Fractured Axel

paul1969 · Fri Feb 20, 2009 4:56 pm

i thought the heatshrink wrapping was just to help prevent a jagged edge from a broken spreader piercing the sail due to spreaders at the t of the xt series being the most common place for a failure, seemed a wise precaution so i've applied heatshrink to all my kites at the t

kevspilly · Fri Feb 20, 2009 9:13 pm

Over whipping with a thread & sealing with varnish would add strength but the heat shrink will as previously said by Obi & Paul prevent serious sail damage. However, combining the both IMO is seriously good move!

Juha · Fri Feb 20, 2009 10:05 pm

Hmm. I've broken more spreaders than I care to remember, but never had any sail damage as a consequence. I guess it is a possibility if you're very unlucky, though...

Vee · Sat Feb 21, 2009 7:39 pm

Juha wrote:
Hmm. I've broken more spreaders than I care to remember, but never had any sail damage as a consequence. I guess it is a possibility if you're very unlucky, though...

I must be just about the most unlucky person in the world then.

kevspilly · Sat Feb 21, 2009 10:54 pm

I must be just about the most unlucky person in the world then.

Closely followed by me!

Stan Doff · Sun Feb 22, 2009 8:31 pm

kevspilly wrote:
I must be just about the most unlucky person in the world then.

Closely followed by me!

...actually,it's more common than you think.... in my case,flying sans top spreader may have been a contributory factor.

Aeri · Sun Feb 22, 2009 8:50 pm

I had a shop and the spreaders are in some kites a weak point... prisms, maestrale (HQ) are the first that come to mind...

weakening the spreaderconnection to the leading edge helps... it diverts the energy from a crash to realeasing the spreaders from the connectors and not into breaking them... reinforcing them with 4mm carbon or whatever fits the spreader helps too...

Finklius Munkum · Tue Jun 23, 2009 1:32 pm

ObijuanKenobe wrote:
But either way, the heat shrink/tape helps to prevent the nasty splintering leading to sail puncture...which is a very nice bonus.

obi

Ahhhh. I've suffered from a splintered spreader puncturing my sail before. This sounds like a nice preventative measure?

Any reason not to do this?!

I assume one would use electrical tape, wrapped twice around the inner end of both lower spreaders only?

Sorry, heat shrinking entails what exactly?

Cheers. :-)

sftonkin · Tue Jun 23, 2009 2:10 pm

Finklius Munkum wrote:
Sorry, heat shrinking entails what exactly?

http://www.finishrink.com/general-purpo ... ubing.html

Sub · Tue Jun 23, 2009 2:41 pm

Adhesive lined heat shrink is the stuff to use around the business end of spreaders.
@Stephen - do you know what their minimum order qty is? Doesn't look like they have a shop as such or are they quite accommodating to small orders?

stuartF · Tue Jun 23, 2009 3:19 pm

In their FAQ it says:
Can I buy small quantities?
Yes, however we have a minimum order value of just £50.

What is the carriage charge?
Delivery is free to most areas of the UK. Carriage outside the UK is charged at cost.

Stuart

Tue Jun 23, 2009 3:23 pm

http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?moduleno=308

sftonkin · Tue Jun 23, 2009 7:34 pm

Sub wrote:
@Stephen - do you know what their minimum order qty is?

No idea. I always get mine off eBay, but the vendor ahs no info useful to Finkius

Is it a sign?