john schicker

Hi to all would like to know what to rub into the rubberbands that hold components on to stop them peresing and braking down with the sunlight .Help wanted

Top_Gunn

My Feedback: (6)

I have no idea what "peresing" is. But the way to deal with rubber bands is to replace them often. I've known people who tossed them after one day's flying, though I'm too frugal for that.

jester_s1

The exhaust residue dissolves them. You can't do anything about that. I've gotten 2-3 flights out of a set of bands by wiping them down after the flight. If you leave the residue on for a week or two, you'll find that they bands start to crack the very next time you use them.

JohnBuckner

My Feedback: (1)

There is only one way to that I am aware of to minimize ultraviolet damage from the the sun and that is to keep the bands covered when not in the air. throw a rag or something over the bands. A cotton rag over a banded wing and the engine on a hot day is an excellent idea anyway. Also a cotton rag over the tail if you use banded tail on a old timer. Many times I have attended events in the hot Mojave Desert Sun and cannot park the airplane in a well shaded spot I will cover the entire ship with old white cotton shirts.

I am one to use bands just once and definitely not more than twice They are so cheap and I have noted that buying at the big box stores the quality is just about the same as the hobby specific suppliers.

John

In the past I have used drug store glycerin as a lubricant. May have helped then but not with todays supply of rubber.

john schicker

Hi John and others that answered my prob i have heard that Armor All is another product to usa .Ill give anything a go its just that ivehad models haging from the roof of my workshop and after a few months the wings are on the ground .Tried car tubing for attaching .but they seem to break down ........john

JohnBuckner

My Feedback: (1)

Ah, I have the exact same problem for many. I use a wide variety of storage methods which also includes some assembled on soft quarter inch iron rods bent into hangers. For the hi wing banded ships thats a problem if you do not rotate bands very often. So what I do for the few that fit that scenario and its been pretty successful is to not us the stereotypical modelers #64 bands and go to a band that hardly needs any stretch (minimize the stretch) and just use more of them. The ones I use for this are marketed at our big box Walmarts as book marker bands in the stationary section. They are 1/8 inch square and seven inchs long.

Since the stretch is greatly reduced they last a great deal longer and when they do start to fail they will give a warning since there are more of them you will find one on the floor for some time even days before anything catastrophic happens. When I go to fly one of those airplane I just replace the bands with news ones of the appropriate type and save the long bands and even reuse them if
there are no check marks on stretching to twice there length. The flight bands for that day I pitch in the bin.

John

Villa

Hi John Schicker
I used to wash them in soap and warm water, dry them, and then put baby powder on them. I purchased the bands at the local hobby store and they were very expensive. Then I saw the bands at a paper supply store, such as Staples here in the USA, and they were very inexpensive, so I discard them after a day of flying. I just remembered that in the old days we used to store the used bands in a can with kitty litter ( what indoor cats pee on). This would absorb the oil and extend the life of the bands.

Lnewqban

Something not as degradable by light and oxygen as rubber could replace the rubber bands only for long storage.
Maybe Velcro or simple loops of cord or any slender length of flexible material to tie the wings and fuselages?

JollyPopper

My Feedback: (6)

I guess I hated stretching those dozen or so rubber bands around a wing more than any other one thing in the hobby until a guy showed me how to use velcro to retain the wing. The velcro goes on almost instantly and it won't snap back at you and smack the insides of your wrists. You cannot move the wing fore or aft once the velcro is mated nor can you pull the wing up off the plane. The single one drawback is that the wing will not move in a hard landing, which is the whole point of using rubber bands. But once you are proficient enough at flying that you are not making hard landings, velcro is the way to go.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

On the exterior of a plane I know of no product that will make an RB last. I'm like most people I know and don't use RBs more then once. Inside the plane I use them to help hold things like receivers down, usually as a helping hand to Velcro. I have a product called rubber restorer I found in an auto parts store that extended the life of them. This is inside the plane though. RBs would last for about a year inside the plane, the rubber restorer does extend that but for the price of a box of bands it is just easier and cheaper to replace them as needed. I have seen photos of how John hangs his planes with coat hangers and it looks like the way to do it to me. I have racks made in my shop and my planes are hung across them. The racks take up a lot of ceiling space and I can only store 4 planes on them in my little shop.

countilaw

I saw a guy ( Not going to mention his name) land his plane and half of the 8 rubber bands had broken. So it was held on with 4 rubber bands that were as old and weak as the 4 that had broken. I asked him how old they were and he said that he didn't know. He said they seemed ok when he put them on the wing before the flight. As we sat there we watched another rubber band snap. Now it was just held on with 3, and it was just sitting there.

