Rev LE Vertical Wear Kevlar Band-Aid

[SegelFlieger]

Abrasion is a common problem with the Rev LE Vertical Tabs caused by the vertical spars or end-caps rubbing against the Dacron tabs and eventually coming in direct contact with the LE spar.  The B-Pro series kites have a piece of Kevlar sewn internally to this tab which prevents this problem.  But what do you do if your kite suffers damage and does not have this nice pro feature?

Introducing the Kevlar Band-Aid...

It is a simple idea and is probably self-explanatory but I thought I would share how I repaired the damage to my kite in case it might help you.

Here is the damage that occurred to my kite:

To repair this damage I made a “Kevlar Band-Aid” from Dacron Tape, woven Kevlar, and a strong 3M adhesive tape.  Here is the design followed by a picture of the Band-Aid:

Note that the adhesive tape that I used is very strong and you only get one chance to apply it to anything, hence the Kevlar being slightly askew.  Avoid touching it with your fingers.

Apply the Band-Aid to the damaged area and clamp it for several hours.

After the Band-Aid has been applied you will probably need to recreate the hole for the vertical end-cap shock-cord.  I use a soldering iron or wood burning tool to do this...

Applied Band-Aid and recreated hole

Here is the completed repair:

Your vertical spars probably have suffered some damage if this has happened to you.  I labeled the damaged ends of my spars as “VB” (Vertical Bottom) to insure that I use these spars only for the verticals and place the worn ends at the bottom.  From the picture it appears that there is a crack in one of the spars but this seems to be a crack in the “clear coat” that was applied to the spars.  It would certainly be a good idea to have spares should a worn spar fail while you are in the field.

I hope you find this useful.

S.F.

[Edmond Dragut]

i fix this problem to all mi rev's adding and sewing ripstop tape on the tabs going till to the sail solving on this way future rips on the mesh  

[riffclown]

8 hours ago, SegelFlieger said:

Abrasion is a common problem with the Rev LE Vertical Tabs caused by the vertical spars or end-caps rubbing against the Dacron tabs and eventually coming in direct contact with the LE spar.  The B-Pro series kites have a piece of Kevlar sewn internally to this tab which prevents this problem.  But what do you do if your kite suffers damage and does not have this nice pro feature?

 

 

Introducing the Kevlar Band-Aid...

 

 

It is a simple idea and is probably self-explanatory but I thought I would share how I repaired the damage to my kite in case it might help you.

Here is the damage that occurred to my kite:

To repair this damage I made a “Kevlar Band-Aid” from Dacron Tape, woven Kevlar, and a strong 3M adhesive tape.  Here is the design followed by a picture of the Band-Aid:

Note that the adhesive tape that I used is very strong and you only get one chance to apply it to anything, hence the Kevlar being slightly askew.  Avoid touching it with your fingers.

Apply the Band-Aid to the damaged area and clamp it for several hours.

After the Band-Aid has been applied you will probably need to recreate the hole for the vertical end-cap shock-cord.  I use a soldering iron or wood burning tool to do this...

Applied Band-Aid and recreated hole

Here is the completed repair:

Your vertical spars probably have suffered some damage if this has happened to you.  I labeled the damaged ends of my spars as “VB” (Vertical Bottom) to insure that I use these spars only for the verticals and place the worn ends at the bottom.  From the picture it appears that there is a crack in one of the spars but this seems to be a crack in the “clear coat” that was applied to the spars.  It would certainly be a good idea to have spares should a worn spar fail while you are in the field.

I hope you find this useful.

S.F.

Great solution.. repeatable and sturdier than original.

[mrfaosfx]

This was one of the first thing I noticed when I started building my first quads. I soon later discovered about the Kevlar inside the patches. However, the same damage still occurs, it's just that you'll eventually begin to see the Kevlar. The wrapped rods are like chainsaws and they will eat right through the dacron. Also, loose bungee cords at the LE will cause this damage as well. If everything is snug and the rubber covering is being used, you technically shouldn't see any major damage for a long time. Make sure that your bungees are stretching at the lower spokes and not at the top when you are using brakes.

[Chook]

After the first fly of my then new B Series Rev, I was devastated to find it had badly marred the sail where the vertical rods had rubbed. Running a finger nail down the rods there were super sharp "saw tooths". I went home and sanded all my rods with fine wet and dry sandpaper (done wet) to totally remove all the saw tooths. (Where they are wrapped with tape to cure)

I then resprayed them with a rattle can of quality clear coat. I have now done all my rod sets, as I didn't realize they were all really rough and doing damage. The royal blue panels on the B Series had high lighted the wear straight off.  

I will say the Crystal T2 rods in my 2 Freilein quads, are already silky smooth right out of the bag.

[Naksa]

Great info  SegelFlieger, I noticed this soon after a starting flying, or at that point, crashing quads. 🫣

I was going to use some tear-aid but I like your multi-layered approach!