I have a 5 minute leak in the stitching holding the velcro to the bladder.

This is at the fill/deflate valve on a 10 metre leading edge bladder.
Its probably cos I passionately overtightened it too many times.!

Hoping the brains trust can help?

Guessing I may need to cut out velcro which leaves a 100mm hole!?
And fit a kitefix ball valve instead?
Or hard to find boston valve.
i live in dunsborough WA so parts are hard to come by!

Any better solutions?

cheers

Lewis

Select to expand quote

vespa said..
I have a 5 minute leak in the stitching holding the velcro to the bladder.

This is at the fill/deflate valve on a 10 metre leading edge bladder.
Its probably cos I passionately overtightened it too many times.!

Hoping the brains trust can help?

Guessing I may need to cut out velcro which leaves a 100mm hole!?
And fit a kitefix ball valve instead?
Or hard to find boston valve.
i live in dunsborough WA so parts are hard to come by!

Any better solutions?

cheers

Lewis

What colour is your Boston valve 1st, red or black, if red you've overtightened to cause leak most likely, inflate Kite fully and have a spray bottle of water detergent mix ready
spray around the Le valve to see where your leak is, as some of these are a simple clean of the diaphragm and not the bladder , also check your spares bag as ozone gave free Boston valves in red to determine version, if it's all too hard contact the Sail Doctor, he does hundreds of bladder repairs on all brands

The Velcro ring is stitched to Le Dacron and you've a ring on your bladder to locate with a small tab to seperate the 2, unzip the Le seperate the 2 you have to work apart with fingers, pull back through zipper to check, you'll see any separation on valve to Le connection, www.flyozone used to have instructional on video

Select to expand quote

vespa said..
I have a 5 minute leak in the stitching holding the velcro to the bladder.

This is at the fill/deflate valve on a 10 metre leading edge bladder.
Its probably cos I passionately overtightened it too many times.!

Hoping the brains trust can help?

Guessing I may need to cut out velcro which leaves a 100mm hole!?
And fit a kitefix ball valve instead?
Or hard to find boston valve.
i live in dunsborough WA so parts are hard to come by!

Any better solutions?

cheers

Lewis

Send me the details of your kite Lewis please. Sounds like your bladder may be affected by an issue we know about from a few years ago, if it is then we will replace the bladder. I should have it in stock here in Australia and I will express post it to you for free.
Call me if you want 0433 323 299
Regards
Steve

Hey all,

Its a reo 12.10.n.05b.095
I took out the bladder and its leaking from the the soft plastic daisy holding the soft velcro to bladder..so its a glue failure not stitching
Cheers again

Hi All,

Steve from Ozone kites Australia has gone over and above in his service and earned my loyalty.
He has organised for a replacement LE, strut bladders and hoses to update my beloved 10M reo 2012.
These were packed and posted on the day I contacted him.

Worth the investment I reckon when a company backs its product 6 years down the track from purchase.
This kite has only seen waves and been dropped in front of foamballs umpteen times.
Its stitching and fabric is still efficient enough to sail upwind of most modern surf kites regardless of the skulldrags I've suffered as it gets belted by foamballs.

Looking forward to riding the kite the next week in the Northwest.

thanks again Steve

thanks to the others who provided their knowledge- I appreciate the community spirit