How To: Fix hinge holes using Sugru


Prometheus

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Well, today, the inevitable happened. I hadn't used my Pandora for a couple of days, and when I took it out of the bag it usually sits in when I'm not using it, one of the hinge-welts that I'd previously written about had given way, leaving a hole in the casing. I learned from this that Sugru cannot hold together teeny, tiny, super-thin hairline cracks, which is what the hinge-welts were covered with. Not to worry, though - now that there was a hole, it was a better candidate for a Sugru-based fix than the cracks were.


I did notice something when I saw the hole, though;


Hinge_Hole.png



It seems that the culprit for the hinge-welts is the edge of some sort of clip, stud, or strut. It seems to be part of something else, but it was touching the now-broken (and, admittedly, very thick) layer of plastic that had broken, so I'm guessing it was putting too much pressure there or something. Going on where the welts appear, would I be correct in guessing that three of these are present in the hinge/lid-casing part?


I fixed it quite quickly, and took mental notes of what I did so as to write up a quick guide for the specific technique for fixing these holes nicely and smoothly using Sugru. I was unable to take photos of the process, because Sugru is very, very sticky, and I didn't want to get the stuff all over my camera.
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However, I did take a snapshot once it was finished.


1: Before you begin, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE OTHER THINGS THAT NEED SUGRU FIRST. This fix only needs a small amount of the stuff, and since it needs to be applied within 30 minutes, this will result in a lot of wastage if you don't have other things in need of it at the time.


2: Pull of a pea-sized piece of Sugru (this will be more than enough - it's just easier to soften up an amount of this size and break more off from there), and roll it between your fingers to soften it up a bit.


3: Once the chunk of Sugru is easier to work, pull off a third to a quarter of it (depending on the size of the hinge-hole), making sure that it's about twice as much as you actually need to plug the hole, and plant it on the index finger of whichever hand is your dominant one (it'll be easier this way). If you're ambidextrous, just pick whichever one is your favourite. Pick up your Pandora with your free hand, and hold it steady.


4: Flatten the small piece of Sugru a tiny bit by squeezing it between your thumb and index finger, and then scrape it across the hinge, as if trying to remove something sticky from your finger. The idea here is to get a substantial amount of it to stick in the hole.


5: Once you get a bit of Sugru in the hole, push it down firmly with another fingertip, but not so much that it just falls into the casing - we don't want that! If you get it right, it should be filling the hole solidly at this point.


6: Repeat step 4 as many times as is needed to make the filling flush with the casing. Take great care not to pull out the Sugru that's already in the hole.


7: When the hole is completely filled, smooth over it with another, non-Sugru'd fingertip until it doesn't have any annoying markings left on it. When this is done, it should look like the hinge simply has a chunk of a slightly lighter shade of black on it.


8: Put it down to set. DO NOT let it touch fabrics or furniture, as uncured Sugru will stain them. Don't let the Sugru'd part(s) touch any other surfaces, either, as the Sugru has the potential to bond your Pandora to them.
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If you need to cover the Sugru'd areas, use cling-film (Saran-wrap, for you North American folks) to protect/cover them, as Sugru cannot stick to this.


9: Put it down somewhere safe, and wait for 24 hours for the Sugru to cure.


Hole_plus_Sugru_1.png



This is how mine looked after I'd finished the above process. Below is a close-up;


Hole_plus_Sugru_2_Close-up.png



Mine is now curing. Since the Sugru is slightly flexible, with any luck this should prevent the problem from recurring, even if the strut/stud/clip inside does happen to push against it a bit. At least now I know exactly what to do if the other two hinge-welts break apart like this one did, and it's certainly better than having to send it back!
 
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Nice write up Prometheus and the black sugru looks to be a pretty decent colour match aswell. Certainly a handy material. Off to decide which finger is my favourite now....eeny meany miny mo
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Is there any chance that "Green Stuff" also used to assemble and repair warhammer can fix this type of breaks?. It sounds a bit similair to this sugru stuff..


Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epoxy_putty


I have some off this stuff lying around, and if something like this should ever happen to my Pandora then i would be prepared if this stuff is usable..
 
^ The description there is nothing like Sugru, I'm afraid. Sugru is cured by exposure to air, and becomes a dense and slightly flexible silicone rubber. I honestly don't know if epoxy putty would be suitable - my apologies.
 
