I recently bought a 16M Bularoo and bar on EBay with disclosed, but undiagnosed bladder problems. I have some experience repairing bladders and experience specifically with the Bularoo one pump bladder set up. I probably paid more than I should have because I did not really factor in the risk of unknown bladder issues for a one pump system that was notoriously difficult to fix.
I received the kite and pumped it up. The kite immediately deflated. I pumped it up again and sprayed soapy water on the valves and near the internal one pump connections. The valve on the #2 and #4 strut were bubbling quite a bit. The easiest way to fix delaminated valves is to buy U-stick Valves for about $15 each. However, when you have a kite with a low resell value it is hard to justify spending 15%-50% of the value on repairs. If I had a fairly new kite, I would be much more likely to go with the U-stick valves.
For this repair I assumed my time had no value. It was less than 1 hour of labor. The more valves you need repaired on a bladder, the more it makes sense to use this repair method IMHO
What you need
3M 5200 Adhesive Sealant - About $7 at home Depot in the paint dept.
Sand paper
Permanent marker
Rubbing Alcohol to clean the surfaces before gluing.
Cardboard
Optional
Stainless ring or some other weight to hold down the valve flange while drying
- Bladder What you need.jpg (129.43 KiB) Viewed 42515 times
In this situation the valves were barely stuck to the strut, so they came off as I was pulling the strut through the unzippered opening that is used to access the strut bladders and valves. With most valves there should be bladder access point nearby. With the Bularoo, the access points allowed me to repair the bladder without disconnecting the internal one pump connections or loosening the bladder at the strut tip. I just pulled enough bladder and valve through the opening to easily re-glue the valves. I put a piece of cardboard behind the bladder to provide flat surface to work on and keep the bladder flat.
- Bladder ready to remove.jpg (123.91 KiB) Viewed 42515 times
Step 1 Remove the valve. In my case it was already removed. If your valve is leaking, but mostly still well glued to the bladder, you can use hot water to soften the glue and bladder materiel enough to peel off the valve. Take a cup of water at room temperature, and put it in the microwave for 1 minute. This is should give you very warm water, but not too hot to work with. Just dip the valve and bladder in cup to raise the temp and then slowly and carefully peel them apart.
Step 2 Clean the bladder and valve flange with rubbing Alcohol. I am not sure this is needed with 3M 5200, but it seems to be a common practice to use it when repairing bladders.
Step 3 Lightly scuff the surfaces you are going to glue with the sand paper. I am not sure this is needed with 3M 5200, but it seems to be a common practice to use it when repairing bladders.
Step 4 Place the valve back on the bladder and trace the proper position with a permanent marker and mark the inside of the hole in the bladder. Also, Pay attention to which way the tab that holds the valve plug is positioned and mark it with a line. You will forget to position the valve tab properly without this line. I guarantee it.
- Bladder lines drawn.jpg (131.16 KiB) Viewed 42515 times
Step 5 Apply the 3M Adhesive Sealant to the bottom of the valve flange. It does not take much, so don’t squirt it on like it is toothpaste
Step 6 Place the valve on the bladder while paying attention to the lines you have drawn. When pushing the flange down, give it a ¼ inch turn one direction and then back to make sure the adhesive is well spread out. Then push down on the flange and make sure you are forcing any excess adhesive towards the outside edge of the flange instead of into the middle of the valve. If your valve does not have a ball or flap stopper, you should be able to see the small hole in the bladder by looking down the center of the valve.
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- Bladder valve 2.jpg (118.86 KiB) Viewed 42515 times
- Bladder valve 3.jpg (99.1 KiB) Viewed 42515 times
Step 7 Optional -Place a stainless ring or similar on the flange to help hold it against the bladder materiel while it dried. I forgot to take a picture of this.
Step 8 You are done. Walk away. 3M 5200 takes a long time to dry. In garage with 50 degree temps it took about 48 hours to dry enough to put back on the kite.
Step 9 It is breast cancer awareness month. Go fly your pink kite with pride.
Success!!! I pumped up the kite and it held air for four hours
- Bularoo1.jpg (151.02 KiB) Viewed 42515 times
A couple of notes
Aqua Seal is used as the adhesive for bladder to bladder gluing. I have not successfully been able to glue a valve to a bladder using Aqua Seal.
3M 5200 is a marine caulking you use when you want to seal below the water line thru-hull fittings on a boat. It is VERY dependable and probably the most permanent caulking you will ever use. There is another marine caulking called Sika Flex 291 that should work just as well but is untested for bladders as far as I know.
When you have an old bladder it is a good idea to keep them around use for parts. I have saved a lot of time and money using spare bladder parts. If you need an extra valve or patch the spares come in handy. With a little trial and error you can easily become an effective and efficient bladder doctor. I took a kite to Airtime once for a LE repair. They could not believe the Frankenstein bladder I was using. The installed a new one at a substantial discount. I think they felt sorry for me. I still keep "Frankenstein" as a spare.
Let me know if you need any clarification on these steps.
Good luck with your repairs.
Paul
