Hi all I bought a HQ Beamer 3.6 now I have taken it out for maiden flight today and have noticed that the break lines are very slack on the kite. I bought the lite second hand. The break line has 5 knots the attach the break line to.
I have tryed swapping lines over but which ever combo I use the break is very slack. Now should there be a diffrence in length with power line and break line if layed next to each other? One is thicker than the other.
Am I looking at buying new lines or is this correct having slack break lines. Will post pics if needed
Hope you can help cheers Mitch

power lines are thicker...they belong up top if you have it on handles...should be some slack in the brakes (belly) but you should be able to bring the kite down to the ground if you hit both the brakes...make sure lines havent been stretched..all 4 lines should be same length w/ out them being on the kite or handles

Ok there is a diffrence in line length. And where the break line attachs to the kite it has 5 knots are these settings that previous owner has put on or is this a standard thing?

compare the lines unattached to kite and handles...pull them taught a few inches is kinda ok and can be made up w/ the knots...yes knots are a standard thing and are for fine tuning

It usually normal for the brake lines to appear to sag a bit. Often just thier wieght and the aerodynamic drag will apply the right tension for the kite to be in trim. The five knots on the brake bridles are used to adjust brake tension by moving the attachment point up or down the row of knots( same for left and right of course).

Generally the higher the wind, the tighter the brake tension. Abkayak is correct in that you should be able to stall the kite and back it down by pulling both brakes at once with your wrists. If not, then increase tension by moving brake line attachments up the bridle closer to the kite.

If your brake lines are slightly different lengths from your power lines, no big deal. You can trim that out with adjustments on the brake bridles. What is more important is that each set - power and brake - are the same left and right. If they are a bit different left and right, you can trim that out by moving the knots on your handle leaders where the lines attach.

Let us know how it goes or ask more questions. You have a great classic kite!

Just curious, are you flying this with a bar or handles?

Flying with handles. Had the brake line set in the knot closest to the kite. Now when I got the kite up its spun and crash due to my inexperience Im guessing but as the kite was sitting on the ground and I had hold of the handles the break line where on the floor untill got to the handles. Going to check distance with them side buy side but think they might be too long but the sounds and looks of things. Can I be thick here and ask what other adjustments can be made with the kite? Would anyone recommend new lines?

Yes. Get new lines and post me your old ones. :evil:

I think I'll keep them as spares :evil:
Where is best place for lines in the UK??

On the 5 knot brake fine tuning.
Best to be closest to the kite or furthest away from kite. Sorry for all the question
Just need advice for a noob.

This might help:

I usually liked the middle knot on my Beamer in average wind, and lower in low wind, higher if in high wind. My advice would be to try setting it there, launch as normal and make sure it climbs all the way to the top of the window. Then try to reverse launch (put the kite upside down), see if you can get it to lift off the ground to turn it over. If it can't reverse launch it needs tighter brakes, if it doesn't go up to the top of the window, the brakes are too tight.

ssayre was just joking, you don't need new lines.
If your kite is spinning when you get it up check the front lines first to see if they are equal length. If not try stretching the shorter line to equal the longer one. lf you can't get them the same length then you can add knots to the top leader lines on the handle. Tie knots on both top leader lines with the space between the new knots and your original knots equal to the difference in length between your front lines. Tie the longer line to the new knot and the shorter line to the original knot. Remember that you have to tie knots on both top leader lines. Try that and see if that helps.

Quote:

On the 5 knot brake fine tuning Best to be closest to the kite or furthest away from kite(?)

*All four lines need to be of equal length( within an inch or a bit more perhaps). If not ...you need to 'tune'...

Understand:

FLY LINES-lines that attach to kite on one end and to handles on other end(60 -80 ft generally)

The LEADER line with the knots- is the line that is on the handle-which you tie the flying line to.

Flyline length + leader line length( distance from handle to the knot where you tie fly line onto kite bridal line) = TOTAL LENGTH. All four TOTAL LENGTH line 'combos' must be equal to fly right. It is the distance from the handle to the end of flyline where you attach it to kite(bridal).


Often the power lines stretch and become longer than the brake lines. It is rare that just one line becomes longer(or shorter) than the others, but happens .

Solution:
Say that all 4 fly lines are tied on a knot that is 10 inches from the handle. Now say that the two power fly lines were 5 inches longer than the brake lines.

You would then want to move the two power line ends INWARD toward handle, to a knot 5 inches from the handle to make up the inequality of length.

Another way to fix would be to move BRAKES LINES 5 inches OUTWARD(to a knot 15 inches from handle) if It is possible/leader line is that long.

Either way would then make TOTAL LENGTH equal between the four line 'combo's'.

Going to have a messure up this evening after work and see how much diffrence there is. Can you cut and re knot ? Or just knot up the line. And whatd the knot called that I will be putting in just so I can look it up.
Cheers guys really help full

Whereabouts in UK are you Mitch? There might be somebody nearby who can help get you up and running. I'm in Herts...

Quote:

Can you cut and re knot ? Or just knot up the line. And whatd the knot called that I will be putting in just so I can look it up.

The last thing you ever want to do is cut the fly lines ends....even if lines are longer than the other.

The ends of your fly line should have either a tied or sewn, sleeved LOOP .


The leader line cord(the cord on the handle-top and bottom) is where you have knots, make a knot.... to attach the loop end of the fly line by using a larks head knot to attach it. The Leader Line of handle is where all tuning for such inequality in length of the fly lines occur.

Some handles may unfortunately not have an appropriately long enough length of leader line on it( for adjusting/tuning...you may need to move line ten inches + with severe stretching!). If the leader line is too short, it is possible to add another piece onto it by getiing a similar piece of cordage and tie on..... with knot( s) along it .

A good total length for handle lines are 18-24 inches... but many factory handle's line come just too short for any major- or the most severe- occurrence of needed tuning unfortunately.

It's nice to have several or more even spaced knots along the handle's leader line. for 'tuning'....but if there are too many knots in a leader line that is a little short for the distance you need to move fly line, some times you can lengthen it by untying some or all but one knot- the knot you will tie onto. If that doesn't give a long enough length, then do as previously suggested and add a piece, and then tie fly line onto that at a knot point.

Note: you can also do a combo adjustment by moving brake line out farther while moving power line closer to handle..... if leader line has ,indeed, a limiting length for adjustment.