Author Topic: How much pressure is too much pressure?  (Read 4038 times)

SUPeter

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How much pressure is too much pressure?
« on: June 23, 2020, 05:42:33 PM »
I'm relatively new to this wing foiling game but I'm hooked,  This shit is way too much fun and gets more fun every time I do it.  just starting to get my offside starts and runs.  Cant do switch stance yet but I hope to some day. 
The purpose of this thread is to ask the "long timers" just how closely they stick to the recommended pressures in their wings.  My homemade wing is of such large diameter that I probably do not need as much pressure and I also do not want to fully test my sewing skills.  My new wings say 8-10 psi max.  I live in Maine where the water tends to be very cold so if I put 10 psi in, once in the water it probably decrease to 8 upon cooling.  Should I go to 11 0r 12 psi and make sure I get it in the water quick(no hot sun).  Just curious.   I keep thinking there probably is a fairly wide safety margin between best pressures and boom pressures.  I would also imagine some of you have gone above the stated recommendations to gain additional stiffness and got away with it.  Thanks in advance.

Thatspec

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Re: How much pressure is too much pressure?
« Reply #1 on: June 23, 2020, 06:57:07 PM »
Since every gauge reads differently, learn to go by feel. Since my last blowout I don't go over 8psi (probably about 6psi) on any of my pumps and generally just press down on the LE to check when it stops deforming.

Think of it like ibuprofen, use the bare minimum that gets the job done :)

SUPeter

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Re: How much pressure is too much pressure?
« Reply #2 on: June 23, 2020, 07:06:41 PM »
Thanks Thatspec!  Appreciate hearing that.  Once I get my gauge pump, I’ll get a better feel for what I’m aiming for.

Solent Foiler

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Re: How much pressure is too much pressure?
« Reply #3 on: June 24, 2020, 02:11:04 AM »
Think of it like ibuprofen, use the bare minimum that gets the job done :)
But pressure makes such a big difference on performance, and you'll be missing out on quite a bit of performance by not inflating fully.
'Getting the job' done depends on your perspective, maybe.  On the basis that gauges don't generally over read (Fishman on here did a fantastic experiment which proved as much https://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,36057.0.html I pump to the top of the recommended pressure plus a few more for luck... Even one of the Slingshot V2 video reviews the Slingshot pro said something like 'yeah, it says 6 but I inflate it to 10...'

It's pretty poor that such a critical aspect of the sport is so badly addressed by manufacturers...
« Last Edit: June 24, 2020, 02:26:43 AM by Solent Foiler »
I'm 5'10", 66kg riding:
Swift Foil Boards custom 4'10 x 19.5" 35L
Gong Lethal 4'6 65L
Axis ART 799, 899, 1099, HPS 880 US & CS Adv fuse, 85cm mast
Gong Fluid L-S, XXL-S on 85cm and 65cm mast
Takuma RS 5.1, 4.3, 3.5

Admin

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Re: How much pressure is too much pressure?
« Reply #4 on: June 24, 2020, 03:23:57 AM »
I'm relatively new to this wing foiling game but I'm hooked,  This shit is way too much fun and gets more fun every time I do it.  just starting to get my offside starts and runs.  Cant do switch stance yet but I hope to some day. 
The purpose of this thread is to ask the "long timers" just how closely they stick to the recommended pressures in their wings.  My homemade wing is of such large diameter that I probably do not need as much pressure and I also do not want to fully test my sewing skills.  My new wings say 8-10 psi max.  I live in Maine where the water tends to be very cold so if I put 10 psi in, once in the water it probably decrease to 8 upon cooling.  Should I go to 11 0r 12 psi and make sure I get it in the water quick(no hot sun).  Just curious.   I keep thinking there probably is a fairly wide safety margin between best pressures and boom pressures.  I would also imagine some of you have gone above the stated recommendations to gain additional stiffness and got away with it.  Thanks in advance.

On the Swings (still my favorite wings :) ) they suggest 10 PSI on the smallest sizes and much less on the bigger sizes.  Using 10 across all sizes works really well.  I had a 6 meter session a few days ago where I inflated to 10 but the strut hose must have had a little crimp.  I heard it psssstt when I went out out.  Basically the leading edge spilled some air into the strut leaving the whole wing a little underinflated.  What crap!  Bendy, boingy crap.  Went in and added another 3 PSI and back to magic (I should have just pumped the 5, but magic).
« Last Edit: June 24, 2020, 03:30:14 AM by Admin »

ninja tuna

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Re: How much pressure is too much pressure?
« Reply #5 on: June 24, 2020, 06:00:08 AM »
On those 2, I used this pump.

https://wmfg.co/products/wmfg-kiteboard-pump-3-0t

I would pump them to about 9 psi per the gauge, but also giving the flick test to get the nice pinging sound.

Thatspec

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Re: How much pressure is too much pressure?
« Reply #6 on: June 24, 2020, 09:52:18 AM »
I've been using the Gong pump that's in this video. I't clearly designed for inflating SUPs as the gauge starts at 5psi. I can see from his press down on the LE method that the amount of wrinkling he's getting at 8-10, my gauge has barely even started to move off 5 ::)
10psi on my brand new Naish pump is about 6 on the Gong (it's well used). I'm sure that had something to do with my LE blowout as the wing was probably pumped to 14. I have an old North pump that reads in between the two.
If you have a gauge that's behaving predictably that's ideal but beware that over time it may change. Draw some correlation between feel and that gauge now while you trust it.

https://youtu.be/16YoK0M-L0I

SUPeter

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Re: How much pressure is too much pressure?
« Reply #7 on: June 25, 2020, 04:22:23 AM »
Thanks all!  This has been very helpful.  Had another session yesterday with my 7M  pumped up even more. What a difference!  Its very  comforting to know that if I'm 2 psi over the wing will probably  not explode.  Now I wish I could trust my homemade wing as much.  so far,so good.

 


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