Fractured Axel

Fri Jan 30, 2004 8:55 am

As I wrote in the Reviews section (as an update to my original Nirvana review) the zig-zag stitching on the center panel of my Nirvana is failing (picture to follow at some point).

I had this down to rough treatment on my part - deadlaunching mainly - but as Juha points out I'm not the only one and this thread on drachenforum details another similar failure:
http://www.drachenforum.net/forum/showt ... 9efe8df5f4
(run it through http://babelfish.altavista.com if you don't know any German it's good enough to get the gist of it).

It does look like a thread failure and I'm no longer sure (looking again, with a calm eye, rather than a panicked OMFG-My-Lovely-Kite! :shock:

eye) that it can be attributed to deadlaunching.

So.. what to do? As I see it I have three choices:

Repair the kite myself (I'm quite handy with a sewing machine and competent enough to make said repair)
Contact R-Sky
Contact Richard at Tradewinds where I bought the kite

Now points 2 and 3 might seem obvious. My sticking point with these is that contacting R-Sky may lead to me having to send the kite off for repair, which would mean that I'm without it for a while, especially if they are busy. :mad:

Secondly I'm not sure about the etiquette with returning kites to the shop from whence it came. This seems an industry in which the manufacturers are much closer to the customers than usual (you don't go to the Sony website for information on how to chip your PS2, for example, compared with visiting the R-Sky site for info. on how to reframe your Opium). To that end, is it 'on' to lay this at Richard's doorstep to deal with R-Sky for me?

Opinions please...

wind-dreams · Fri Jan 30, 2004 9:09 am

I know that it might take longer but I would go to R-Sky. If you took it to the shop it would probably only end up going to them anyway. I'm sure you have got pleanty of other kites to fill the gap for the short time it will be away. It is a Bitch though when your favourite kite is going to be out of action.

jrharrold · Fri Jan 30, 2004 9:21 am

Depends on the severity of the problem. I'd tend to do a repair though as I can not sew I usually put a bit of superglue on a loose stitch. I try not to worry about things if I can help it and just keep on flying

Fri Jan 30, 2004 9:23 am

This is every stitch on the front of the kite for about 8 inches from the center-T up.. the only thing holding this together at the moment is the seam glue. And it went quite rapidly and quite recently (despite kites being cleaned and dried properly after flight)

Guest · Fri Jan 30, 2004 9:24 am

Just sew it and fly. Don't "princess" your kite.

Stick some tape over the spine sewing afterward for future protection, it's good enough for Debray (see the picture on the GWTW Nirvana Centre T thread)

MattB

SteveR · Fri Jan 30, 2004 10:15 am

Trouble is how to avoid not "princessing" your £200 pride and joy... Andy if you dont fancy just taping it up/repairing it yourself, I would try the shop first..if only that you migh be able to negotiate some sort of loan. Ultimately, the kite has got a statutory warranty of at least 12 months depending on which country you bought it from. It is after all a consumer goods, and you wouldnt ask a load of strangers on the internet what to do if your car broke down....

Fri Jan 30, 2004 10:24 am

@mattB.

You think Debray pays £180 for his Nirvanas?

Okay, so I repair the spine with spit and sticky tape... then the rest of the thread starts to rot... what then? I'm worried that the longer I leave this, the worse the condition of the kite in general will get and the more trouble I will have getting it replaced/repaired.

I know it sounds like I've already made up my mind, but I was wondering of some of the other experienced pilots have had issues like this before and what they did / would do in retrospect.

Fri Jan 30, 2004 10:39 am

If you lived in France i'd say send it to R-sky and let them do the repair, which I'm sure they'd do out of good will, but I doubt there under any obligation to do the repair.

However as your here, sending it back to France will end up costing not only time but money, so as you said you have the ability to do the repair yourself, crack on with it.

The trouble is some flyers are harder on their kites than others, some like lots of ground work and dead launching , which we know to be a kite killer, and some just fly figure 8's etc. Doesn't take a genius to realise whos kite will last longer.

Question is how long can a kite manufacturer guarantee their products, the only one that I know that has a guarantee is Flexifoil and only for one month, do any others have one ? It's just not the same kind of product as say a TV or video player, is it ?

Davey · Fri Jan 30, 2004 10:53 am

I'd ask Richard when he gets back - Given he's the retailer it was bought from your contract of sale is with him. He'll be best placed to advise you from a consumer point of view, if you know what I mean.

Hope all gets sorted to your satisfaction.

Guest · Fri Jan 30, 2004 11:53 am

@ Andy
First of all thanks for a great forum. I thought I better register before making anymore flippant comments.

I had exactly the same problem with my N. which I repaired with two rows of straight stitching up to the top spreader reinforcement. Keep an eye on that dacron patch as well, it will wear right through to the spine.

My centre panel stitching actually wore out from the spine side, so dead-launching may not be the culprit. I guess there's a quality issue with the thread R-Sky use.

I also experienced the same problems that you mentioned with the nose reinforcement. I've replaced mine with dacron and duck tape to get a smooth profile.

One final thing to watch...the end caps fitted to the top of the leading edge spars are very short and have a tendency to "roll-off" allowing the spar to cut through the nose reinforcement. Make sure they're glued on especially if you play around with a shorter top spreader which takes some tension out of the nose area.

Certainly there are a number of build quality issues with the Nirvana and lots of detailling that could be improved to stop fraying edges etc. If I was that way inclined I'd email Roger and cc Tradewinds to make them aware of the issues... but I'd rather fly than worry about my consumer rights.

Matt B

Guest · Fri Jan 30, 2004 11:56 am

I have registered, honest

Matt B

Fri Jan 30, 2004 12:20 pm

Thanks for the tips Matt.

I was thinking, that if I repair it myself, I will either resew the zig-zag (painstakingly because my sewing machine isn't that sophisticated) or back it with a strip of mylar or similar and sew a double line up the middle... my main worry with that is the 'perforated paper' effect (hence the reinforcement).

I really don't want to lay this at Richard (TW)'s door as it's not his fault and I get the feeling that he might take the hit here out of goodwill.

Fri Jan 30, 2004 6:46 pm

Pictures:

No way is this touching the ground during deadlaunches.. it's easily over a centimetre above the ground even with pressure on the spine in that area.

Fri Jan 30, 2004 6:57 pm

Does your N. have any mylar tape running up the length of the spine ?

Fri Jan 30, 2004 9:04 pm

No.. the only m***r is on the back of the trailing edge coloured panels. Why?

Fractured Axel

Nirvana Central Panel thread failing

Nirvana Central Panel thread failing