairing these things to no avail) by using Tuff bladders. Never had a problem since.

Maybe Ozone's supplier of bladders has changed to someone cheaper? To test this, I inflated one of the strutts outside of the kite and sure enough near the valve area, a bubble started forming. Any more pressure and pop! Now under load it's ok, but over time it will weaken.

Let me guess, a good place to buy these would be a kite repair shop in North QLD?

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flyingcab said...
This is what happens when you buy a race kite and use her as a basher

Learning a handplant back roll transition on average will cost you $300 ,
Hand on heart I go as hard as possible but I'd say maybe once every half a dozen session , I'd put it in the drink but you don't missile an edge in the drink without paying the cost,
Such a nice powered kiting exsperience though on the edges, they are a great wing

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eppo said...
Yep mine went in the same spot. Same with my brothers. Must be one fckn big coincidence hey! (2013/2014...the years are important, D2 should hopefully stop this..or is Chris's D2?).

Nah all on the older kites Eppo, no issues with the V8 yet.

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flyingcab said...
This is what happens when you buy a race kite and use her as a basher

I won't disagree with you there which is why I was asking if the race guys were having the same issue. It's also why I haven't made a single warranty claim on any of them even when they were still in warranty, I just get them fixed and keep riding them.

But it can't be a coincidence mine and now a few others are splitting in the same spot. Though the common thread so far is kites prior to the current V8 and guys that load them up freestyle, rather than race. Hopefully the new fabric they're using eliminates the problem. Might give me a reason to upgrade

no issues with any of my edges 2013 and v7's . always pumped to 9psi . never had a rip in the canopy , self launch and land but use em for what they are supposed to be used for.

Bahhh you're all a bunch of whinging poms! This is Straya kooks! Get with it.

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flyingcab said..

Loftywinds said..

cauncy said..

Plummet said...
Bloody hell guys. Every now and then inspect your le for wear and damage. If the le is even slightly damaged it is likely to pop. Slap a bit of sticky sail take on all le wear and you will never have randomly poping le's again.

Bullocks, it's got nothing to do with that on the edges, it's simply a weak spot that's prone to this,
Prior to a downwinder both me and Chris talked about if he had a failure with the new d2 rip stop edges
At the end of the dwinder his kite was on it's way for repair, all we did was ride hard in strong wind, from memory it gave way as he was about to release the valve
They're a great kite performance wise, but lack that strength in this area,
I'd say you'll not have a drama if your a cruiser on these kites, but if your constantly loading up and going hard and putting the bridal points under load it's a matter of time
As I've mentioned on this topic a few times a freeride model of the edge with the extra reinforcements at these points of load would not be such a difficult process in manufacture,

You're both wrong.

The issue is the LE bladder, not the LE canopy of the kite. I had the same problem with my Ozone C4s and Catalyst. Exactly the same on the same spot too! Pop! Glad this thread got posted. I thought I was going mad.

Anyway, I've replaced the LE bladders entirely (after 5-7 times repairing these things to no avail) by using Tuff bladders. Never had a problem since.

Maybe Ozone's supplier of bladders has changed to someone cheaper? To test this, I inflated one of the strutts outside of the kite and sure enough near the valve area, a bubble started forming. Any more pressure and pop! Now under load it's ok, but over time it will weaken.

Let me guess, a good place to buy these would be a kite repair shop in North QLD?

Nah I don't sell em.

Try Briskites or Kitepower in Sydney

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Chris6791 said..

interesting that the red leader looks exactly the distance to the tear. I'm suspecting rubbing of the red leader. it could even occur if you pack a kite a certain way,

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James said..
In this year , I had my 7 and 9 metre pop within 5 weeks of each other . The 9 had a very easy life with little use . I binned both of them . The small compensation patch at the bridle attachment point doesn't cover enough area creating high point loading over a small area leading to premature failure. That's what I think anyway. Here's a pic of my 9 . J

This looks to me like wear damage. It looks like it rubbed for a while before it split.

I have done many many repairs exactly the same as this and they have occurred on many different brands of kites. There is a lot of stress in the area of the Leading Edge bridle mount points and, of course, they should be properly re-enforced in manufacture. The LE will be constantly trying to flex around these points. I agree that pumping up harder is likely to reduce the chances of flexing but then will probably increase the chances of an explosion if you smack your kite on the water! I am surprised the Leading Edge would withstand 10psi although on smaller kites it may be just fine. The larger the diameter of the tube the less pressure should be required to keep it rigid. It seems plenty of fliers are doing ok with high pressures but I would think 8psi would be a better maximum.
Don't be too careful guys or I might be out of a job! :)

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Chris6791 said..
I've got several Ozone Edges spread across 2013, 2014 and the V8. So far 3 out of the 4 have needed leading edge and bladder repairs at exactly the same point. They all burst open about 1 inch from the bridle connection point closest to the centre strut?

Now one or two in the same spot is a coincidence but I'm up to five repairs on three different kites on either side of the centre strut. At this stage I'm assuming the V8 hasn't failed yet as it's only been on the water a handful of times?

Is anyone else having this problem? If so is it just the freeride guys or do the guys that race on them have this same problem?

do you use a pump with a airgauge ?!? i find people that use these stupid psi gauges are WAY overpumping theyre kites and causeing them to rupture. take the thing off and learn to pump it by feel. all your trying to do is make a rigid structure so just try bend the kite between a section on leading edge (middle of 2 stitch points) and if shes hard to bend then thats plenty.

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flyingcab said..

Loftywinds said..

Let me guess, a good place to buy these would be a kite repair shop in North QLD?

how dare you insinuate that someone on seabreeze would steer a thread to there monetary gain?!?! absolutely preposterous what WILD allegations!

Note to self; don't buy ozone edge