Avoiding cracks when drilling plastic

[Fred W]

A few years ago there was a story going around about one of our finest marking where he needed a hole for a wood stove chimney by laying on his back and shooting through the ceiling and roof with his service weapon.

Well, hopefully he held a level against the barrel...

 

[ian]

I had the same problem drilling the panels on my 04 a few years ago. I repaired the panel I screwed up by epoxying a piece of plastic from a hobby store and then redrilling-used this panel for a year or so with no problem, but could see the white plastic where some of the black panel crumbled. Later, I ordered a new panel, epoxied the plastic on the back and drilled. No problems for years. Ian, Iowa

 

[oldryder]

if a hole drilled in any plastic part is going to get stressed in use then a backer is good preventive medicine. I've always used a thin, relatively large washer epoxied on to the back of the plastic panel. sometimes the washer has to be trimmed or bent to accommodate a curved panel.

a washer that won't rust is a good idea. if the washer is allowed to rust a phenomena called "rust jacking" can occur which can crack the adhesive or the pane;.

 

[BobOdenweller]

I used both the Powerlet thick rubber washer on the outside and metal washer on the inside and I was very careful not to overtighten. Only hand tight. It's still a bit of a mystery to me since I've never had this problem on other bikes I've owned. The cracks appeared sometime after the Powerlet was installed. With any luck the crack won't expand. You have to look very closely to see it now. Otherwise this is going to be an expensive lesson learned (for me the lesson will be to not drill except for last resort).

 

[RTSR1/FJR]

A step drill work great for things like that. Like stated before, re-enforce backside of plastic with possibly some thicker plastic bonded on. Here's a step drill if you don't know what one is.

https://www.irwin.com/irwin/consumer/jhtml/...IrwinProd100146

 

[odot]

Damn there's some helpful pups in here.....that's why I love this forum.....everyone is so helpful.

 

[Bustanut joker]

Damn there's some helpful pups in here.....that's why I love this forum.....everyone is so helpful.

Aww, so full of love :wub: Suppose yer gonna do something aboot this?

you irritatingly incompetent and

infuriatingly unhelpful bunch of twats

Put a cok in it Donkey Boy

:jester:

 

[brazos parker]

I drilled two holes in my D panel for Powerlets (used a UniBit). The Powerlets were installed 2-3 years ago w/ no plastic cracking problems since.

I tend to agree w/ others here that drilling the holes is NOT the problem and would look to some other cause.