FoxAdriano
Well-known member
Hi, a small part of the rubber has come off the door where the SD is inserted. I have tried various glues, including the powerful mastic but it is like water. Anyone know of a proper glue?
Thank you
Thank you
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GH5 A glue for the rubber came off the door where the SD is inserted?
- Thread starter FoxAdriano
- Start date
Lustgarten
Well-known member
Hi, a small part of the rubber has come off the door where the SD is inserted. I have tried various glues, including the powerful mastic but it is like water. Anyone know of a proper glue?
Thank you
I had same issue on g85.
I'm afraid I'm not sure what you mean by "the powerful mastic". In North America, mastic is typically an adhesive used to apply tile to various surfaces. Be aware that the part that failed on your camera likely wasn’t glued in the first place. It would be co-moulded, which means they mold one piece first, then put it in another mould and inject the second material against/around it and it bonds through heat, pressure and material compatibility to form a single part.
If you are determined to reattach it or just have no other option, what you need is a very high quality contact cement. Contact cement isn't cement at all but a rubber-like adhesive for bonding a myriad of materials. You'll have to completely remove any of the adhesives that you previously tried and as much of the original adhesive as possible. It will likely take more than a bit of soap and water. Not knowing what adhesives you used to try to glue the part back on, it's hard to provide a recommendation for a cleaning solution. The best bet would be to very gently scrape the adhesive off of both parts with a small knife blade. Once both parts are clean, rough up the glue surface of the rubber part lightly with sandpaper. Somewhere around 100 grit paper would be good. Then you should use methyl hydrate or something similar to remove any remaining oils and contaminants. Do not use acetone or similar as it could possibly melt the parts, depending on what they are made of. Wear chemical resistant gloves when using methyl hydrate and use in a well ventilated area, preferably outside. Then brush on a very thin layer of contact cement/adhesive to the glue surfaces of both parts. Make sure you get the adhesive to the very edges of both parts and not where you don’t want it. Take your time, there’s no hurry here. If the glue looks like it’s drying out, that’s fine. You want that. When both parts are fully coated where required with the adhesive, let it dry for at least half an hour. An hour would be better. The instructions will say 10 minutes or until tacky or something similar but you want ALL of the volatile compounds in the glue to completely evaporate. I've left parts dry overnight using this method and it's fine. This method will create a stronger bond and a more heat resistant bond in the end. As I recall, you do a lot of shooting in hot climates so that will be important. When the adhesive is totally dry, you come to the difficult part. Normally when you stick two parts together with contact adhesive on them they bond immediately. If you don’t have the alignment of the parts perfect, that’s too bad. They are stuck. So make sure that the adhesive is really dry. Then you can gently place the rubber part on the plastic cover on the camera. Do not press hard. You just want to align them at this point. If the parts are aligned, lift one edge or corner of the rubber and heat up that area and the corresponding part of the plastic cover with a hot blow drier. You could use a heat gun on low but have to be careful you don't overheat the parts and cause warping. When it’s hot to the point of being uncomfortable to hold press, the heated area of the rubber down firmly against the plastic cover for thirty seconds or so. The heat reactivates the adhesive and creates a very strong bond. Then lift the part that wasn’t heated up and repeat the heat and press operation on that part of it.
Disclaimer: This technique requires a little practice so if you can run a few tests with any random materials you have laying around, that will help a lot. If you get it wrong, the rubber part could be permanently misaligned which could cause a lot of problems including not being able to close the cover. The cover may also be made of two of the many low surface energy plastic and polyurethane materials that are notoriously difficult or impossible to bond without co-moulding. You could test for that by just putting a little dot of glue on the centre of both parts and also on a little piece of fabric. Follow the manufacturers standard dry time and stick the fabric to the parts. If the fabric is securely stuck to the camera parts, then the adhesive should work. Immediately after you are satisfied that the bond will work, grab your trusty blow drier to heat the spot of glue up and it should release with minimal force. Then go ahead and follow the procedure above. If it all goes wrong, I bear no responsibility. I’ve used the above procedure to fix many things in the past, including both my Nikon N90s and trusty F4 back in the day. However, while the materials may have looked the same, they may not be the same. Hence the test.
