Cracked Inflate Valve

[Alton]

Will this ever end ??? Today at Spanish Banks my 12m wing tips started folding so I quickly returned back to shore. It was yet another leak - this time due to a crack in my inflate valve. I hear this is common with old style inflate valves.

Solution (to be stress tested at Squamish tomorrow):

1. Roughed up the surface with my wife's manicure file
2. Cleaned it with isopropyl alcohol
3. Applied 3M 5200 Fast Cure Marine Adhesive Sealant all around the valve

Repeated this on all my kites (12m, 9m and 7m) as a preventative measure for the winter season. In fact, the sealant should prevent further cracking by reducing bending during inflation.

I think my 7m inflate valve was starting to crack which may explain an ever so slow leak. Hopefully, this will fix it.

Even sealed my leaky pump hose.

valve_cracked.jpg (123.86 KiB) Viewed 4165 times

valve_sealed.jpg (119.66 KiB) Viewed 4165 times

pump.jpg (114.5 KiB) Viewed 4165 times

all.jpg (157.19 KiB) Viewed 4165 times

[Alton]

Mission accomplished. 1.5 hours of boosting on my 12m at Squamish today. No leaks.