Virtual Hole in North Toro Bladder

[kitingfox]

Ok...this is something that seems weird to me (though for all I know it is normal). Since there wasn't any wind on Sat. I took out the kites and decided to do a little repair work on the two leading edge bladders of my 02 North Toro 12M and 16M. In the last couple of months I have noticed a small leak in both kites in which they deflate after a little use. The leak in the 12M is a lot worse than the one in the 16M...I can go for an hour or more on the 16M and only after see the effects of the deflation. The 12M can go for maybe 1/2 hour, but it seems shorter.

Anyhow, the goal was to fix both of these so that when I crash during an unexpected jump/crappy landing and my kite crashes I can get the thing back in the air. Damn thing deflates and it is very hard to get up out of the water.

So I took both bladders out of the kites, inflated them untill they held their shape (though they were still flexible) and ran them through the tub checking each section for leaks by pushing down on two sides of the section that was in the tub (thus increasing the pressure to locate the leak). Did this several times with each bladder. Had someone else (thanks Denis!) do it. We were both expecting to see some bubbles start coming out of the Bladder sometime, but ended up with no luck. We even went slowly and checked the bladders together and still had no luck. I had the same problem with both kites.

Anyone knows whether or not there is a better way to test for these leaks?
Anyone else had this problem with their 02 North bladders?
Any advice on how to proceed (besides not crashing the kite!!)

Thanks much and good wind,

Michael

[Eric S]

I only have one experince with fixing leaks on main bladders. Teran's kite got tangled up with a cactus. You'd think the holes would be easy to spot but they were not. We did the bathtub thing too but I actually had better luck sitting inside and using my face as a hole finder. It seemed to work. You could feel the little air jet comming from the bladder with your face.

It might help too to slightly over-inflate it a bit. don't over do it but you might need to get a little bit more preasure in there before the pinhole starts to leak.

If all else fails, I have a new condition bladder for my 12 Rhino 2 (basically same year as Toro) I'm not sure if it would work for you. Do some research and ping me if you are interested in it.

[dave t]

you could try soapy water in a spray bottle or brushed on with a paint brush. I've had the same problem with bike tubes dunked in water not leaking and the soapy water thing usually works. Just look for a big bubble that grows. Eric's face thing is actually my favorite way to find a leak because you don't make a mess and it is really easy but there is a whole lot more area to explore on a kite bladder than a bike tube.

[Denis]

Yeah, that was really weird not to find leaks with the bladder underwater. I fixed 3 bladders prior to that and the tub worked everytime. I think that both Eric and Dave are right. There might not have been enough pressure to make bubbles. I'd try to the face thing or the soapy water. Don't let your girlfriend catch you going all over your kite bladder with your face though.

[dave t]

Yea. Don't get caught getting that intimate with your kites.
It would really look like you fell from the sky a few too many times and were turning to the inflateable lovin'.

nooo good.

[SCOTT RIDOUT]

I had the same problem with my 12m Rhino last year, I had to overinflate it quite a bit to actually see the bubbles, and it was fixed really easy with one of those little patch kits you get with the kite. I have not had a problem with it since, but now my 16m Rhino is doing the same thing. An easy way to talcum powder the main tube was to totally dry it off then put it in a paper bag you get from the grocerie store, put the powder in it and give it a good shake in the bag, worked great for me and little mess at all. Good luck.

[kitingfox]

Thanks everyone! I'll give the face thing a try and then go on to soapy water after that...I'll be sure to keep friends, family and girlfriends away when I'm "doing the face thing" to the kite.

You guys rock!

[johnbaker17]

The surface tension of water will actually provide enough force to keep air from coming through a small enough hole. A few drops of dishsoap will disrupt that tension and the bubbles will come right out. However, I still favor "the face thing" when it comes to bike tubes, snow/water tubes, etc.
-John