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^ The description there is nothing like Sugru, I'm afraid. Sugru is cured by exposure to air, and becomes a dense and slightly flexible silicone rubber. I honestly don't know if epoxy putty would be suitable - my apologies.

Ah, okay, was merely currious. The "green stuff" epoxy gets a cement-like texture.
 
I've got cracks... going to try sugru... JB weld anyone? Any other success stories? the pandora is amazing, just wish the plastic people would not have screwed the team...


Les

IMAG0111.jpg

IMAG0112.jpg
 
Has anyone tried plast-aid? Looks promising. I already ordered my Sugru to fix my pandora but this stuff looks good too cause I'm always fixing something.


www.plast-aid.com


Les
 
I guess from looking at it:


The stuff called "oogoo" (google for it) would also do the job and is a lot cheaper than sugru and very quickly made. Tried it myself (not on the Pandora, my plastic is perfectly fine)...lovely stuff.


The other stuff that might work is hot glue, even though the colour mostly does not fit. The translucent glue might still look good, when the cracked part is not too big. Its also way cheaper and stays a little bit flexible as well.
 
If I may suggest another product other than sugru.....


I use "milliput", a product similar to sugru but that hardens to an unbelievable hardness. It will even harden under water and can in fact be sculptured more easily using water (if repairing a dripping pipe, for ex.). The nice thing is that it comes in two sticks of which you have to mix equal amounts so that you do not use up all the product at once. There is a variety of milliput products including ones that can stand high temperatures. I have fixed everything with milliput from Garden Gnomes, car radiators, sleep apnoea masks, sewage pipes, battery chargers etc. This is because this "putty" is unbelievably strong when set and even works as a "glue". I just love it.
 
Milliput works very well. Thanks for the tip relliker. I just got my first temperature related crack. Too bad they tempered the plastic poorly.
 
It might be a good idea for anyone who has a Pandora that hasn't yet developed any cracks in the hinge seam to take some preventative measures before anything shows up. A small adhesive strip covering the seam will prevent stress on the guilty clips and stop cracks forming or spreading. In the worst cases, it will at least prevent any bits coming off. I found the best material to be those big rolls of clear vinyl adhesive you can get in stationery stores for protecting books. A small strip cut from one of these, only needs to be about .75cm wide, doesn't look bad at all when in place.


It's soft and flexible stuff, and thin enough to hug the curve without peeling - not like ugly sticky insulation tape.


If the time comes to require opening the lid, it'll come off easily too.
 
hi


here are some pics of using milliput to cover hole in hinge; the trick with milliput is to make sure you have mixed the two parts thoroughly before use. at least 5mins is recommended, i failed to do that and the mixture had some smears in when you scratch at the filling, i temporaliy covered this with some black crayon!


before pic:


P1030448.JPG


curing:


P1030449.JPG


after 5 days and a bit of black crayon:


P1030465.JPG
 
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Oh, wow, that's a nice finish!


How do you think it will hold up over time? What I quite like about Sugru is that it's flexible, so it can handle minor flexing of the case (such as if it's in a bag or pocket, where I assume this will occur) nicely.
 
Oh, wow, that's a nice finish!


How do you think it will hold up over time? What I quite like about Sugru is that it's flexible, so it can handle minor flexing of the case (such as if it's in a bag or pocket, where I assume this will occur) nicely.

not sure since i did not mixit up properly but no worries since i can just mix some more if i need to redo it. by all accounts if mixed properly it should last a while.
 
If it lasts, it sounds like awesome stuff. Thanks for posting the pictures, too! :D
 
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I didn't have any cracks in my case, but one thing that was annoying the hell out of me with this pandora and the one I had before it was the case gave quite a bit when squeezing the case right below the trigger buttons. The way I hold my pandora it was very obvious and pretty annoying, also caused an annoying squeak. I was thinking about this topic and had some projects for sugru so I used most of it fixing multiple random things and with a tiny ball I filled the gap running down the sides of the case. The seam where the two halves meet.


After curing I checked it this morning. It feels 100x better than before. My pandora feels absolutely solid now and squeezing purposely on the edges won't give even the slightest creek. If you guys want some pictures I'll see if I can snap some, but it works brilliantly.
 
found one more spot right in the front (right between the 2 sd card slots) that could use a tiny tiny bit, that'll be in my next project.
 
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