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Leading edge ferrules


northwavesailor
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Is it just us, or do other Rev flyers have ferrules that come loose and get pushed into the leading edge center spar?

We have 2 fairly new Rev 1.5B kites (1 bought new in October and the second new in March) that have had ferrule come loose and slide inside the center spar. I have read a few threads on what adhesive to use to repair these, but it seems fairly early to have this happen to 2 kites. It's only when setting them up to fly that you realize there is no ferrule there to attach to!

Perhaps I'm expecting too much, but it seems like the OEM adhesive should last for a few years before failure.

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I've had at least one come loose. Fortunately discovered it before it had moved much, pulled it out, and re-glued it. Can't remember which kite (frame set, really) it was on though; might have been one that I had for a few years.

On another note, I've had to fix a ferrule on a dual line LE that got loose and slid out part way. Discovered that issue when the leading edge pieces wouldn't separate enough to fold down. Now that was a pain to fix. Dual line LEs don't come out like Rev LEs do.

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Is it just us, or do other Rev flyers have ferrules that come loose and get pushed into the leading edge center spar?

We have 2 fairly new Rev 1.5B kites (1 bought new in October and the second new in March) that have had ferrule come loose and slide inside the center spar. I have read a few threads on what adhesive to use to repair these, but it seems fairly early to have this happen to 2 kites. It's only when setting them up to fly that you realize there is no ferrule there to attach to!

Perhaps I'm expecting too much, but it seems like the OEM adhesive should last for a few years before failure.

Surprised that they don't use epoxy which will never come loose.

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Is it just us, or do other Rev flyers have ferrules that come loose and get pushed into the leading edge center spar?

We have 2 fairly new Rev 1.5B kites (1 bought new in October and the second new in March) that have had ferrule come loose and slide inside the center spar. I have read a few threads on what adhesive to use to repair these, but it seems fairly early to have this happen to 2 kites. It's only when setting them up to fly that you realize there is no ferrule there to attach to!

Perhaps I'm expecting too much, but it seems like the OEM adhesive should last for a few years before failure.

Here's the analogy I like to use: you don't buy a Ferrari because they are maintenance-free, they (and most super cars) require lots and lots of maintenance and constantly. You buy it because it's super high performance. To me the Revolution is a performance kite; the kite WILL require maintenance, more so than most kites IMO, including re-gluing ferrules from time to time. Say what you want about how long glue should last, epoxy, etc etc but it's a cheap fix and probably will happen again. No worries, glue it and get back in the sky!

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Is it just us, or do other Rev flyers have ferrules that come loose and get pushed into the leading edge center spar?

We have 2 fairly new Rev 1.5B kites (1 bought new in October and the second new in March) that have had ferrule come loose and slide inside the center spar. I have read a few threads on what adhesive to use to repair these, but it seems fairly early to have this happen to 2 kites. It's only when setting them up to fly that you realize there is no ferrule there to attach to!

Perhaps I'm expecting too much, but it seems like the OEM adhesive should last for a few years before failure.

I am pretty unimpressed with quality of the product / workmanship as well. We have had two ferrules come loose. My third original "o" ring broke last week at the top of a vertical spar. We had a leading edge mesh fail, and of course the fraying on the end of the leading edge is a little over the top. I almost forgot, we have changed a bridle as well. Easy repairs but for the $ amount they want for the kites I expect better.

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Impact will cause them too come loose sooner than later.

How did your mesh fail? Most will admit...it is from improper handling of the kite..or improper rolling of the kite for storage....and catch and throws.

L.E. do fray...but in no way enough to not last the life of the sail. Simple solution...melt the fray...done.

I fly every day and inspect sails ..frames..bridles atleast once a week.

So far...nothing mentioned falls too far from putting tires or brakes on your ride. With hard use...these things will wear out faster than a daily driver.

Relax.....fly it too shreds ;)

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I think that over the last 4-5 years I've done some maintenance, but not what I'd call excessive!! Think over it as pre-flight inspection, you want to check out it everything is good to go! Things like extra washers should be in your repair kit to fix the kite on the fly! Maybe even have a spare bridle. Rips or tears in the mesh are indeed another issue, needing reasonably experienced repair! Buying a Pro solves the fraying issue! The "B" series is the top of the line production kite, but Bazzer's Pros are yet a step up in quality! But it's all the price we pay to enjoy this!!

I like the car analogy - anyone buying a Ferrari isn't balking at the $100.00 oil change!! Or the $300.00/tire!! Yes they can be a pain, but rarely unfix-able or fatal!!

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Impact will cause them too come loose sooner than later.

How did your mesh fail? Most will admit...it is from improper handling of the kite..or improper rolling of the kite for storage....and catch and throws.

L.E. do fray...but in no way enough to not last the life of the sail. Simple solution...melt the fray...done.

I fly every day and inspect sails ..frames..bridles atleast once a week.

So far...nothing mentioned falls too far from putting tires or brakes on your ride. With hard use...these things will wear out faster than a daily driver.

Relax.....fly it too shreds ;)

I am sure I contributed to the little issues, and may well have been 100% on me. The washers that failed had probably 5 hours on them. Regarding the mesh tear, the kite was after it's second flight. I had stowed it away 1 time prior to noticing the 2 inch tear. As foolish as it seems I did not inspect the mesh prior to its maiden flight. On the flip side we have a total of 11 revs and 3 broken race rods that broke in the air and a few hundred out of control crashes. My disappointment is due to the fact that the issues have been a couple of newer kites that hadn't really seen battle.

I have a few extras washers in the bag now that seem to be a different material from the ones that broke. The new one are like plastic that ones that broke were like rubber.

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  • 3 weeks later...

When the washers break, I just tie the bungie halves together, some use a zip-tie

I wear out a bridle in a hundred hours of flight time (specific legs on it anyway).

I don't have a problem with the mesh pulling away since I went to a custom designed leading edge sleeve

(which I pay extra for and furnished the material to use besides)

I usually break a tube before the ferrule adhesives fail in a leading edge, on a current kick with the 6 piece diamond frame

Crashes are cumulative, . . . . . a bunch of lawn-darts = 1 fast diagonal impact against the seawall !

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