I don't think I ever saw him use old rubber bands again after that.

So you can store them in corn starch, or wash them with dish washing liquid or put chemicals on them to make them last longer, but you just end up spending more than what new rubber bands cost. It's amazing how much money people will spend trying to save a few cents.

Frank

jester_s1

On a training night a few years ago you could see the wing rising about an inch off the plane when it was flaring for a landing. He got it down ok, and found that old rubber bands had snapped during fight. Buy the bands in bulk at the office supply store and throw them away after a single day of flying.

mscic-RCU

My Feedback: (6)

i used to keep mine in a container with baby powder to absorb the oil. Just give them a snap to get the powder off of them before use. They stay nice a long time in baby powder.

Jim Thomerson

Some years ago, in the St Louis area, I went out to fly free flights on a day with ozone hazzard warning. I could not get the rubber bands to last long enough to get the airplanes assembled. This happened to me twice before I understood not to try to do it.

countilaw

So with the cost of the baby powder, you could have bought new rubber bands and be safe. It's not the oil that destroys the rubber bands. It's ultra violet light and the breaking down of the elasticity from being stretched.

Frank

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

The OP is asking about rubber bands to hang and store his planes, not fly with them.

Top_Gunn

My Feedback: (6)

He did talk about storage, but he also asked about them breaking because of sunlight, so maybe it's both. Hard to tell.

easystar123

hi there, ive been flying trainers with rubber bands for years now and what i do to preserve the rubber bands is to put them all in a plastic bag full of talcum powder and mix them all through the powder after a days flying and this will dry and soak up the oil on them and make them last a lot longer and it works too. good luck

Propworn

My Feedback: (3)

The only rubber bands I use for flight such as holding on a wing I store in a large Ziploc bag with pure talcum powder. I ordered a large container of talc from the pharmacy years ago and just put a little in the Ziploc bag as needed. When I take the bands off I just return them to the bag with the talc. Before I use them I stretch them out and inspect them for cracking and discard the bad ones. I use the same bands to hold wings in place on the rack inside my van and replace them as needed. I have found that if you buy the next size larger and stiffer in bands than recommended they last longer as they are not stretched out near their limit when you use them. Instead of using the recommended #64 bands try the #67. These will also not only be easier to put on but they will put less stress on the trailing edge.

Dennis

mscic-RCU

My Feedback: (6)

You know, it's funny. I never lost an airplane due to "rubber band failure" because I stored them in baby powder. Of course you know better than I do and I was just offering an idea. And the baby powder didn't cost me anything extra at the time, I had a boy in diapers.

Bax

My Feedback: (11)

Kitty litter also works, as well as oil dry compound and Fuller's Earth (which is the main component in many cat litters and oil dry compounds).

Propworn

My Feedback: (3)

Nothing wrong with baby powder it’s cheap and like talc very little goes a long way. I've been doing the same for as long as I care to remember without any problems. I just stretch the bands before I put them on and check for cracking.

Others have used kitty litter and any number of methods with success. Lets face it if one method works for you who am I to criticize what your doing. I might make a suggestion to try something different but ultimately it’s your choice, your hobby.

Nothing wrong with trying all the suggestions until you find the one that works for you.

Dennis

kwblake

WOW!!!!! 21 posts on the cost of a %$$##&* rubber band. You can afford to spend hundreds, on the Plane, Receiver, Transmitter, Servos, Fuel, or Batteries, and an engine, all of your field supplies, gas to and from your field, but some of you want to save 2 cents, on a $%#*^%! rubber band. Un-%$^&*#$ believable.............. Boy, am I going to get flamed on this one.

Propworn

My Feedback: (3)

Nope no flaming like I said to each his own if someone wants to change the bands every time they fly more power to them. My Lazy Ace has the top wing held with laggy bands 7 per side. I often use these as well to hold a glider cradle on the same wing. Even in the worst heat I might have one or two bands let go but still plenty left to do the job. Yep I reuse my bands never had a single problem.

Dennis

mscic-RCU

My Feedback: (6)

No flaming here, either. The OP wanted ideas on how to bands last longer. The suggestions are offered. Use them or don't use them, I don't care one way or the other.