Rookie Question - Deck Screws

[Smcdermott]

Looking to replace my battery trays that are located in the jump seat compartment. Can I just remove the screws coat new ones with 4200 and install or is there a more thorough process I should follow? Assuming I can find replacement trays with the same screw pattern.

Thanks,

Sean

[loon]

Sean, sent you a PM.

[DaleH]

Best would be to drill an oversized hole, say 5/16" or 3/8" or more into the place where the hole should be. Let dry. Then tap drill with smaller drill bit to fit the 'body' size of the screw. Permanent, and the epoxy serves as a waterproof barrier against water intrusion. The sample kit from Raka epoxy @ < $20 is hard to beat. www.raka.com , as good as West Systems @ 1/2 to 2/3rds the price and NO EXPEN$IVE metering pumps needed, just a simple 2:1 resin to hardener mix.

[loon]

Dale, ya left some words out there. More or less my advice, too. Does Raka provide a high strength thickener for vertical hole fills?

[DaleH]

The sample kit comes with various 'fillers' and hardeners. Just remember that any filler, pretty much less kitty hair or other glass fibers, makes the epoxy actually less hard, some easier to sand, some easier to fair. There are different fillers or additives to epoxy depending on the need and application. But hardness per se is not really what you need.

If I need a hole to be 'strong', I make and use an allen wrench with the short end ground into a single-point cutting tool and I'll make the hole be sort of mushroom shaped, i.e., larger on the bottom than the top, using a power drill to cut into the side walls at the bottom of the hole.

In that way the epoxy plug can't pull out and is a permanent fixture in the material you put it. Just remember, hard = brittle and that means it will break ;) .