Repairing Logo tubes?

[Ether]

Originally Posted by Ninja_Bait

So, I just spent ten minutes looking for some reference on CD to a patch kit for our logo piece tube thingies (btw, what's the right name for those?) and was surprised not to find anything. What have people been using, besides duct tape, to fix up popped tubes? I'm especially interested in finding what they used at competition, and of course, the cheapest solutions as well.

If the tubes are made of vinyl (I think they are?) then an inexpensive vinyl repair kit, available at any hardware store (or Lowe's, Home Depot, etc) would work.

[Ninja_Bait]

Originally Posted by Ether

If the tubes are made of vinyl (I think they are?) then an inexpensive vinyl repair kit, available at any hardware store (or Lowe's, Home Depot, etc) would work.

So they are. Thank you for reminding me of the obvious - sometimes you just get used to roundabout problem solving in FRC!

[Koko Ed]

When I was Field Supervisor in Boston we had a couple of hundred tubes Alex Cormier repaired when he was impromptu Field Supervisor at GTR West and almost every one of them were tossed out. Once the tubes get damaged they just aren't long for this world. They are very cheaply made and break easily. FIRST provided a tube repair kit (I think it was vinyl tape) to try to make tubes last but rarely did it really work. Once a tube got popped they were gonna leak no matter what.

[rcmolloy]

If your occurrence is a small hole, I would suggest patching it by using a lighter/hot source to mold the plastics back together. I have yet to do it but I may test it up at our shop tomorrow. I will let you all know how the results play out.

[Steven Donow]

Originally Posted by rcmolloy

If your occurrence is a small hole, I would suggest patching it by using a lighter/hot source to mold the plastics back together. I have yet to do it but I may test it up at our shop tomorrow. I will let you all know how the results play out.

We did this a few times, sometimes even molding on plastic from other sources/tubes(ie. a snow tube). It wasn't a permanent fix, but it definitely lasted longer and worked better than just tape.