Hey Guys, I must have sliced the leading edge of my Naish S27Mk4 in a crash I that I hadn't noticed until the bladder blew out in the rigging area while I was packing up yesterday arvo. It run parallel to and about 1cm from a seam.
Any advice for sourcing replacement bladder and repair services?
What are the limiting factors for using A tape for the bladder?
I see Briskites has bladders for $189. briskites.au/products/naish-wing-surfer-leading-edge-bladders?variant=40715017650237
It's a 6m wing and I'm in the Coffs Harbour area.
Cheers
OJ
If you like to repair stuff and don't mind spending a little money then go for it. If you stuff up you can still buy the $189 bladder.
Tear Aid Type A costs about $20 for a 12" x 3" strip, or $60 for a 5' strip.
It works very well. All of the repairs I've done are still working fine many hours of use later. I've repaired simple punctures (a bit of tape straight on the hole), and 30mm holes (a piece of old bladder inside then tape over the outside).
One problem with tape is that if you use strips of tape you can get a little channel along the edge of the lower piece where the strips meet at a corner. You have to be very thorough pressing down the layers of tape (or use a single piece of tape that covers the whole patch).
I've rebuilt a couple of blown out strut bladders using a clothes iron to weld the damaged parts, or weld in whole new sections. It's fun and fairly easy to do ... and very easy to make horrible mistakes, which is where you really learn stuff.
The first rebuild worked ok but had a few slow leaks. Eventually the manufacturer sent me a couple of sets of bladders so I had spares I could put in.
The second rebuild was more extensive and I made more mistakes, but was also more diligent in finding all the micro leaks and sealing them. That bladder is possibly better than a new one.
If I had to rebuild another bladder I wouldn't try to patch it, I would build a whole new section and insert that. Welding straight lines and edges is far easier than welding around patch shapes.
You could try the guys at WSS Boards in Sydney, but prices are much the same. The advantage you have is that the tear is clearly visible. I had a slow leak in a Matador leading edge that was 2 years old.....a real pain to actually locate the leak to patch it.
I have just hand sewn the tear in the leading edge, then covered the sew job with Dacron tape on both the inside and outside using this tape: adventurekiteboarding.com/products/kitefix-self-adhesive-dacron-for-the-leading-edge-or-struts?variant=44500264354096&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&adpos=&scid=scplpshopify_US_8151508779312_44500264354096&sc_intid=shopify_US_8151508779312_44500264354096&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADQyTT8Gd8WBUaWdMaotQF1hPUJJm&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxLmNp4bkigMVUiytBh08yxHPEAQYAyABEgINX_D_BwE
knock on wood, the repair has holding, many hours of use later.
for the bladder leaks, I used the tape the manufacture provided. If it's pin hole it takes a long time to find the hole, but once on there, it seems to hold pretty good.