To be honest, you are likely best to just order another door. They are just held to the hinge on the camera body with two little Phillips head screws. Option 3 is take it in to get fixed. Best of luck.
If you are determined to reattach it or just have no other option, what you need is a very high quality contact cement. Contact cement isn't cement at all but a rubber-like adhesive for bonding a myriad of materials. You'll have to completely remove any of the adhesives that you previously tried and as much of the original adhesive as possible. It will likely take more than a bit of soap and water. Not knowing what adhesives you used to try to glue the part back on, it's hard to provide a recommendation for a cleaning solution. The best bet would be to very gently scrape the adhesive off of both parts with a small knife blade. Once both parts are clean, rough up the glue surface of the rubber part lightly with sandpaper. Somewhere around 100 grit paper would be good. Then you should use methyl hydrate or something similar to remove any remaining oils and contaminants. Do not use acetone or similar as it could possibly melt the parts, depending on what they are made of. Wear chemical resistant gloves when using methyl hydrate and use in a well ventilated area, preferably outside. Then brush on a very thin layer of contact cement/adhesive to the glue surfaces of both parts. Make sure you get the adhesive to the very edges of both parts and not where you don’t want it. Take your time, there’s no hurry here. If the glue looks like it’s drying out, that’s fine. You want that. When both parts are fully coated where required with the adhesive, let it dry for at least half an hour. An hour would be better. The instructions will say 10 minutes or until tacky or something similar but you want ALL of the volatile compounds in the glue to completely evaporate. I've left parts dry overnight using this method and it's fine. This method will create a stronger bond and a more heat resistant bond in the end. As I recall, you do a lot of shooting in hot climates so that will be important. When the adhesive is totally dry, you come to the difficult part. Normally when you stick two parts together with contact adhesive on them they bond immediately. If you don’t have the alignment of the parts perfect, that’s too bad. They are stuck. So make sure that the adhesive is really dry. Then you can gently place the rubber part on the plastic cover on the camera. Do not press hard. You just want to align them at this point. If the parts are aligned, lift one edge or corner of the rubber and heat up that area and the corresponding part of the plastic cover with a hot blow drier. You could use a heat gun on low but have to be careful you don't overheat the parts and cause warping. When it’s hot to the point of being uncomfortable to hold press, the heated area of the rubber down firmly against the plastic cover for thirty seconds or so. The heat reactivates the adhesive and creates a very strong bond. Then lift the part that wasn’t heated up and repeat the heat and press operation on that part of it.
Disclaimer: This technique requires a little practice so if you can run a few tests with any random materials you have laying around, that will help a lot. If you get it wrong, the rubber part could be permanently misaligned which could cause a lot of problems including not being able to close the cover. The cover may also be made of two of the many low surface energy plastic and polyurethane materials that are notoriously difficult or impossible to bond without co-moulding. You could test for that by just putting a little dot of glue on the centre of both parts and also on a little piece of fabric. Follow the manufacturers standard dry time and stick the fabric to the parts. If the fabric is securely stuck to the camera parts, then the adhesive should work. Immediately after you are satisfied that the bond will work, grab your trusty blow drier to heat the spot of glue up and it should release with minimal force. Then go ahead and follow the procedure above. If it all goes wrong, I bear no responsibility. I’ve used the above procedure to fix many things in the past, including both my Nikon N90s and trusty F4 back in the day. However, while the materials may have looked the same, they may not be the same. Hence the test.
To be honest, you are likely best to just order another door. They are just held to the hinge on the camera body with two little Phillips head screws. Option 3 is take it in to get fixed. Best of luck.