Repairing a zippered quantum tube

[Gillard]

After getting the delay a tad wrong, i was left with this zip

 

[Gillard]

initially i was going to cut the end of the tube off, it is only half an inch, but idecided to try and repair instead. first i snapped off the bit of the tube that had zipped

 

[Gillard]

next using two part wood smart epoxy putty, i filled in the gap.

 

[Gillard]

The smart putty is (as the name suggests) putty like, and not that sticky. The epoxy takes about an hour to harden. When it is hard, it is strong and does not seem to be too brittle.

 

[Gillard]

using a dremel i sanded off the excess putty on the outside and inside of the tube, as this rocket uses a piston i made sure that the inside was very smooth.

 

[Gillard]

using fine sand paper the outside of the tube was given a good sanding, ready for the respray.

 

[Gillard]

Three coats of paint later and you can hardly tell that the rocket has had a zip.

 

[dixontj93060]

Nice job.

 

[talkin Monkey]

Three coats of paint later and you can hardly tell that the rocket has had a zip.

Looks Good! Very nice repair Gillard!

But subject your repairs against your local temp extremes before you head out for the next launch. (example) tight fitting PML pistons in colder weather type issues.

You may have some cracking/parting - contraction/expansion issues due to different materials now subjected to the Quantum/PVC

Not by any means saying that your repair will fail, just watch it closely in temperature extremes so you don't get surprised on the field.

My :2: ,
Scott

 

[spacecadet]

Probably not too many extremes of temperature in the Midlands.

 

[Gillard]

Probably not too many extremes of temperature in the Midlands.

what do you mean, we have cold, very cold, very very cold, once we even had warmish