F

fstringham7a

Well Known Member
RE:Tip Up Surprise!!!!!!

Today after many months or is that years building/fabrication/fiberglassing/fitting/refitting/searching for perfection/expletive deleted/painting my tip up canopy was installed today.
I finally got to pull off all of the protective covering (Vans installed and my installed). Man did it feel good to get to the end of the line as far as the canopy was concerned. It isn't perfect but it is what it is!!!!!!!

WHAT !!!!@#&*(%$%^.....on close inspection the canopy still had one last surprise for me.

Somehow.....not sure considering the interior and exterior of the canopy was incased in many layers of protective coating.... some epoxy resin made its way to the interior side of the canopy in the lower starboard side near the glare shield and HARDENED!!!!!!!!!!!:eek:It forms an 1/8 wide drip line culminating in a tear drop drip about 6 inches long. The drip movement is from bottom of canopy moving towards the top so the canopy had to have been upside down..................I know this post morteum is probably not needed here except to help me get some frustration out of my system.

So now the big question......HOW DO I FIX THIS INTERESTING SITUATION....?

Thanks for putting up with my rambling explanation but more importantly thanks for any help in determining how to fix this monster:confused: I just want this darn canopy DONE!!!!!!!:(

Frank @ 1L8 ...RV7A... painting and back to canopy fabrication!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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As that section of the canopy wasn't prepped in any way, have you tried just knocking the majority of it off due to poor adhesion?
 
RE:Findernail Test

Went out and gave the stuff a good scratch with my fingernail. No Joy.....It would appear that Aeroepoxy sticks even when the surface is slick as ice!!!

I was thinking I would probably in circle the area with a few layers of duct tape. Slowly use 220/320 grit paper to get the resin down to the plexi and then sand with 600 grit or finer. I would then get some of the plexie scratch remover and HOPE that it would give me a final clear plexi in the effected area. I am just not sure what is the best scratch remover product to buy!!!!

Frank @ 1L8 ...RV7A... painting plus maybe rebuild the whole plane:eek:do I sound a bit negative.
 
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I would try masking with tape like you suggest, but before I sanded it I would try to put a piece of wood against the edge of the epoxy and tap the other end lightly with a hammer. Something like a paint stirrer or one of those wedges you use for truing up a door frame. I would be surprised if you couldn't pop it off.
Good luck.
 
I also think I would protect the area with tape, but would use a single edge razor blade or equivalent as a scraper to level the drip as much as possible. Only resort to sandpaper for the last bit.

Guy
 
If you sand

the plexi you can polish it up ok byt going finer and finer...use metal polish and die grinder or something fast moving to bring back to clear.

Good luck

Frank 1
 
Be careful with the speed.

frankh said:
the plexi you can polish it up ok byt going finer and finer...use metal polish and die grinder or something fast moving to bring back to clear.

Good luck

Frank 1
Click to expand...

Move too fast and the friction will heat and melt the plexi.

I have a small melt in my canopy where I used a Dremel tool at medium speed and it melted. It is low and small so I don't worry about it.

Kent
 
RE:1/2 a suprise.....

Guy Prevost said:
I also think I would protect the area with tape, but would use a single edge razor blade or equivalent as a scraper to level the drip as much as possible. Only resort to sandpaper for the last bit.

Guy
Click to expand...

Just got through giving Guy's suggestion ago.

I taped around the affected area. Found a new single edge razor. Put its point in the drip end and gave a little pressure.

The drip end came loose....YES....plexi was uneffected by the resin ......yes again. I slowly started to pull the drip end down as the thinner layer began to seperate from the plexi....yes again again.....But it was so thin it finally broke in half....

So now it is going to be a very slow teadious process of getting the very sharp razor to lift off the rest. I still may have to do some sctach removal before this saga is concluded.

So Guy and the rest of you good folks thanks for bring me back to the reality that I have learned in the 4 plus years of building this plane. ANY PROBLEM HAS A SOLUTION!!!!:D Plus come on "Frank 2" the sky isn't falling it is to be flown in.

Frank 2 @ 1L8 ...RV7A... painting
 
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heat

heat the drip with a hair dryer and try your fingernail again. Not Too hot!! use a little heat.....
I have used this and had the drips come off. 'West system Epoxy'
 
If you end up going with the sanding method, try sending a PM to "Vern" on here (Vern Darley). His canopy was covered in epoxy and he had to sand it all off. It came out great.
 
More epoxy

May I suggest another method, totally theoretical ... untried.

Mask out the area. Rough sand the epoxy patch. Apply fresh epoxy to the patch, along with some fiberglass that will cover most of the area, forming a handle or something solid to pull on. May want to ensure that the edges of the patch are captured, as it will probably want to release there first, and hopefully the fiberglass will hold the whole patch together, and you can strip it off in one shot.

It's a long shot .... take this advice for what it's worth ... not even my 2 cents :)

P.S. You may first want to try this on a scrap piece of plexi, duplicating the epoxy patch, and then trying to remove it.
 
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