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I'm on a mission to replace the Inflation Valve and Velcro on my 2011 10m JN WT3. For some reason they both stink. Velcro is useless at securing the valve, which in turn doesnt have a 1-way check in it (could this be on purpose?). The valve has become partially or totally undone 4 times already, all resulting in >30min paddle ins and the last well over an hour. The kite is phenomenal otherwise, countless hours of flight time idk >100hrs in a year.. or maybe just last summer alone -.-

SO..
The valve i'm pretty sure will be from Airtime: 9mm 1way for Original Bladder (actually idk if its original or not, yet. They sell replacement bladder valves too if anything)
http://www.airtimekite.com/index.php/ai ... x-kit.html

The Velcro i'm not so certain on what to do, or how. Does anyone sell kite specific valve velcro's with the elastic band? The alternative is to come up with my own strip (any recommendations?), having the same fold-over type security flap. Then the stitching. Man, i aint ever sewn anything in my life. If i ask my wife, she'll probably smack me with a pan, that is ofcourse, if i let her out of the kitchen for this. Thinking by hand, using medium filament and decent number of passes (play it by ear). Sound good? Its nothing structural and hard to make it look bad.

Just because of this i'll probably remove the LE to do the valve, stitch velcro and not worry about punctures, then slide LE back in. The Airtime valve has a cap that i'll secure through the velcro. Am i missing something? Seems like i have a good handle on everything, just rather check with the veterans.

Thanks all,
-etxx

Sent you a pm

So the problem is the velcro is weak/worn out/damaged. I'm sure it wasn't a manufacturer intent. The lack of a one-way does surprise me tho. Do you Prima Donnas have em?


see vid:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47929940@N ... hotostream

The elastic band is also not tight so without a fold over security its pretty much all up to the plug not sliding off. Luckily it normally stays put most times i've crashed it.

http://fixmykite.com/proddetail.asp?prod=fmk9mmvalve

live2kite has them.

velco, swewing store has strips of velcro with adhesive backing, just put on top of the old velcro.

I have done several kites...the trick is to just cut out the nozzle flush and not puncture the back side of the bladder, and then an extra set of hands to hold the bladder rinkle free while you plop the replace ment valve in place. Do not try and peel the entire original nozzle off, just cut the verticle.

I have the fix it valve.

Another tip I got from Fixmykite is to put some baby powder in the cut out hole so it doesn't stick to the other side of the bladder. Also mark the aligment with a sharpie before you cut the old one out so the plug lines up. You can also go one extra step and put some Tear aid type A after you cut out the valvle for reinforcement and then you can cut a smaller hole. Charlie

Baby powder, good tip. Sharpie for alignment. Some weights over adhesive while cure too perhaps.

Good Idea Tony for the velcro. I can even go beyond and put a few stitches AND a folder over on there just in case. We'll see, the current velcro is pretty soft & weak right now.

Sonny wrote:I have the fix it valve.

What would you give it to me for? - i can meet you Thurs at ur secret hideout.

would be sweet to have to kite done for the weekend!

Mission Success. =
Today i'm going to cut part of the existing velcro that's coming apart and stitch new onto the existing one.


glad i didnt have to remove the LE though now i'm considering doing it to check for leaks.
what a pain those wrinkles are. If the adhesive worked slower, it would be easier to smooth it out. had to be super careful. the extra pair of hand came in handy for sure.