Water Ballast Upgrade

"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