Does anyone know who builds the OEM Diamond canopies?

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Don
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Does anyone know who builds the OEM Diamond canopies?

Post by Don »

The small plastic hinge on one of my side windows has cracked into small pieces and the window is now in-op on my 2010 DA40 XLS. After close inspection of the other hinges, I noticed small fractures in the hinges and they appear that they will fail also sometime in the near future. Since the hinges are glued directly to the main canopy and side windows, this does not look like an easy fix to replace. I was hoping to contact the OEM canopy supplier directly and see what they recommend as a fix. I figure worse case is I will have to remove the canopy from the airframe, box up in wooden crate and send back to the manufacture and have them replace all four hinges. Any ideas or help on this would be much appreciated.

EDIT: During a google search, I found a canopy fabricator that shows photos of Diamond aircraft on their website.https://www.aeroexpo.online/prod/mecapl ... 42603.html They are located in Switzerland. That said, I am now wondering if Diamond also OEM's their canopies from a North American manufacture for their aircraft built in their Canadian factory instead of importing them from Switzerland.
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Rich
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Re: Does anyone know who builds the OEM Diamond canopies?

Post by Rich »

Removing old pieces still glued to the canopy is probably a real bummer. But a few years back one of my hinges came unglued cleanly. Using the extra-special glue they use (Acrifix 0192), gluing it back in place was easy. It's been holding ever since.
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Re: Does anyone know who builds the OEM Diamond canopies?

Post by Steve »

Don:

It is technically possible to grind the remaining hinge fragments off of the (carefully masked and protected) canopy interior, then bond the new hinges on. It isn't easy, and I would want someone with a lot of acrylic fabrication experience to do it (not an A&P). I don't know anyone offhand in your area. I personally have some experience fabricating plexiglas enclosures for ship models and scientific apparatus and they came out well, but if it were my aircraft I wouldn't attempt the canopy repair myself. I wouldn't hesitate to glue a hinge back on as Rich did. Good luck,

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Re: Does anyone know who builds the OEM Diamond canopies?

Post by Don »

Rich wrote: Tue Aug 03, 2021 6:43 pm Removing old pieces still glued to the canopy is probably a real bummer. But a few years back one of my hinges came unglued cleanly. Using the extra-special glue they use (Acrifix 0192), gluing it back in place was easy. It's been holding ever since.
On my first 2003 DA 40, one of the window hinges separated from the main canopy shortly after delivery from the factory. It was an easy fix as I got some acrylic glue from where I work and bonded it back to the main canopy with a Harbor freight "C" clamp during the glue's curing time. Of course removing one without damaging the canopy and window is a whole different story.
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Re: Does anyone know who builds the OEM Diamond canopies?

Post by Rich »

On my canopy the pilot side block where the latch fits in is a bit too far up from the window. The result is ridiculously little engagement with the original plastic latch. I got a replacement block from Diamond but really silly-sounding advice on removing the original. Something like "carefully work it off with a blade". I didn't see any way that would have a good outcome. It's still there and I also still have the replacement block sitting in a parts drawer. I've since replaced the latches with the bronze ones, which have longer "ears".

Grinding or anything like it would have to be done really slowly and carefully due to the heat it'd generate. In this case I might try it with a dremel tool or something similar that could be run at a really low RPM. I have had mine generate substantial heat when cutting plastic. Maybe, just maybe, the pieces could be cut away very carefully using an X-acto or other really sharp knife (a scalpel?). Then the canopy surface smoothed using one of the scratch-removal products.
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Re: Does anyone know who builds the OEM Diamond canopies?

Post by jwx96 »

One of my pilot side window hinges separated a couple of years ago. Both my mechanic and I tried to glue it back on without long term success. Then I reattached it with heavy duty clear packing tape and it has held ever since. This will eventually fail and at that time I may try the Acrifix 0192 mentioned by Rich, or I may just get out the packing tape again.
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Don
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Re: Does anyone know who builds the OEM Diamond canopies?

Post by Don »

I talked with Andrew at the factory yesterday looking for some advice. He did verify that their canopy OEM supplier is Mecaplex out of Switzerland.
His advice for removing the broken hinge was apply heat to the base of the hinge with a hair dryer, not a high powered heat gun. Then use a plastic scraper to remove. I also asked for the ball park price to replace the DA 40 canopy in case the removal procedure goes south. The current retail price for a DA 40 XLS canopy is $21K USD. He also advised that they could do this at the London factory. Now I have some serious thinking to do on how I am going to proceed with a remedy.
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Re: Does anyone know who builds the OEM Diamond canopies?

Post by Rich »

The one good thing about scraping out hinge pieces is it doesn't matter if the surface is a little marked up, as long as it's good enough to get a good bond. I hit my areas with a bit of fine emery cloth before bonding.

The Acrifix I used is fast UV-curing. I pulled the plane out where the sun would shine right on the spot, put (very little of) the goop on it, then held the hinge piece (only one had come off) in place with my hand for a few minutes, then let it sit in the sun for about an hour. This was about 4 years ago.

Based on what I picture in my head from your description I'd be inclined to get something super-sharp like a scalpel and try carefully cutting through the seams between the hinge and the canopy. A wee bit of heat might help, but I'd be reluctant to do much, if any, of that.
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Re: Does anyone know who builds the OEM Diamond canopies?

Post by Don »

Image
Rich wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 3:45 pm The one good thing about scraping out hinge pieces is it doesn't matter if the surface is a little marked up, as long as it's good enough to get a good bond. I hit my areas with a bit of fine emery cloth before bonding.

The Acrifix I used is fast UV-curing. I pulled the plane out where the sun would shine right on the spot, put (very little of) the goop on it, then held the hinge piece (only one had come off) in place with my hand for a few minutes, then let it sit in the sun for about an hour. This was about 4 years ago.

Based on what I picture in my head from your description I'd be inclined to get something super-sharp like a scalpel and try carefully cutting through the seams between the hinge and the canopy. A wee bit of heat might help, but I'd be reluctant to do much, if any, of that.
Thanks Rich. I am not to concerned about applying some heat to any high quality 6mm cast acrylic. After checking with some of the team members at work, the forming temperature for this type of acrylic is at 290F. What I am not sure of is the temperature required to get Acrifix 0192 glue to release. Of the many products we manufacture at work, we have lots of experience working with formed acrylics including FAA certified "Level D" back projection screens for airliner simulators as pictured below. That said, we do use completely different glues than the Acrifix 0192, so we have no experience with it. I am just being extremely cautious here. I don't want to screw up a $21K canopy.
Level D coated acrylic..JPG
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Re: Does anyone know who builds the OEM Diamond canopies?

Post by Davestation »

My understanding was that acryfix is just an acrylic in a solvent, like ABS glue where you just mix ABS and acetone. If that’s the case a hairdryer isn’t going to help you, the pets are fused. I could be wrong… In either case I don’t think a hairdryer would hurt the window though, they actually recommend “annealing” the plastic before gluing up.

Grinding them down and gluing on new ones is a piece of cake though. The only real trouble is having the right amount of glue - not enough will leave voids and too much will ooze out and look gross, even get into the hinge itself and fuse it. And don’t clamp it very tight, since the glue softens the plastic it could crack under pressure.
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