Sealing Valves (Including 1 pump internal valves)

Nak · Since 19 May 2005 4304 Posts Camas Site Lackey **CGKA Member**

OK, I've had more time to waste here lately, so:

Check your inflate/deflate valve caps for leaks. Make a soapy water mixture with 1/3 dish soap & 2/3 water. Use a spray bottle that you can adjust to a stream instead of a spray. Inflate your kite to the highest pressure you would ever use. Spray a little soapy mixture onto a valve and look for air bubbles forming. Repeat for every valve. I've observed a loss of pressure of as much as 1 psi every 30 minutes from 1 leaky valve cap.

To fix a leaky valve: I've tried the old boil the valve cap and expand it with a pencil, and that technique does work. But I've had the same valve start leaking later too. If the female part of the valve stretched once, it probably will again. I use the zip tie method now. Just use a small zip tie around the outside of the valve to tighten the connection. Check that you can still remove and insert the cap. If it's too difficult to insert the cap, pull the zip tie off and try again. It's should be a little more difficult to insert than it was. CAUTION: Do not cut the extra zip tie off with cutters. Doing that leaves a sharp edge that can damage your kite. Cut the extra off with a razor blade. Do this carefully for obvious reasons... To avoid damage to your kite, always cut away from the kite. Cut VERY slowly and gently so the razor doesn't "pop" free after the cut is done.

If you don't have an internal one pump kite, you might as well skip the rest of this long winded post. Very Happy

Internal Valves:
Naish has a video on how to do this, but I'd change one thing. ( http://www.naish.tv/ Select "Kiteboarding", then "How To".) They use the cheap white Teflon tape, available at hardware stores, to wrap the male half of the valve. I tried this and was cursing the internal one pump system like you wouldn't believe. I even considered buying the Airtime Orange bladders and converting away from the one pump. I was only successful in getting a good seal 1 out of 5 tries. (I'm sure some people are better at it...) Plus, it was hard as hell to do. So I tried the yellow premium Teflon tape, available at any plumbing supply store. Dramatically easier to use, plus it seals first time every time. Changing a bladder went from a miserable chore to a quick and easy job. Well worth the extra buck for the tape. Very Happy

Using the yellow tape takes a little getting used too if you're used to the white stuff. The white stuff is very sticky to itself, the yellow stuff not so much. You have to hold it a little tighter until you get a good wrap going. After the wrap is done, use some finger pressure in a smoothing motion to get a good seal. It's pretty easy to wrap it while keeping the tape flat. (Very difficult to do that with the white stuff.) I'm pretty sure you could even pull the valve apart and put it back together without changing the tape. (Haven't tried it though.) You are definitely guaranteed a leak if you try that with the white stuff.

pdxmonkeyboy · Tue Aug 26, 08 9:22 am

great tips!!
I do believe the yellow tape is designed for natural gas lines. Perhaps that is why it seals air better than the white tape designed for liquids.

Nak · Tue Aug 26, 08 11:05 am

Thanks PMB!

Now that you mention it, you're probably right. (About the yellow being for gas and the white for liquid.) I tried the white stuff for some natural gas lines before I knew better a few years ago... It would never, ever seal. The yellow tape works pretty well for that though.

tstansbury · Since 06 Jun 2006 649 Posts Rowena and P.C Addicted

Make sure you remove your inflation stem after you deflate your kite.