I have two new 2009 OR Rise kites with apparent strut problems.

On July 13 I pumped up my brand new 2009 8m and 12m Rise kites
for the first time to check them out.
The centre strut of the 8m kite seemed a bit wonky, as shown here with the gauge showing pressure at about 8psi.

It remains wonky at 9psi. (Yes I trust the gauge. Plus, with the pump it’s about the highest pressure that I can reasonably physically pump, plus it “pings” nicely with a finger flick.)

The next photo shows the strut from straight-on, shows slightly off kilter.
 

The next photo, is similar at 9psi.

If I push out on the canopy material as advised at
  http://oceanrodeo.com/forums/viewthread/1875/
the most-curved portion of the strut improves, but a kink appears further out. I’ve tried 3 inflations, pressing on the canopy, and gentle manipulation of the strut at 3/4 full, but can’t get the strut to remain sitting without a kink. 

In contrast, the centre strut of my 12m Rise seemed just fine, it fits nicely against the canopy.

But there’s more to this story than just a single strut. Today after reading  
  http://oceanrodeo.com/forums/viewthread/1875/
and more closely inspecting the other (non-central) struts in my 8m and 12m kites,
I’ve found that **most if not all of all** of the non-centre struts in my 8m and 12m have an apparently non-removable kink between the attachment point to the main bladder and the valve.
Example on the 12m kite is shown in this photo

In this example the size of the gap is big enough to fit my thumb through.

In summary, almost all of the struts on my new 8m and 12 kites seem kinked.
It seems that one possible explanation is that the wonky struts, where they attach to the canopy away from the leading edge, were sewn too close to the front.
Consequently, there wouldn’t be enough room for the strut to curve properly against the canopy.
These kites are **early production** 2009 models, so I’d assume that that explains it.
(I’ve noticed a separate post from OR advising that some kites were shipped with the anti-snag straps were mis-sewn to also be too tight.)
I am obviously concerned about the risk of blowing struts (as mentioned for example at
http://oceanrodeo.com/forums/viewthread/1875/ ).

Please advise here or by PM.
Thanks.

Try goin to the end of the strut,open the velcro and then lightly pull the bladder . just looks like its folded up on itself.

Mate, it just looks like the strut bladders aren’t sitting properly (slightly twisted). If you pumped them up hard the first time, and not lightly first then it’s quite likely what is causing your kinks.

Can try just lightly pumping them up (so they are only just taking shape, but still quite suishy) and then basically massage along the strut to try and unkink the bladders. If it is a more severe kink you may need to take the strut bladder out, dust them with talc powder, push the ends inside themselves (so that they will then unravel into the strut ends properly when you pump them up), and then pull them back through into place (quite easy, plenty of guides around the net with more detail). Make sure on the first inflation that you do it lightly first, massage and wriggle them around so they seat properly.

Hope this helps

Thanks Sean and Wisha for your replies.
I’ve tried your suggestions (open end of strut and pull bladder slightly, partial inflation and massage) with no luck. Your suggestions make good sense for typical cases,  but I think that my particular kites are a special case as I’ve explained in my first post.

To double check this, I repeated my inspection of the tension of the canopy (where it is *not* sewn to the strut). It’s *very* taut and seems to not be allowing the strut to properly curve against the canopy. Even if I grab a strut and try to push it to lay against the canopy nicely, it won’t. Since this manipulation mimics a uber-firm bladder, it would seem to eliminate common bladder issues (twisted, bunched, etc).

The above supports what I wrote in my first post, i.e. that the struts, where they attach to the canopy away from the leading edge, were sewn too close to the front.
This creates too much canopy tension to enable the strut to curve properly against the canopy. This would explain the kinks in the strut-bend-region in almost all of my struts.

Huh…that does look a little funny. And it sounds like you tried the usual “easy” methods for unkinking a bladder. Did you try Ross’ idea of “pushing” out the canopy material? My suggestion is to disconnect a bladder and pull it out…making sure that it isn’t the bladder itself (pump it up outside). If the bladder looks fine then call OR and tell them about your problem. OR customer service is legendary…

Definately, but don’t pump it up too hard outside the casing, it will explode.

My 2009 rise is just like this but it doesn’t seem to affect anything. Kite still flies great. I was a little concerned when I first saw it, but until your post, I had totally forgotten about it. I’ve ridden my kite about 15 times. I always thought it might have been a kink in the bladder, so I just left it alone because I dont want to deal with taking a bladder out.

yes, my early 2009 - 10, 8, are the same with a little kinky action going on,
i did not think it was serious or worth doing anything, so i ignored it,
used the 10 a lot, seems fine and the 8 works fine too.

Alan… my strut second from the center also has a kink exactly like yours on my 2009 12m.  Have flown it that way
since i have had the kite without any noticeable problems. Seems to be a common occurrence…

I just got a 2009 10m and this kite does not have the strut problem. Maybe it was the early production models?

I have a 16/09 with two kinky struts as well - the ones either side of the centre. Same kink as yours but a bit lower - just above the tear strip on both struts. Tried everything and they still dog leg forward. Every time I inflate I have to massage, push etc and can get it sitting a bit better with some work, but every inflation is the same. I the kite comes down on the water it’ll kink forward also making it harder to roll over because the struts don’t stand up as firm. Sitting on the beach it’ll kink forward even with really high pressure.