G'day from Australia everyone.
I recently acquired a FS Speed 3 standard cloth from a friend and I am totally in love with it. Yeah I know, I am a noob when it comes to foils, but I am quickly one of those LEI kiters that may never look back!
Because the FS is a standard cloth, I wanted to know of ways to add value and life to the kite. I have found many forums and people asking the same thing, but no one has yet come up with a definitive solution to renewing or at least extending the life of standard cloth FS kites. I've heard of everything from home made silicone sprays to Armour All for cars!
What material is standard cloth anyway? Ripstop nylon or polyester?
So with profuse apologies for having asked the same old '... How do we make kites last longer' question, I ask you with fingers crossed, is there a spray in the market or home made that will give at least some UV protection to these kites, especially on the upper side facing the sun? That is definitely the weakest side on my kite.
Thank you in advance.
Cheers!
Ps. I've asked Susan here the same sort of question. My apologies for repeating myself. I am determined to find a solution to this age old mystery! :P

Contact fly surfer and ask what type material.

See if you can get some stuff called 303 aerospace protectant. It is rated as spf 40 uv protection.

Good luck.

Susan (npw goddess)

Lofty,

Since my son got into skydiving and purchased his own parachute I noticed the cloth between chutes and standard cloth Flysurfers are quite similar. I've never heard of anyone using silicone on regular cloth. Since it is heavier Im not sure you need weight. Most silicone applications on FSers I've read about are on the SA and deluxe models. The cloth is paper thin almost transparent. Also the weight reduction is 25 percent less than regular cloth. I own a SA 2 and have not and don't need to coat my cloth. She has some decent hours on her as well. If and when I dump mine in saltwater I make sure to rinse her off with tap water and seems to do the trick. Keep your mixer and flying lines tuned and you'll have many many remarkable sessions.

Send a u2u to John @ powerzonekitesports (forum name Powerzone). He is our ad the official Flysurfer rep and repair consultant here in the states. He can answer and repair any or all concerns you may have..............good luck and keep me posted....

Don aka tridude

Stop fafffing about and fly the damned thing, add the value that way. My Speed3 21 has so far cost me about $10 an hour...

Better to spend your time learning how the the mixer works, how to tune it and replace the SPL and pulleys. There's little you can do to improve the cloth. Regular may be a little heavier, but it's exceptionally robust.

Oh and - get back to us after your fist bow tie, swim n' tow in and see if you'll never look back. :D

Didn't say what size it is?

the old go to coating from germany is not in production anymore i don't think. the product name escapes me"hol.." can't remember.

but there a common tent fabric sealer someone used with decent results , more for porosity control than UV . but it would help.

sorry for the lack of details ...as Tri mentioned John at powerzone kite sports can help you with details

Kami,

Good call............Lucky for me I use mine mostly in warmer weather so the tow in isn't that bad..........if I'm out in winter I'm less aggressive to avoid the afore mentioned.........call me spoiled I guess.........my 17m Zephyr is a great substitute...........session saver for Van Phree and I at a couple Jibe meets..........

It's Holmenkol SEALnGLIDE. I think you can still get it but only in large amounts. There is also Ultramar Kite Refit.

From what I've heard, these sprays really do work and make your kite watertight and crispy again. However, they don't last forever and they also make your kite heavier (=> It might actually fly worse in light winds) Also, spraying them is pretty nasty but I think you can apply some of them with a sponge...

Edit. Here's some info on the Kite Refit: http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=23444

Quote: Originally posted by UnknownAX

It's Holmenkol SEALnGLIDE. I think you can still get it but only in large amounts. There is also Ultramar Kite Refit. From what I've heard, these sprays really do work and make your kite watertight and crispy again. However, they don't last forever and they also make your kite heavier (=> It might actually fly worse in light winds) Also, spraying them is pretty nasty but I think you can apply some of them with a sponge... Edit. Here's some info on the Kite Refit: http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=23444

thats it! i personally would not want the weight on my units.
as mentioned, they're tough units ,

fly it, tune it, fly it , repeat ...gaining the skill to fly it out weights ANY technical issue with the material you can solve or attempt to derail

This thread might be helpful if your kite fabric is no longer waterproof:
http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=28988

I wouldn't apply any coatings unless you really have problems. It's a lot of work and doesn't make the kite any better unless it's not holding air well or is absorbing water too easily.

About the simplest thing you can do is treat it with some kind of UV spray if you are worried about keeping it in good condition as long as possible. As people have said, the deluxe fabric is probably not as long lasting as the standard stuff. Any spray will work, but it might be cheaper to order some sort of industrial grade thing in a large quantity rather than buy 15 bottles of consumer grade UV spray at $8 each. It can take a lot to cover a kite.

And of course the back skin that faces the sky is the part that takes the most UV degradation over time. The leading edge is also prone to this problem where the upper 10% of the front skin meets the back skin. So you may just choose to get a few bottles of UV spray every couple years, spray the back skin with it laid out on the ground and fly it dry for 20 minutes afterward.

Also important to point out that you will not actually be adding much weight at all to the kite. Mine still flew and pulled in 8 knots just as it had before, and I did a lot more than a UV spray.

You can still get holmenkol seal n'glide in small bottles. They repackage them in Europe from the larger bottles. I got some from the link below and had a friend bring it from the UK.

http://www.sailboats.co.uk/trade-secret-sealnglide-glaze-pow...

If anyone in the US wants mine, I would be interested in selling it at cost. I haven't used it yet and just don't feel like it anytime soon. The fabric on my kites are fine right now.