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"P.Corbett " wrote in
ink.net: Happy holidays all: A project for me this Winter is to upgrade my ballast system on my PIK-20. I have two questions and would appreciate any assistance. (1) One of my bags has a single pinhole leak and I wonder if this can be repaired in a reliable manner. The material seems to be a thick rubber impregnated synthetic fabric and if it matters, is orange in color and is the original factory PIK bag. If it is rubber, would a tire patch material be reliable? If a repair would be deemed unsafe, who sells new bags these days. (2) Who do I contact to purchase the Nixon type dump valve. Regards and many thanks, Paul The original orange PIK ballast tanks are made of a multi layer fabric. The water gets between the layers and cannot really be patched successfully. At least I was not able to do it. I would patch the obvious hole and then it would leak somewhere else. Patch that and it would leak somewhere else yet! You may have better luck than I had... The best answer is a set of Smiley bags. They can be purchased new ($400US 20 years ago. I have no idea what they cost today) or you can get a used set out of an ASW-20 like I did. Many of the installations are quite similar regardless of glider manufacturer. Smiley bags are really tough -- a great product. The other issue with the PIK factory bags, at least in the PIK-20d that I had, is that they hold WAY too much water. Mine held 50 gallons, and the glider was 50 pounds under max. gross weight without the pilot and chute! I don't recommend partially filling the tanks in a PIK. Wing dropping will be a serious problem, in my experience. Other gliders with partial ballast are no problem, but not so a PIK! Get bags that, when full, put you at the wing loading that you desire. -Bob Korves |
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