I just bought a new 2008 Rise 12M.  I’m a newbie, I inflated it on my first day with my instructor, and it got soft after an hour of flying.  I heard a leak near the deflate valve and pulled a little of the bladder out of the zipper.  The leak is coming from the seam where the seal is inconsistent, and some glue seems to have been applied to seal it.  Shoddy work.  The store I bought it from said to take a photo to send to Ocean Rodeo (see attached photo).

I tried applying one of the repair patches, but it leaks out of the side of the patch right on the seam.  I tried a second patch, but it still leaks along the seam.  The seam is not sealing very well on the right side of the glue, and leaks in a few places when stretched a little.  I see on this forum that people have use Kitefix glue or irons.  I was thinking of cutting a 1/2 inch by 3 inch strip off the end of the bladder and ironing it on the seam.  Any thoughts?

Hi Rich,

Your retailer contacted me personally about this and I instructed them to send me a photo, as I need some form of verification of the defect in order to get a replacement out to you. Somewhere along the line the signals must have been crossed…..I will touch base with them to straighten it out and have them contact you. Sorry about the hassle, but unfortunately defects are (fortunately very occasionally) a manufacturing reality.

Cheers,

Evan

Evan,

Thanks for your response.

I’m sorry if I jumped the gun by posting this to you before the retailer could forward the photos to you,... I was just eager to get my new toy up and running for this Easter weekend!  (The retailer was closed today, and with the weekend coming up I was not sure when they would be open again).

Richard.

Hi Richard,

No need for an apology! I just wanted to ensure that you know that we will take care of you. I hope you can make it work temporarily - personally I’ve never tried (ironing) what you are suggesting so I can’t be of much help there - sorry.  I would try patching it again and hope you get lucky.

Cheers,

Evan

You can try to remove the glue - if it’s only on the outside - and bypass the leak, basically by ironing a little bay around it. So locally make the seam wider. If the remaining “inflatable section” is still more than 90% of what it was, you might get lucky over Easter!
Bit it a bit bold, this would seem the easiest way to go about it while waiting for a new bladder to arrive.
Here’s a good web page on ironing bladders: http://hartland.org.uk/ckb/KiteBldRepair.htm
For Ironing shirts, go to John “Meticulous” Zimmermans personal home page!
Good luck!

Rudo,

Thanks for the great tip!

Rich, if the repair does not work out to hold you over until we can get a new bladder down to you, I’ve suggested to Captainkirk’s that they offer you the use of one of their school/demo kites in the interim.

Cheers,

Evan

Rudo & Evan,

Thanks for the help.  I tried, but I guess I just suck at repairs.  I flew my kite one day, blowing it up every 45 minutes, then I used a demo kite another day.  I went to use a demo again today, but I missed the guys as I was stuck in stupid Indy Grand Prix of Long Beach traffic.  How’s the shipping of that new bladder going?,... I called Captainkirk this Friday afternoon and they had not got it yet.

Hi Rich, your replacement bladder went out earlier this week, so Kirk’s should have it shortly after the weekend.

Cheers,

Evan

I’m up and riding my OC 2008 Rise,... I love it.  It is easy to launch from the water, and I’m doing a lot of that!

Thanks to all for the help.