My Omer footpocket cracked -- how can i fix it? help!

[harbour seal]

hello wise folks of deeperblue,

i have a pair of Omer Millenium fins and the foot-pocket has
has cracked.

the crack is on the side wall of the footpocket and goes right through the material.

you can view photos of the crack with these links:
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f394/theRealMacoy/crackedfootpocket5.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f394/theRealMacoy/crackedfootpocket4.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f394/theRealMacoy/crackedfootpocket3.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f394/theRealMacoy/crackedfootpocket2.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f394/theRealMacoy/crackedfootpocket1.jpg


has anyone had this kind of problem before????
i am very disappointed in the hardiness of these fins as i have barely used them.

does anyone have any advice on how i can fix the crack?

i was thinking of trying some sport shoe repair stuff called shoe goo but have no idea whether it will work.

any and all advice is appreciated,
cheers,
sean
vancouver

 

[harbour seal]

i uploaded a couple pics.....

 

[bolo]

hi,
i had the same problem. You should to use:

1) LOCTITE 770 PRIMER and
2) LOCTITE 406

read product description and hints of use


1)glue your footpocket
2) glue additional piece of rubber (1mm old bicycle tyre) on outside .

everything will be ok

Robert, Poland

 

[HEDS]

Not experienced this myself - Have ordered a pair of milleniums and awaiting postage - did this happen when you were swimming ?? or as you were putting the fin on or taking off? it would be good to know incase i do the same!!:naughty

i agree with 'bolo' regarding the glue .
The only other thing i would consider is using a 'contact adhesive' EVO-STICK is best . You'd put a thin layer on the fin and some on the rubber patch - allow to become tacky [nearly dry] and then press together ,prefrably using a clamp or something .Evo-stick is very strong,flexible,and waterproof. Good luck with the operation.

 

[harbour seal]

hey guys,

thanks for the replies and the advice---luckily i didn't have to do any operating on my fins after all.

seeing as how the fins were quite new and relatively unused i contacted Mark Labocetta at OMER diving directly.

he said that he had never seen this problem before and they would replace it (wooo hooo).

after approximately 3 weeks since i send to the gorked fin to them i received my new footpocket in the mail yesterday (got a bill for import duty but a small price to pay all in all).


HEDS said:
"Not experienced this myself - Have ordered a pair of milleniums and awaiting postage - did this happen when you were swimming ?? or as you were putting the fin on or taking off? it would be good to know incase i do the same!"

i have no idea how the crack developed in the fin; one day i noticed it and almost started to cry . i think it must have been a random manufacturing defect as i took very good care of them and hadn't even dove with them that much. have fun with the new fins.

cheers,
sean
vancouver, canada

 

[harbour seal]

holy fricking feck!

getting the blade into the footpocket sure was a HELL of a lot harder than taking it out.

i fruitlessly wrestled with it for a long time until i finally figured out the technique --- when using the appropriate technique the job is easy (provided you figure it out before you either have a brain aneurism or damage the footpocket).

cheers,
sean

 

[Mr. X]

hi,
i had the same problem. You should to use:

1) LOCTITE 770 PRIMER and
2) LOCTITE 406

read product description and hints of use


1)glue your footpocket
2) glue additional piece of rubber (1mm old bicycle tyre) on outside .

everything will be okd

Epoxy (I assume the above is a 2-part expoxy resin) is the strongest glue and will glue just about anything ("you could glue the wheels of a lorry to the road with it" someone once told me), so I am confident that would work. Do you have any glues already?

I would first try some cheap neoprene glue first (i.e. glue for neoprene wetsuits) first, as it is black, rubbery/stretchy and works very well on wetsuits. I carry carry a couple of cheap tubes in my spares box for quick, effective, long lasting wetsuit repairs; shop around prices vary a lot (e.g. Seacsub's product is £2.95 for a 30g tube; BestDivers same price for 30ml; 30g of Stormsure Neoprene Queen Adhesive & patches kit goes for £1.99). One tube is enough for many repairs. Highly recommended.

Alternatively you might try rubber glue/"cement", found in old school bicycle puncture repair kits. Don't use Copydex latex glue, it is quite weak (good for repairing upholstery but you need to know how to use it - needs a interior patch).

If that failed, I would likely try superglue next, the thicker stuff usually work better but I usually buy the cheap thin stuff (8 tubes for a £1). I have little confidence in superglues but it sticks skin well and might work well on rubber. I keep a couple of tubes of this stuff in my spares box too, as it is good for sealing whipped loops (e.g. in spearline when I have crimps, or in lobster pot lines, when using thick strimmer line), used like varish. Also handy for sealing cuts in skin AND (almost forgot) great for fixing punctures in inflatible floats and float bladders, surprisingly good.

You could try contact adhesive, like UHU or Evostick. Might work if you don't stretch the pockets too much. But I wouldn't be surprised if that failed.

I would use epoxy as a last resort and I am comfident that it would work. The 2-part epoxy kits sold for £1 or less seem to work as well as anything. I tried a more expensive epoxy but found it inferior (it looked like the manfactuer had just added metal filings to the cheap stuff and upped the price 400-500%!). I don't carry this with me in my spares box (perhaps I should) but I keep a good stock at home.

Your mileage may vary.

 

[prospector]

I have had good luck repairing footpockets by first sewing the split back together then using west system655 thickened epoxy and a piece of inner tube for the covering patch.

 

[Mr. X]

holy fricking feck!

getting the blade into the footpocket sure was a HELL of a lot harder than taking it out.

i fruitlessly wrestled with it for a long time until i finally figured out the technique --- when using the appropriate technique the job is easy (provided you figure it out before you either have a brain aneurism or damage the footpocket).

cheers,
sean

Lubrication dear boy! Soapy water or silicone spray/gel. Soapy water has the advantage that it is short-lived, so it lasts just long enough get the job done. Very cheap & readily available too. That's what I used and it went quite smoothly (Beuchat Competition fins).

A local motorcyle tyre fitter used to use soapy water (actually dishwashing detergent rather than soap I think) to fit otherwise near impossible to fit motorcyle tyres. He used to fit dozens every Saturday morning. However, they generally recommend not using soapy water for this purpose as it can rust the inside of steel wheel rims, back in the days of steel wheel rims.