Author Topic: Water in wing bladder  (Read 2866 times)

SUPeter

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Water in wing bladder
« on: July 13, 2020, 04:53:31 AM »
I swear, if I had to choose between foiling good waves or winging.  Id choose winging!  Its a hoot!  Well, last nights session left me crawling up a particularly rocky portion of the more than beautiful Maine coast to get back to my car.  Deflated the wing and just pushed the board with wing on top.  Didn't take very long but in the process I forgot to reinsert the valve caps.  Yes, you guessed it.  Got about 1-3 cups of salt water in my bladder.  Having never done any sports with an inflatable bladder, I am wondering if there is a problem (and not with my brain) with getting salt water inside a bladder.  Any advice would be appreciated.  Thanks in advance!

Thatspec

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Re: Water in wing bladder
« Reply #1 on: July 13, 2020, 09:00:27 AM »
I would just inflate it until it's barely holding its shape so water can run freely. Might take an additional set of hands but you can probably accumulate most of it right over the valve when it's at the lowest point. Deflate / repeat. Don't expect perfection, I see plenty of water vapor come out when I deflate just from pressure / condensation.

Maybe for a final purge do the above under full pressure.

PonoBill

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Re: Water in wing bladder
« Reply #2 on: July 13, 2020, 09:38:32 AM »
It shouldn't be too much of an issue. The bladders are polyurethane, which shouldn't be affected by salt or water. I'd do what Thatspec suggested to get the bulk out. If you ever pull the bladder out you might see salt crystals. The could be rinsed out, but I doubt they'd be an issue.

Sand is another issue. If you get sand between the bladder and the fabric tube it can wear on the stitching and cause little holes in the bladder.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

obxDave

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Re: Water in wing bladder
« Reply #3 on: July 13, 2020, 09:40:41 AM »
Had it happen with a kite. Getting water back out the valve wasn’t working well at all. I just got water settled at one tip, exposed the bladder tip (easy to do with kites) and cut a small slit.  Drained, let it dry running some air through, did a quick bladder patch, tucked it back in and done.  I have not even checked on the access point locations to most wing bladders and how they compare to kites. Has anyone else?


SUPeter

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Re: Water in wing bladder
« Reply #4 on: July 13, 2020, 09:51:03 AM »
Thanks all!  I was just wondering if I needed to rinse bladder out with fresh water but I felt the chlorine/chloramine would probably be worse.  I can easily get the salt water out so all is good.

PonoBill

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Re: Water in wing bladder
« Reply #5 on: July 13, 2020, 09:54:30 AM »
Had it happen with a kite. Getting water back out the valve wasn’t working well at all. I just got water settled at one tip, exposed the bladder tip (easy to do with kites) and cut a small slit.  Drained, let it dry running some air through, did a quick bladder patch, tucked it back in and done.  I have not even checked on the access point locations to most wing bladders and how they compare to kites. Has anyone else?

Yeah, the bladder access varies. Some through the tip, some have a zipper close to the middle, some use an overlapped velcro closure near the middle.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

obxDave

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Re: Water in wing bladder
« Reply #6 on: July 13, 2020, 10:08:01 AM »
Had it happen with a kite. Getting water back out the valve wasn’t working well at all. I just got water settled at one tip, exposed the bladder tip (easy to do with kites) and cut a small slit.  Drained, let it dry running some air through, did a quick bladder patch, tucked it back in and done.  I have not even checked on the access point locations to most wing bladders and how they compare to kites. Has anyone else?

Yeah, the bladder access varies. Some through the tip, some have a zipper close to the middle, some use an overlapped velcro closure near the middle.

Ok, cool. I figure bladder repairs will be a bit easier on wings than kites simply due to the fact that they generally aren’t as long, and you don’t have as many strut connectors, or even better in some cases, no strut connectors at all.

PonoBill

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Re: Water in wing bladder
« Reply #7 on: July 13, 2020, 06:47:36 PM »
I replaced the bladder in one of my Duotone wings, which was quite easy. Just the usual capped wingtip. Just remember to attach a string before you pull the bladder out so you can pull it back through. My string got accidentally pulled out but it was simple enough to use a long batten the rethread the leading edge.

The F-ones have tip caps as usual, but there's also a zipper, probably for dealing with the valves and strut tube. There's a cap on the strut but I haven't had to figure out how to get to front--the time on Maui when my bladders got knifed by a lifeguard rescuing my runaway wing was repaired by a lady in Haile Maile.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

sflinux

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Re: Water in wing bladder
« Reply #8 on: July 14, 2020, 07:32:15 AM »
Water inside the bladder is not going to hurt.  I would hang the wing so the water drains towards the valve.  Try to manually drain as much as you can.  Then allow it to air dry.  If a lot salt water gets in the bladder (yours doesn't sound like a lot), you can end up with salt crystals in the tube.  Again, this won't hurt, but is a potential culprit for poking the bladder.  When a bladder has been flooded with salt water, a fresh water rinse can remove the salt crystals.  Chlorine is not going to hurt the bladder.  Things I would be concerned with your bladder are: sharps & pressure without dacron support (never inflate a tube without dacron support, else it will herniate).  I have 15 year old kites, with 15 year old bladders, still going strong.
Lesson learned: always reinsert a cap after deflation (been there, done that) ;).
I am usually more concerned with fresh water, as if put away wet, has potential for mold.
When repairing/patching bladders, rubbing alcohol is safe to use to clean.  Tear-Aid is a great product for patching bladders.  If a wing won't hold air overnight, then you most likely have a pin hole leak.
 Soapy water (Dawn) on the inflated wing's leading edge/strut is safe to use to find leaks.  You don't have to remove an entire leading edge bladder, if the leak is located on just one side, you can just remove that side.  If the leak is near a zipper, you can just remove the section near the zipper.  Once a bladder is removed from wing, a softly pressurized bladder, submerged in a large container of water (small section at a time), is helpful to locate pin hole leaks.  I dry and mark pin holes with a sharpie.  Then clean with rubbing alcohol, then apply a patch of Tear-Aid.  With a newly reseated bladder, always pressurize slowly, examining that the bladder seats properly.  You may have to pause and massage the bladder, or use gravity.  If not behaving, deflate and retry.  If the bladder is stubborn, I remove and reinsert.  Laying a bladder out like in 6"-12" folds, helps to prevent twists when pulling the bladder in with your string.  Don't rush.  I like to label the ends: i.e. right tip, velcro side.
« Last Edit: July 14, 2020, 08:11:58 AM by sflinux »
Quiver Shaped by: Joe Blair, Blane Chambers, Jimmy Lewis, Kirk McGinty, and Bob Pearson.
Me: 200#, 6'2"

SUPeter

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Re: Water in wing bladder
« Reply #9 on: July 14, 2020, 08:46:33 AM »
Thanks sflinux!  Great information.  I was pretty sure I was not the first to encounter this issue.  That's the problem with wing foiling.  Its so much fun I fail to keep a little gas in the tank so that when I get back to shore, I'm not always thinking clearly.

 


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