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Rubber strip replacement

Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2020 10:07 pm
by yl472401
Fresh owner of the diamond Da40 about a week. Love the performance and the technology it provides and hoping to keep it for good use for a while. Since it is a 2008 model, some normal wear and tear was noticed and wish to do some preventive maintenance if possible.
A few things that's on the list and need the help getting them fixed.
1 I noticed that the rubber strip on my 2008 DA 40 left wing is broken away and left a decent size hole at the leading edge and thinking about replacing it. where can I find the replacement for it?
2 The silicon weather strip at the front end of the canopy has doesn't stick to the metal frame anymore and creates a bump from the tension between the weather strip and the air-frame after it is closed down. I tried to cut some piece off in order to reduce the tension and applied crazy glue yesterday and hope it works. But, would still have to get the replacement for that as well.
3. The co-pilot side securing base for the black plastic cover for the instrument panel broke loose. Not sure it was loose to begin with or due to many years of vibration.
I have the picture for the rubber strip uploaded here. Will get some pictures of the instrument panel cover later.
YL

Re: Rubber strip replacement

Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2020 11:58 pm
by OriensFlight
Welcome to the club Bryan! You’ll love flying this plane. You’ll appreciate this board’s advice. Doing maintenance, not so much. In the event your mechanic needs to pull the wings to replace these strips (I’m not sure if that’s required), have them look at and pay close attention to the grounding interference fit between the wing and the fuselage. I have an interesting story to post about that still.

Re: Rubber strip replacement

Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2020 12:09 am
by yl472401
OriensFlight wrote:Welcome to the club Bryan! You’ll love flying this plane. You’ll appreciate this board’s advice. Doing maintenance, not so much. In the event your mechanic needs to pull the wings to replace these strips (I’m not sure if that’s required), have them look at and pay close attention to the grounding interference fit between the wing and the fuselage. I have an interesting story to post about that still.
Thanks for the advice! Will remember to mention this to them when time is appropriate ImageImage


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Re: Rubber strip replacement

Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2020 1:55 am
by Davestation
The wing does not have to be removed to replace that seal.

I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about in 2 and 3 :scratch:

Re: Rubber strip replacement

Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2020 4:05 am
by yl472401
Davestation wrote:The wing does not have to be removed to replace that seal.

I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about in 2 and 3 :scratch:
The white rubber strip that’s at the leading edge of the canopy/cockpit.


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Re: Rubber strip replacement

Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2020 4:17 am
by yl472401
Davestation wrote:The wing does not have to be removed to replace that seal.

I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about in 2 and 3 :scratch:
Image

Re: Rubber strip replacement

Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2020 4:37 am
by yl472401
This is the picture of the panel cover anchoring plate that goes on the back of the instrument panel. My got broke away from the panel and the panel cover has a lot of vibration. Image


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Re: Rubber strip replacement

Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2020 11:22 am
by Davestation
Oh ok, you were saying something about a metal frame. The canopy seal is actually the same material as the wing seal and is adhered with silicone.

IIRC the nutplate brackets are riveted to the instrument panel the same as the nutplades themselves

Re: Rubber strip replacement

Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2020 11:51 am
by astaib
Hello,

For the rubber on the wings, the mechanic tried to bond it with silicone but it didn't worked (and it was horrible to remove), then I tried with acrylic, with neoprene, no good results neither...
So at the end, what I did with good result is that I replaced the rubber and then I used PVC car covering film (from avery Dennison for exemple in white color). I have cut stripes of some centimeters wide and long enough to make the width of the wing. And apply the stripes on the rubber (+2 cm each side of the rubber). The result is that the rubber is well bonded to the wing, the color is white as the wing are and easy to remove compare to silicone. I did this 2 years ago, and it is still pristine.

For the rubber around the canopy, I didn't do it already (no need), but it doesn't seem to be the same rubber as the wing: smaller section, different shape and very smooth compare to the wing rubber. It looks like more to the rubber that you find in DIY shops to insulate the window of your house.

Arnaud.
sss.jpg

Re: Rubber strip replacement

Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2020 1:02 pm
by Davestation
astaib wrote: Fri Jun 12, 2020 11:51 am Hello,

For the rubber on the wings, the mechanic tried to bond it with silicone but it didn't worked (and it was horrible to remove), then I tried with acrylic, with neoprene, no good results neither...
So at the end, what I did with good result is that I replaced the rubber and then I used PVC car covering film (from avery Dennison for exemple in white color). I have cut stripes of some centimeters wide and long enough to make the width of the wing. And apply the stripes on the rubber (+2 cm each side of the rubber). The result is that the rubber is well bonded to the wing, the color is white as the wing are and easy to remove compare to silicone. I did this 2 years ago, and it is still pristine.

For the rubber around the canopy, I didn't do it already (no need), but it doesn't seem to be the same rubber as the wing: smaller section, different shape and very smooth compare to the wing rubber. It looks like more to the rubber that you find in DIY shops to insulate the window of your house.

Arnaud.

sss.jpg

The wings are easy to install, you only need silicone to hold the last few inches of the trailing edge in place. You need to make sure the hook is pointing the right way so it will grab the lip under the wing because on the fuselage side there is no lip, and you have to trim a little of the tail at the trailing edge so it doesn’t hit the flap.

The canopy is the same profile, you just cut most of the tail off because it is too long and you don’t need the hook end of it