Cracked Fairing

[rogdeb]

Guys,

Got 3 spidering cracks in the fairing under one of the panel bolts.

Need to fix it before it worsens.

Ideas ??

I'd thought to run lines of a plastic glue underneath to see if that will hold. What type of plastic glue would work?

Duck tape underneath as a temp measure ?

Thank you.

 

[FJRay]

I used abs glue and a plastic washer on the back side. It worked for a while but I eventually had to replace the part. Gorilla tape is better. much more sticky

 

[garauld]

You could weld it. Get some ABS filler rod (Harbor Freight or EBay) and with a soldering iron/gun, melt the areas next to the crack and merge them while adding filler. A little sanding, bondo and touchup paint should hold up well.

 

[bluesdog]

^ What garauld say. He da man!

Also, Devcon makes an epoxy specifically for 'welding' and repairing plastic. I've used it successfully to repair a couple of the tabs on one of the black inner ABS plastic panels. I also reinforced the area with some fiberglass cloth. When finished, the repaired area was likely stronger than the original

 

[Bearly Flying]

Do your kid's have any Lego's?

Chop up a few Lego's and submerge them in Acetone, mix thoroughly. It might take awhile.

You end up with ABS Glue, Filler or paste, depending on the thickness of your brew.

If you want a more liquid glue to penetrate cracks etc. add more acetone, if you want it a little thicker to work as a filler, let the acetone evaporate. Spread on the back side to fill the crack, or use some reinforcement, Z bent paper clips, mesh wire screen....Like Garauld said, use a soldering gun to melt in your reinforcement, then cover with ABS Paste. Trowel and sand to the finish you like.

 

[JRF]

Drilling a small hole at the end of the cracks will stop them from spreading further.

 

[majicmaker]

Drilling a small hole at the end of the cracks will stop them from spreading further.

That is soooo true with metal repairs. I'm sure it'll work with plastic.

 

[SacramentoMike]

I had a crack in one of the battery cover panels the other day, and I was out at Clearwater Lights. Glenn had a kit that had a 2-part adhesive (powdered resin and catalyst) and some fiberglass cloth. Plastex. Stuff was amazing, cuz I thought there'd be no way no how this could be fixed. Seems to be fixed just fine. Check out the videos.

 

[lnewlf]

da shizzle

 

[RaYzerman19]

I have used plastic epoxy (Permatex brand and no-name), it works great to make things stronger than the original.

 

[rogdeb]

Thanks guys

. All of you, good replies.

SacMike and Inewlf

... Looks like there's a Plast-Aid dealer just a little north of me as it happens.

 

[CRFan1]

On older bikes I have used epoxy and a simple piece of cotton fabric (if you don't have fiberglass cloth). Saturate the fabric with epoxy and place it over the bck side and add more epoxy as needed. Very strong repair and never had any further issues...

 

[Teehaml]

Drilling a small hole at the end of the cracks will stop them from spreading further.

That is soooo true with metal repairs. I'm sure it'll work with plastic.

I remember that was the way some drummers used to stop cracks on the edge of their cymbals from spreading...

 

[jmgrif]

I had a similar experience! Using Plasti-Weld (two part glue) and a piece of plastic I cut from a water bottle as a band-aid. Not perfect but certainly seems to be holding up? The cracks unfortunately appear in the nose portion of the plastic which would be the most expensive part to replace!

 

[UberKul]

^ What garauld say. He da man!
Also, Devcon makes an epoxy specifically for 'welding' and repairing plastic. I've used it successfully to repair a couple of the tabs on one of the black inner ABS plastic panels. I also reinforced the area with some fiberglass cloth. When finished, the repaired area was likely stronger than the original

Plastic epoxy and nylon or fiberglass tape used for sheetrock repairs, both can be found at the local home improvement store. Used this method to fix my extruded plastic laminate kayak and worked great.

Here are some instructions if you decide to go this route.

 

[art miller]

I had a crack in one of the battery cover panels the other day, and I was out at Clearwater Lights. Glenn had a kit that had a 2-part adhesive (powdered resin and catalyst) and some fiberglass cloth. Plastex. Stuff was amazing, cuz I thought there'd be no way no how this could be fixed. Seems to be fixed just fine. Check out the videos.

+1 on this product. I used it on various broken items, plastic and metal. It is very strong and dries fast.

 

[FJRRYDER]

There's a company in CA that specializes in fairing repair, Born Again Fairings, in Azusa.

 

[rogdeb]

Just an update here.

Got some of the Plast Aid product at the local pool supply store. Not cheap!! $15 for 2 oz

Mixed it up and applied as it was setting. A good product but I couldn't get it applied too thick or the faring wouldn't re-seat properly.

Sadly it didn't do the job, just didn't work if applied too thinly.

So, decided to plate it. Got some 1/16" pliable plastic from the local "anything plastic" store and used their Industrial strength UV6800 adhesive.

Might not be too pretty for some but it fixed the problem.

Total cost -- $10.00. Still 2 squ ft of unused plastic and 98% of the adhesive )

 

[Uncle Hud]

rogdeb posted: Just an update here. ..... decided to plate it. Got some 1/16" pliable plastic from the local "anything plastic" store and used their Industrial strength UV6800 adhesive.Might not be too pretty for some but it fixed the problem.

Total cost -- $10.00. Still 2 squ ft of unused plastic and 98% of the adhesive )

Thanks for the concept, the report, and the photo. That would look mighty pretty on a Liquid Graphite fairing .......