Canopy Crack Repairs

[MHende6388]

Have a Schweizer 2-32 with two cracks which have been drilled several times.
The last three state trailer transportation helped one begin in a new
direction.

Ultimately replacing the canopy. In the mean time, is there some kind of glue /
kit to fill the plexiglass cracks and drill holes?

Michael
N76WR
N35AC

[Danbookwa]

Mike: Yes there is a repair solvent that works well and should be available at
a
plexiglas supply house. Tell them what your problem is. You can probably find
them in the yellow pages under plexiglas or ....
I have used it several times and can attest to the good results. Follow the
instructions carefully and all will be well.
Good luck
Dan Cleveland, Oh

[Duane Eisenbeiss]

--

***
You can also buy a repair product from Tom Knauff. It works.
Strength is supposed to be about 80% of normal Plexiglas.

Duane

[Andreas Friedrichs]

Hello Michael

We usually take a glue called Acrifix to repair the damages. You have to scratch
the cracks widely open (more than 90 degrees) from both, inside and outside the
canopy so that you will have an X - seem when ready. Fill both sides with Actifix
and let it harden (UV-light induced). Afterwards everything is like gel-coat
repair, which means sanding and polishing.

Regards,
Andreas

[Wallace Berry]

In article <20001212110749...@ng-fq1.aol.com>, MHende6388
<mhend...@aol.com> wrote:

Someone once posted a repair method for fixing canopy cracks. I can't
seem to find it now, but here's the gist of it. I've tried it and it
works.

First you need to get a product called Acrifix. It is specifically for
gluing up canopy plastic. There are two types, a one-part Acrifix and a
two-part Acrifix. I use the one-part type. You can order it from Knauf
and Grove Soaring Supplies: http://www.eglider.org/. Tim Mara may have
it at www.wingsandwheels.com as well.

Next, using a small hobby knife (Exacto knife) or dremel tool, chamfer
the edges of the crack from both sides. You want the edsges of the
crack to look like this in cross section: ><

Paint a very thin layer of Acrifix into the crack. Cellophane tape can
be used to keep it from leaking through the other side. In any case,
the coat of Acrifix should be as thin as paint. Too thick a coat will
form bubbles. Let each coat harder several hours or overnight.

Continue building up the layers until the crack is filled above the
level of the canopy material. Then repeat on the other side. This
process is tedious and takes several days to do properly.

Once the crack is filled, the resulting ridge of Acrifix is polished
down using a canopy polishing product like Micromesh or increasingly
fine grades of sandpaper, starting at 600 grit and ending with some
sort of canopy polish.

If done correctly, this procedure can make cracks virtually disappear.
Only a slight optical imperfection will remain.

A quicker alternative is to use a wood plane to shave off a sliver of
canopy material from the edge of a piece of broken canopy. Use this
sliver to fill the crack and glue it in place with acrifix. The repair
is then polished down as above.

Good luck with it, I've got to get back to work and finish the repairs
on my M200 canopy.

Wally

[Duane Eisenbeiss]

>
> First you need to get a product called Acrifix. It is specifically for
> gluing up canopy plastic.

> Let each coat harder several hours or overnight.
>

This process is tedious and takes several days to do properly.
>

********
This product cures by exposure to UV light (sunlight). I have found that it
will cure in about 1 hour, while outside in bright sunlight. The less UV,
the slower the curing process. Waiting over night is no help, no UV, no
curing. A UV lamp would be beneficial.

Duane

[Frank Herzog]

"Duane Eisenbeiss" <eisen...@home.com> wrote in message
news:YlQ_5.45728$Y6.10...@news1.mntp1.il.home.com...

Duane is correct: UV cure. But this leaves the hassle of moving the canopy
in and out of the house waiting for good sunny weather with the attendant
handling risk. In the electronics industry we used to use germicidle lamps
which are just a small flourescent tube made with a clear quartz glass with
no phosphor to absorb the UV. With the replacement of EPROMS with FLASH
memory theres not much call for this anymore and I couldnt find a really
cheap one locally so I opted for the next best source: find an inexpensive
halogen lamp and take off the protective glass cover which absorbs most of
the UV. A small caution, halogen bulbs are really hot! there is a fire risk
if you get it to close to any combustibles, particularly fabric, and
spitting on the bulbs causes them to explode. I found a cheap package of
three halogen hockey puck style fittings with a power supply at a local Home
Despot type of hardware store and mounted them on a scrap lumber frame. The
frame allowed me to position the bulbs about 20cm. away fom the canopy ,
check that the canopy doesn't get too hot. I thnk the cure is slower than
direct sunlight but you can leave the canopy sitting in one place and apply
the next layer at hourly intervals. Bonus, I now have halogen under shelf
lighting for my computer desk.

Frank Herzog
fherzog { at } escape {dot } ca

[fado...@yahoo.com]

Also check pet stores. Some reptiles need UV light. I got a UV lamp
at a pet store and it worked fine for curing acrifix. It wasn't very
expensive.

Also, depending on the type of crack, it might be easier to use an
acrylic solvent cement like Weld-On, which you just wick into the
crack. Results can be pretty good and it is much easier.

Sent via Deja.com
http://www.deja.com/

[Andreas Friedrichs]

You really DON´T need lamps. Storage near a window is sufficient.

[ULRICH NEUMANN]

Several years ago, I had to repair a crack in my Libelle's canopy. Acrifix
works well - I let it cure by the window.
But just smearing Acrifix over the crack looks horrible. I think the main
thing about crack repair is the preparation of the seam. Here is how I did
it:
1: Place a 2" wide clear plastic tape over the crack. This will protect the
canopy's area to the left and the right of the crack during the following
operations.
2: Drill a 1mm hole at each end of the crack to keep it from propagating.
Caution: examine the orientation of the crack. It may not be perpendicular
to the surface, so the hole may have to be drilled in an angle and be sure
to really catch the end. Otherwise, it may spread beyond the repair.
3: Using a Dremel tool and a small ball grinder (dia. 2-3mm), carve out the
crack to halve of the material thickness through the clear plastic tape.
4: Do not remove tape and clean 'weld-prep' area with rubbing alcohol.
5: Fill seam with Acrifix and let cure. Over-fill seam slightly since
Acrifix will shrink slightly as it cures.
6: Repeat procedure from other side of canopy. Be sure to carve into the
repair material of the first operation.
7: To remove eccess material, use file, fine wet sanding paper and buffing
compound.
8: Remove plastic tape and buff area with plactic buffing compound.

My canopy is holding up since more than 10 years now with minial optical
distorsion. Feel free to contact me, if you have any questions.

Ulrich Neumann
Libelle 'GM'
Frank Herzog <fhe...@nospamonies.ca> wrote in message
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