My newly psudo-finished pack took some battle damage. The vertical support beam (the one with the third mounting point for the mobo) snapped, as the metal around the bolt hole was too thin. I was wondering if I could get some repair suggestions.
Here’s what I am thinking. I have some fairly heavy brass wire. I was thinking that I could drill holes on each side of the break, wrap some wire between them, and solder the wire for strength. I was also thinking of lashing some wire from the top post to the cross member as additional strength. Would this work? Or is there a better way of doing it.
This is actually a fairly common occurance. Seeing as how it’s going to support the top half of your pack I dunno if I’d trust just soldering wire to it. Your best bet would be to weld it back together but if that’s not an option I’d say pop-rivit two metal plates around the hole, redrill and attach to those.
That happened on Sabaska’s pack at a con, and luckily I noticed it before his pack fell. It seems to be an issue on newer frames, especially if you’ve drilled a hole through the vertical. Best thing you could do is buy a new frame. If you just patch it, there’s no telling how long it’d last
Maybe the zip tie isn’t such a bad Idea after all. $1 for a bag of ties is much cheaper than $10 or $15 for a new frame. Maybe some kind of a metal fastener that can be pulled out of itself fully to get though the Mobo and around the middle bad on the frame. Off to the hardware store…
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I think you misunderstood. I wasn’t planning to solder a wire to the frame itself. I’m thinking of soldering the wrapped wire (more so that the wire doesn’t come unwrapped).
I’m pulling it apart tomorrow or so, so I’ll take a pic then. I’ll see if I can photoshop up what I’m thinking. A thousand words and all that.
Maybe use something like JB Weld, or FastSteel. Sand the paint off to give it the best chance of adhering. That stuff dries hard as a rock. I’ve dropped a prop I made out of the stuff several times on hard surfaces and it came away unscathed. I would make the patch around 1/4" thick around the two sections to be joined. And I would drill some small holes to press it into on each side of the gap so the bars can’t slip in and out of the sleeve you’ve created.
I don’t think wire will hold. I think it’ll snap where you bend it to go through the holes eventually.
Anyways, my plan was to drill holes on either side of the break, and basically lash the break together with some of this brass wire I have. I’m thinking of this, as it would give a lot more structure to bear the weigh than just the break’s repair.
I’m going to see if I can pick up some JB Weld and sort of use Ghost Guy’s idea. I’ll keep everyone posted on how this works, although I am still looking for a more permanent solution (aside from buying another frame, as I think this is going to happen again).
In other news, my furnace may be dying. If I don’t get anything done with my pack in the next day, my attention is probably on that.
Another option would be to buy a length of aluminum strip, cut two pieces of equal length, drill some holes in them and the two halves of your bar there and bolt them on either side of it. The longer the strips are, the more likely they are to hold because there will be less stress where the parts are bolted together. What you might want to do is make each about a foot long, and put three holes to each side of the crack, along the length of the bar, about an inch apart and put a bolt through each hole. (The bolts don’t need to be 1/4", smaller bolts should suffice. #10 maybe.)
I can’t guarantee the fast steel for a strucural application like this. There’s just no way to know how much stress will be on that bar. The second option above is the most likely to be successful.
Trust me, just buy a new frame. A fix will only let you down at the most in-opportune time.
The other big thing I see is when people make this hole, it’s a ragged one, or nice, but square. That cause serious stress concentrations in the part, so next time, go with a nice round hole, and not a carriage bolt. I’m looking at you, Matt!
I picked up some JB weld today. I wrapped some wire between the sections and was impressed. There was very little movement, and the wire (which was just wrapped, not soldered together or anything) felt solid. I mixed up some JB weld and coated the wire and the joint. I’m just waiting for it to cure fully, but so far, it’s far stronger that it was before I even drilled the hole.
The problem with buying a new frame is that it is just going to break again. I broke the frame after 1 event, and can’t go buying a new one ever time I want to wear my pack. The bar was really weakened by drilling it (before I even did the carriage bolt square). I’m positive that this is a new frame, and thus a piece of garbage. I doubt that I will be able to find an actual LC-1 frame any time soon, so a fix in the answer for the time being.
Thanks for the advise though. It gave me a lot of ideas to work with in case it breaks again, and I was able to merge some of the suggestions with my original plan.
JB weld is a good temp. I too have a crappy new frame that is doing the same thing. What I did was to cut a piece of MDF board and duct taped it to the frame. So the bolt is behind the MDF board and the board strengths the beam. Then covered it with some black gaffers tape. No one can tell. I have been saying that I am going to replace it soon, but I have been saying that for almost a year now and I did over 30 charity events… it is still going strong.
Sorry to Necro Post, But this just happened to me, It was a clean snap. I picked the pack up by the pad and snap. My main question is this, what is the proper screw to use on the top mounting hole? I used a carriage bolt as I though that was accurate or whatever and it turns out to have caused this. Should I repair this or or get a new frame?
I would just get a new frame. . Glad you posted this to bump this thread as I didnt know about this being a problem. . . I will reinforce my as I have the same setup. . . Now to reinforce your new frame I would cut two pieces of aluminum flat stock about 3inches each the width of the center support . . . Drill a hole in each at the inch and a half mark then use the strips as washers to spread the stress of the pinpoint of the hole though frame . . One on each side of the frame. . Its breaking clean because its loose and bending back and fourth as you pick it up, walk, etc what cha think
I only say get a new frame because you and I both know that even if you welded that thin piece of aluminum together it will never be the same as it was, Another thing i would point out to you is look at the head of the bolt your using . . you ll notice that where the threads end it has that square part that is supposed to keep it from spinning . . I grinded /filed that flush so the frame is sandwiched good between the head and the washer on the otherside. .
