hi crew, I blew out the strut bladder on my Slingwing 4.2m the other day. Clearly I must have pumped it up too high or something. Anyway, nothing more serious than a bruised ego after a long paddle back in, which was also nothing new as I'm learning this sport.Anyone know whether an after-market bladder would fit this shape? It is 2040 long, and the height at the leading edge end is 430. The measure from the front end to where it starts sloping down to the tail is 450.
Any advice is much appreciated.
Cheers
BR
I had a very similar blowout in approximately the same place on one of my wings a few months ago. On another brand entirely though (AFS).
My best guess was that it was caused by the bladder having moved out of position before inflation. I am pretty sure I did not overinflate.
My best guess is that your damage too is caused by the bladder having moved out of position before inflation. Which apparently can happen and is the reason some brands attach the bladder internally (f.e with strings).
While the damage was large (just like yours), I did decide to try and fix it. I figured I had nothing to lose (except the costs and time of repair), since the bladder would be scrap.
I am based in Europe and used the repair products of Dr Tuba (I have no affiliation with them).
The products used were the "Hot-Melt Repair Kit", see drtuba.eu/product/hot-melt-repair-tape
As well as an adhesive to further seal the edges of the outside repair patch, I used "Aquasure +FD", see drtuba.eu/product/pu-glue-aquasure-fd-28g
I followed the online guide, see drtuba.eu/services-support/services/how-to-manuals (HOT-MELT BLADDER REPAIR (BLOWOUT))
!!!!!On my first try, I had a lot of trouble. Due to apparently the Hot-Melt Repair material being marked wrongly on my repair kit, the "hot-melt side" was opposite to the side marked on the material. I therefore recommend anyone using this product to first cut out a small patch and test which side sticks when ironing on some dummy material!!!!!
So put test material to both sides of a small patch, iron on and see what sticks. And than clearly mark your tape accordingly with a marker.
I have no idea whether Dr Tuba is cost effective when sending over to Australia (or another location outside the EU). Possibly there are other vendors closer to you which offer something similar.
And possibly you are not interested in trying a repair.
I can tell you though that my repair worked out very well in the end and the wing has been used several times since.
Check your local sales for bladder repair stickers, more commonly advertised for kitesurf kites and is same stuff. When inflating give the wing frequent shakes to get bladders into position.
I had a bigger blow out similar to yours due to bladder move/folded over. I cut some of the stretched bladder material out first and put a plastic sheet inside(important, so the repair tape doesn't stick to the other side) and repair it with Tear Aid type A tape.
Also this video is very good(long but best video I seen explaining it) and follow the tips on putting the bladder back:
physical repair - interesting technique