Snake - 28-4-2019 at 11:23 PM
During the maiden voyage of my 11m elf joker, I noticed a crunchy feeling in the bar while sheeting in and out. Inspecting the pulleys post flight
quite a few seem to have dirt stuck in them and are leaving black marks on the pulley lines. They are also made of steel and brass which makes them
quite heavy and they tangle up the bridle every chance they get. I don't even remember how may times I had to stake the kite and go untwist the
bridal. The 8m has metal pulleys and the 14m plastic pulleys ( I think they are ronstan kiteblocks, and I also don't know if they are shot). I also
have a 12m charger that is in desperate need of new pulleys. That amounts to 14-18 new pulleys, which can add up to quite a bit of money.
The first option is replace them all with kiteblocks. They are light (5g) and cheap (~$6). Longevity seems like it should be good as the main killer
of these seems to be sand grains and water, and I fly on soccer fields not beaches.
Another popular option is ronstan orbital blocks. They weigh a bit more (9g) and cost over twice as much($13). They also are ball bearing which seems
like it would fill with fine dirt and have that crunchy feeling. I don't think the price of these justifies any potential advantage.
A recommendation from Feyd was ronstan shocks, which are just figure 8 shaped pieces of aluminum. The are the lightest (2g ) and in quantities of 10
are only $6.40 a piece. They seem like the best option as they have no parts wheels to stick and tolerate misalignment very well. However these seem
like they would wear out the line since it is physically sliding across the surface rather than rolling.
Right now I am leaning toward the shocks, but am paranoid that it will damage the mixers. I would be much rather to replace pulleys as they fail than
rebuild a whole mixer. Shocks also would have more friction than a proper pulley which could lead to unpredictable steering from a line sticking and
suddenly sliping. If anyone has used shocks before and can comment on them, I would love to hear your input before I drop a significant chunk of cash
on new pulleys.
TEDWESLEY - 29-4-2019 at 05:49 AM
I'd go with the shocks. They are hard anodized and have no moving parts. The wear on the line is not what you would think.
The lines are slick and so is the anodizing. A jammed pulley puts far more wear on the lines. Blocks are not always the best
answer!