Superglue, good for fixing drones?

[LoudThunder]

I posted earlier about a product called "Bondic - Liquid Plastic Welder - LED UV Light Activated Bonding Tool", but I recently had an issue with my Blood Pressure Cuff Monitor. A small pressure manifold that is installed inside the unit has a small take off vent with a tube about the diameter of a ball point pen ink refill. This small tube that a small hose slipped onto broke off at the manifold. There was nothing left to fasten the small hose to and the small piece in the hose was too soft to be of any use.

I had heard about using baking power as an accelerant and thickener. So I tried some "Good Old Fashioned Shade Tree Tricks"…

I cut a small piece off the end of a ballpoint pen refill, I slipped a bent paperclip into the piece of pen refill and then inserted the paperclip into the hole in the manifold where the original tube was. This held the new piece in place and prevented the superglue from seeping in and closing off the vent hole.

I put a drop of superglue on the joint and then sprinkled a bit of baking power on the superglue and it hardened immediately. I then put another drop on the joint and some more baking powder and it built up to a nice clean stable joint. I was then able to push the small rubber hose onto the pen refill and the Blood Pressure Cuff works perfectly now.

I've experimented with several items that I purposely broke and this works wonders. On some of the joints that I superglued without the baking powder, the glue took hours to dry and the joint was not strong and easily broke. On the same joint with the baking powder, the joint did not break easily…

If you try this, just remember, some plastics cannot be superglued, if you do not believe me, just try supergluing two superglue bottles together… That plastic is like superglue Teflon…

 

[Dougcjohn]

UV was my concern with superglue too. Got some clear epoxy and finished the repair as per pics. Next one should hopefully be neater, but a good repair for 10 dollars total.

Realize you've acknowledged the glue interferes with disassembly... Wow, glad your glue repair held because you've pretty much made a new arm replacement an act of multiple fuselage components.

Good work overall, especially if soldering is to be avoided.

 

[Bebopperoo]

Thanks, still holding very well. I used a South African product, Pratleys Quickset Clear Epoxy. This is truly an unbeatable product, which i have relied on most of my life.

The clear aspect makes color matching a non event, and allows a view of the break.

Although i applied the superglue liberally, with some flowing into the arm and break, i don't think it would have survived the emergency brake, as it's kicked in at over 140kmh on several occasions when signal was lost. In fact, the other 3 arms flex slightly at the joint, this arm is rock solid now. I'm considering strengthening them all with this same process, as it will only add about 5gm.

It also gives great peace of mind that if i crash again (when), i can repair as long as the wires remain intact. It may become a lump of flying epoxy, but as long as it flies, all good.

 

[Bebopperoo]

Sets forming a smooth surface, good for aerodynamics, and can be removed by shearing with a knife if necessary. No home should ever be without it (and i don't even get paid for endorsing, but it's that good).

 

[ruhrho]

Superglue works well, especially the thicker stuff but you'll want to put a small/narrow patch of glass or CF fabric or tow over it to reinforce the area. Surface prep in those areas is important to get a good bond that'll maintain structural strength of the repair.

 

[Alex Baxter]

View attachment 145459
I use this is stronger than the plastic it repaired there are YouTube videos.

That's the best stuff ever, stinky and messy, but incredibly strong. I fixed P3 shell cracks years ago, and it's really solid.