The glue that I bought was purchased from Bunnings, but it dried out , so it went in the bin. The contact type glue sold in bike shops for tube repair works just as well because polyurethane is a type of rubber. The aim of my method is to take the pressure off the glue and let it do it's job as a leak proof joint, and keeping the valve in position.
And this from another thread.
PS: 3m 5200 fast cure is recommended as a glue to aghere the pvc valves to the tpu bladder, the heat/sonic welding doesn't hold up becuase the pvc and tpu have different expansion rates as they heat and cool, over time the valves peel, there are a few threads on this from a year or so ago..........................
I haven't found a bike tube repair glue that works yet. it peels off the bladder quite easily, but it probably works inside the bladder better.
Up in Cairns hardly anyone rides North anymore because their kite valves are ****. Most ride Cabrinhas and Slingy's. The other issue that killed North up here was the **** front line on the 09 bar that snapped every 20 hours of riding. 5 yrs ago North and Naish had 80% of the sales up here, but now I am about the only one who rides a North because I like the massive power and bottom end of the Rebel. When its 10 knots I am the only one riding apart from Gazza on his 16m rebel and someone flying an Ozone 'jumbo jet" that moves about 2km per/hr through the air. With the right dealer I still get very good warranty support but valves peeling early should not happen.
Get your **** together North!
Thanks Brother , its good to hear from another part of the country and to hear about the same problems we are having .
I agree on the good aspects of the North kite but we are still in pain from fixing them
It would be great to get more feedback though .
2008 9m rebel - still going strong with no valve troubles
2008 12m rebel - sold after 2years no problems
2010 12m rebel - middle strut had small leak around valve (fixed with some glue)
Eddie
Seems from discussions with other North owners that the valve issue is most prevalent in our Northern climate. As a long term North kite owner and living and kiting predominately in Darwin and fnq, you can add my numbers to the tally..
Can't be sure of the total number of failures but can state categorically that for each of my North kites kept for more than 18 months, every one of the valve-bladder joins has failed...a conservative estimate would be around 70.
Was about to upgrade to new Rebels but, having seen the boost and float of the Cab Switchies, unless North can confirm that they have fixed the problem, I'm thinking it is time to switch.
Waz, I'm sure you can better 70!?
Vinyl pool or toy repair glue works.
There is no bike puncture glue I've seen that works, polyurethane is not rubber, its actually a long chain polymer, and rubber is a natural product sourced from the latex sap from rubber trees. Polyurethane comes from Oil, all its components are crude oil based. I'm not so sure that all kite bladders are made of the same polymer film, and I'm also not sure that they are all polyurethane (or if any of hem are, maybe they are one of the polymer films below or one I don't know the name of) whatever they are made from its a polymer thats super strong and super stretchy, impervious to sea water and microbes.
I've had the most success with a glue thats got polyurethane and some nasty solvents in it, to glue valves back onto bladders.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyurethane
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_rubber
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyethylene
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polypropylene
In PNG we have a mix of airush (majority) core, naish, north, slingy and ozone.
of all the modern kites on the beach its the north kites that are soft and being fixed all the time.
airush kites from 05 and 06 had the valve issue too. Every single valve would fall off the kite within 2 weeks. have had no valves fall off since though.
the heat and humidity just kills everything, windsurfers have trouble with foot pads that turn to dust and straps that deteriorate and are completely destroyed in a season. surf booties fall apart, dont wear a pair of normal shoes for a few weeks, and the glue holding the sole to the upper has gone off. the grip on tennis rackets turn to dust, wake board bindings become brittle and crack... i could go on
This thread was 3825ing funny! I have an 08 10m and 14m with poopa valves awaiting my care and attention and I'm from a latitude south of Perth.
Thought I'd share with you 3825ers...
DB
Hey I´m one of Norths biggest fans but the valve problem is a joke, they know there is a problem and don´t fix it, how long did it take them to fix the problem with there bars peeling??? I think that maybe it´s the aussie climate as when I lived in Europe had no valve problems but when in Oz and Brazil all peeled off, check the warranty apparently not designed for southern hemisphere!!!!! but still gotta love them
Meh, what's all the fuss about? I demoed a rebel last summer and really it was just another kite. No particular performance characteristics that can't be found in plenty of other kites (Unless there's something special about the big sizes for light tropical wind. I tried a 10m in Melbourne).
I find it incomprehensible that folk would pay top dollar year after year for kites that have a fundamental flaw. That said, you have my sympathy for North's lack of responsiveness, but until you vote with your feet/wallet, they'll keep selling you whatever they can.
No affiliation, I just can't stand shoddy design when good alternatives are clearly available.
... awwwww man, my son's 9m lost 3 valves on the weekend!!!
New question, how many 13 year old kids do you know that can change a valves on a kite?
I know of one!
Robbie
hey everyone and sorry that you all passed from the same valve leaking problem by north, just like me, I searched on the net about bladder durability in north and guess what forum popped up. long story short my evo 09 9m was the first to go but that was ok because I could de-power my rhino 09 12m to get my fix that day. and no I didn't get my fix. both kites failed, epic fail. I wanted to just rip them apart. luckily I kept my calm and now I am steering away from north, selling whatever I have from this company, its a shame as well, damn good flying machines with a short expiry date. these kites should be at least half price and warn the rider of an imminent valve failure. you are not alone out there fellow north rider.
more and more horrified as the discussion wears on. i am blissfully ignorant of valve changing culture, i was barely even aware there was such a curse, and assumed it was a 'once in a kite-lifetime' type of thing.
i repeat... cabrinhas for me!
no amount of tree jokes, homo-innuendo, technical performance talk, graphics chat or other bollox could lead me to risk having the most fundamental piece of gear, the KITE, (i mean... THE KITE... it is what we are doing! flying kites!) fail. the kite fail! i mean... really? how ridiculous! because of a valve!! not slammed into the water in front of a 6 foot set or some other genuinely gear stressing moment, but just as a regular event!!! seriously i am gobsmacked. what on earth would lead someone to buy another of this product? performance? a soggy shopping bag on strings doesnt perform too well...
now i understand why North riders NEED to do their tricks in the dubious close proximity of non kiters in the shallow water near the beach, even on the most inappropriate summers day. they cant kite out further than they can scream "HELP!", and heaven forbid you would attempt a valve pressuring manoeuvre on the outside tack!!!
having been a former poley, i have to note, such gear failure would simply not be accepted in windsurfing. funnily enough, even by this very brand (who many will know are also a leading poley brand).