I have had my bandit Dos for nearly a month. I have used it max 7 times and I am SUPER careful with it. It has never smashed done on the water or sand. When used it last two times, it has lost quater of the pressure in less than 2 hours. I cannot find any problems with the inflate or deflate valves.

Has anybody else had any problems with the new Dos ????

I've been riding my 10m Dos since Dec and had some long sessions (4 hours +), but never experienced a slow loss of pressure. And I have smacked both beach and water hard with it more than a few times. Always holds up fine though. Built tough!

The only time mine has deflated was after the deflate valve released after a particularly hard hit on the water. After this happened I noticed that the little tab on the valve can interfere with the velcroes ability to secure the valve in place. I now ensure that I spit on the valve before closing it to inflate, and turn the tab to the side and make sure that the velcroe is really tight. Havnt had the same problem again.

Hope this helps!

Case

I been using a 9 for two months now and no issues, is it LE or struts, you have to take the bladder out and check for location of leaks and repair or replace
, maybe bad luck, maybe shop will do it for you with a new bladder?

Sounds like a standard type of leak to me. This can happen on any kite. Your kite bladder is very thin and any small sharp object can put a hole in it no matter how careful you are.

Pump it up, grab a bucket of soapy water and a sponge and wipe it over till you see bubbles. Start with the obvious spots like the tips and valves. It might take a while as you have described a very slow leak.

Once found just stick a patch on.

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beachbumkate said...

I have had my bandit Dos for nearly a month. I have used it max 7 times and I am SUPER careful with it. It has never smashed done on the water or sand. When used it last two times, it has lost quater of the pressure in less than 2 hours. I cannot find any problems with the inflate or deflate valves.

Has anybody else had any problems with the new Dos ????

Get a standard $2 spray bottle, add several drops of dishwashing liquid detergent and water.
Spray the kite, starting at the middle of the LE canopy side where the kite rests and rocks back and forth on the ground when you pump it up.
Spray all the valves and one pump hoses.
Spray the tips, another common place for a slow leak, from sand getting into the LE tube and into the fold.
Then just spray everywhere until you find bubbles, then once you do pull out the leading edge bladder and patch it.

My spray bottle is my best repair tool!! (does not make a huge wet mess and can be used indoors - best place to find leaks anyway)

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

Hi Steve

Talks for the advise, dad and I tried it in the shed this morning and found the leak. That didn't stop me, we went for a 2 hour session this arvo and it flew perfectly :D. Now we just have to pull the bladder out and stick a patch on it.


Thanks Again Steve

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beachbumkate said...

Hi Steve

Talks for the advise, dad and I tried it in the shed this morning and found the leak. That didn't stop me, we went for a 2 hour session this arvo and it flew perfectly :D. Now we just have to pull the bladder out and stick a patch on it.


Thanks Again Steve

Cool!
Don't pull the whole bladder out unless you have to. You can just pull one side out, or if the puncture is near the tip, just pull it out from there, patch it and put it back.
If you need to inflate the tip that you pulled out, get one of dads clamps and get him to show you how to use it. Basically sue 2 pieces of wood to clamp off the LE behind one of the one pump point, then pump up the tip and find the leak.
When re-inserting the bladder, dry it and use some talc powder. Fit the one pump nozzle back into the LE, then push any excess bladder back inside the tip with a blunt rod of some sort, then fold the bladde tip and secure it same as the other end.

If the puncture is nearer the middle, then you can pull the bladder out through the opening in the centre of the kite, if you have to undo one of the one pump fittings to do that, its still much easier than pulling it all out.

Be careful reinflating the kite, go to 50% first and check for twists, if you have any try to massage them out and test inflate again, if they are still them then you have to pull the bladder out as you did and refit it, then test again, you should be able to remove any twists without removing the whole bladder.

Never blow the kite up fully if the twist is still present when the kite is inflated to 75%, but if it goes away substantially by that pressure then proceed to fully inflate the kite.

Hope that helps educate all in "mastery of thy bladder"!

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

The kites less than a month old!!, Take it back to the shop you purchased from and ask for them to check it. It maybe a faulty bladder, if so, they may replace.

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arsa said...

The kites less than a month old!!, Take it back to the shop you purchased from and ask for them to check it. It maybe a faulty bladder, if so, they may replace.

It was a puncture wasn't it??
Punctures are never a warranty item, I've seen people trash day old kites, but thats not a warranty issue.

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve