Had a great session out at Botany today, kited for 4 hours left the kite on the beach for 30-40 mins while I went home to get something to eat- came back, got a launch and bang the bladder blew taking a slice out the leading edge and the canopy???
Anybody had this before? (Ozone kite 2011, 12mtr)
Yeh, My brother did it to his 10m RPM
It was a mess, the LE was torn 3/4 the way thru, and the bladder looked like a popped balloon, Plus a good 2ft rip on the canopy
Took it to KP and they repaired the kite AND!!!! the bladder, How the hell steve managed that I will never know.
The repair was spotless on the kite, Took us a minute to find it.
The only downside is the way it was pack back in the bag, folds all over the join.
His repaid was a little over $200 looks awesome after
www.kiterepair.com.au/
Send it to moti.
Yeah had my 2006 best waroo blow out while sitting on the beach. Was a known problem.
What model ozone out of interest and where abouts on the leading edge? Was it about 1m away from the centre strut?
Ozone catalyst, Still crispy, ripped right in the centre next to vavle 98% through LE , 
Be sure to let some air out next time
yea spot on right round the edge of the seam, I'll get some pics up tom, do I have a leg to stand on if it's a defect (bought second hand)
Dude that sucks. On the other end of the scale I pumped 200 times ( I counted) and nearly killed myself and thought damn the leading edge has a leak, (this was after isolating each strut one by one, then 20 minutes later realised I hadn't closed the dump valve!! Was knackered before i started. Man feel for ya!
Olly
Could it have been a small hole you haven't seen in the leading edge.
where the bladder starts to go through while it sitting on the beach and when you pick up the kite, the bladder gets pinched and ruptures.
Yes!! Happened to my 2010 cab switchy yesterday! Pumped I
IT up and launched and then about 30 seconds after it just e
Exploded! Straight along the seam maybe 45 cm long. I think some of the stitching failed.
Lucky I bought 2 new kites the day before, must be a sign!
ALso was wondering if its cheaper to get it repaired or buy a new bladder?
Damn that sucks. Happened to both my 2011 rally's. Sitting on the ground and popped both in the same spot. Send it to moti he done a great job!
There are 2 possible causes....
1. Ozone or Slingshot have covertly placed 20 grams of Comp B or semtex high grade explosive into your leading edge.
OR
2. Kites pumped up hard are under pressure. Especially if you have overpumped.
Left in the sun leading edges/bladders air expands and then bang.
If you leave your kite pumped up and then leave it on the beach sometimes this happens. air+heat+pressure = kaboom.
Happens quite a bit when people leave their kite for an hour in the hot sand on it's lonesome.
Bring the kite in to me at Kitepower, I can fix it and it will look and fly like new.
I've had exploding le before. my vote is for a small nick/tear in the fabric you can't see. I noticed one once. maybe 2-3mm. thought i'll patch it after my session. when i finished my session the tear was 2-3cm and about to explode. Probably would have exploded had i carried on for a few more minutes.
regularily check the LE for tears and stitching wear. canopy tears don't seem to be as critical. but any tear/scratch on the le will cause trouble.
do you lock off your struts or not?
never locked my struts off and normally pump till around 10-12psi, never blown a bladder since my Best nemesis 09 (was a piece of crap and before i started pumping them up to that psi)
My 2010 8 mtr Catalyst 'poped' the leading edge, about 200mm from the centre. This happened when I picked the kite up from lying face down on the beach (having put it there a couple of minutes earlier), then flipped it over to deflate the kite. The tip cought the sand as I flipped it and ....bang! Got it all repaired and patched, then the next time I used it, the tip cought the water as the kite was turning and the LE popped again, but exactly the same distance from the centre strut on the other side.....how strange!!
I tomohawked my kite on Sunday and it popped on the centre strut. I probably over inflated it too.
Steve you are gonna be run off your feet this week.
Someone I know well always says that "when the wind blows the money flows!"
haha!
Easy fix and I think I've already begun work on that one. Bladders are easy fix, the struts will look almost like new when finished.
