Topic: Missing air box piece; where to get it

[Jeffy]

I wouldn't use clear plastic.  It's usually the weakest.

[neale_rs]

I think it would work well.

[jfrabat]

It's not CLEAR CLEAR...  It's kind of frosted...

[Jeffy]

Clear/frosted aren't that great when it comes to heat cycles.  They tend to harden and dry out faster then other colors so you might want to check it every year.  You can use anything though.    It doesn't have to be plastic.  Sheet metal, tupperware top, etc...

[sharpxmen]

if you have a raw pcb board that would work (with no holes of course), you can cut it by scoring it with a knife and it's tough as hell, 1.2mm, 1.6mm, etc - would work.

if not just find an old metal box from something and cut the piece with an angle grinder.

[dwtaylorpdx]

Home depot and lowes and Ace Hardware all sell AL sheets in smaller sizes.

[Jeffy]

Home depot and lowes and Ace Hardware all sell AL sheets in smaller sizes.

Kinda hard to do when you're in Central America though.

[jfrabat]

 

Kinda hard to do when you're in Central America though.

Yup.  No lowes or HD here.  And hardware stores are targeting DIYers, so not as.manybraw materials.  I am trying to get AL, but if I cant, I have some carbon fiber sheets laying around...

[jfrabat]

During my Xmas break, I went to Panama to see the family, and strolling through the hardware store, I noticed they had small aluminum sheets.  I got a piece of stock .064 X 4 X 10 inch and made the missing piece (I was THIS far from taking some of the carbon fiber I had laying around for the multirotors, but this saved me from having to do that!).

Here's the piece already made.  Notice I srubbed the borders, so that the silicone will have a better surface to adhere to.



Here's the airbox all cleaned up (it was not really that dirty to begin with)



Test fitting



Now, I have some black LocTite brand silicone, but whatdo you guys think?  Just the silicone, or use rivets as well?  I only got regular rivets, so I am leaning more towards the silicone alone...  But I guess if its not going to be enough, better to do it right, as I don't have any more aluminum to make another one!

[Jeffy]

It doesn't matter as long as it stays on there.  It doesn't have to deal with pressure.  If anything it would be a slight vacuum.

[jfrabat]

It doesn't matter as long as it stays on there.  It doesn't have to deal with pressure.  If anything it would be a slight vacuum.

Soooo...  rivets (regular)?  Or just black silicone?

[jfrabat]

Well, I went with the rivets.  6 of them, in fact (figured if the old 4 got ripped off somehow, better make it a bit stronger, so between the silicone and the 6 rivets, it should hold!).

Here's how it looked mounted on:



And after a quick dose of spray paint, it blended right in (ot looks white because of the flash, but it is mate black)!



My drill press is basically shot, as the head is dancing all over the place, so some holes are not perfect, but I think it will work just fine.  I filled in all holes with the black silicone and also put silicone on the inner and outer lip.  Tomorrow I'll dunk the whole thing in water and see if its water tight or not.

[neale_rs]

Looks good.