The repair really depends on how serious it is and where it is located. If it is in the middle of the cell and less than 3-6 inches long, tape will
usually work and it will hold just fine. You want to lay the two pieces together so they mesh up perfectly, no overlap, then lay the tape down evenly
across the rip. Tape both the outside and the inside and round the corners of your tape and you should be good to go. Sometimes if it is really
difficult to get to and hold, you can use some 3m 77 spray adhesive on a piece of stiff cardboard, let it dry so that it is tacky to the touch. Then
tack the ripped material down on the cardboard to hold it in place. You can pull it off and re-position it as many times as needed. When both are
lined up then tape the other side, pull the cardboard off and put it on the taped area for support in taping the opposite side.
For tape, I highly recommend Prism's Tear-Aid repair tape. It is clear so it doesn't look like a Frankenstein repair on your kite and it works
excellent with ripstop material. To purchase use the link below.
http://www.awindofchange.com/product/pri-tearaid.html
If the repair is on a rib/skin seam then that is more difficult to do. Most times you will have to rip the seams (look up sewing seam rippers, don't
rip your kite open) on the kite to get it opened up so you can invert the kite to work on it (pull it inside out) usually the trailing edge is the
easiest to do, then use a strip of ripstop folded into an "L" shape and sew it onto the skin of the kite, then sew it onto the rib. Reinforcement
will need to be done to make sure the cell is the correct width and shape when inflated. If the cell is altered in dimensions it will adversely
effect how the kite flies and could cause loss of power or the kite to drift to one side or turn sluggishly in one direction or all the above. Once
done, re-sew the trailing edge closed and you should be good to go.
If the rib is torn or the tear in the skin is longer than 3-6 inches then you will most likely have to do the same as above but just use a piece of 2"
flat ripstop to patch the tear. Do this by sewing double seam all the way around the edge of the tear and then using a cross stitch seam across the
tear itself.
Note: For sewing repairs, be sure to use a good quality UV treated poly thread in either tex45 or tex70, do not use a cotton, nylon or woven thread
because it will stretch, breaks easy and will deteriorate under sun light.
After the repair is done and you have some loose fraying from the torn ripstop, you can fix that with some clear fingernail polish or some CA glue
dabbed onto the fraying areas.
Sometimes this can be a very time consuming job and can turn out to be quite difficult depending on how the kite is made. The kiteshop you purchased
the kite from should make good on this for you by replacing the kite for a good one.....or at least giving you one heck of a huge discount and refund.
Hope this helps. |
