Have you had a CA hinge fail?
 

Snap roll on takeoff and the rudder broke off. Luckily I landed ok and the rudder was hanging from the pushrod.

All 3 CA hinges broke clean in the middle, they didn't pull out. I have had a total of 3 or 4 CA hinges fail before this but never had a surface blow off.

I'm beginning to wonder if CA hinges are good enough for 3D planes if you really start throwing them around [:o]

RE: Have you had a CA hinge fail?
 

i had 3 of 4 on an aileron and 2of 3 on a rud on a ucd60 and now use dubro pinned hinges, some will tell you if you do them right or use their special tecnique that they wont fail, andi say why worry, pinned hinges are the only way to go imo.

RE: Have you had a CA hinge fail?
 

I always follow the directions and I'm careful not to use too much CA or they can get brittle.

Maybe I'll stick to CA for everything but the rudder since it takes the most abuse [sm=confused.gif]

You have to love how quick and easy they are to use.

RE: Have you had a CA hinge fail?
 

On larger aircraft .40 and above I use a redundent hinge system. CA hinges plus robart hinges.

RE: Have you had a CA hinge fail?
 

never again. why lose a plane?

RE: Have you had a CA hinge fail?
 

It was a very hard harrier landing with a F90 like yours. (For the record I was letting someone else fly it at the time) The stock tail wheel bottomed out on bottom of the rudder and the entire surface came off. Repaired it with Dubro Pined hinges mostly because after I got the CA hinges out my slot was too large for anything else. Never had another one fail on me before.

RE: Have you had a CA hinge fail?
 

I have had several break like that...maybe I installed them wrong, not sure.....

I now use Great Planes pinned
http://www.greatplanes.com/accys/gpmq3950.html
(3rd one down)
easy to install.... I have used Robart Pins, but I have had two of those come loose too...

GP Pinned and Gorilla glue....
Never a problem

RE: Have you had a CA hinge fail?
 

Had them break on a GP 60 size Extra, having the crap 3D'ed out of it. Also had the elevator refuse to function on an LT-40 because three of the five hinges let go, and kaboom. IMHO, it has nothing to do with whether the plane is 3D or not, but the amount of wear. Just check them periodically, and they'll be fine. Also, my dad has a Somethin Extra that's like four years old and has covering peeling off with the original CA hinges.

RE: Have you had a CA hinge fail?
 

I have a UCD 60 and I broke 5 ca hinges in one flight and 2 on the next flight after replacing the ca hinges directly and breaking more of them I replaced them all with robart pinned hinges no problems since. I bought this plane second hand and has had alot of flight time on it before i started thrashing it around, so in all its not that bad, but in any new planes i will replace the ca hinges in the begining.

RE: Have you had a CA hinge fail?
 

Tonight, My friends elevator came off in flight, landed OK, and then 10 mins later my rudder came off just as yours did. Both Funtana 90's also. Sadly I never got mine down in 1 piece. It was hard to control the way it had it self wrapped around

RE: Have you had a CA hinge fail?
 

Sorry to here that aerobatixkid. Try to repair it.

RE: Have you had a CA hinge fail?
 

sorry about your plane. how bad is it? is it repairable?

RE: Have you had a CA hinge fail?
 

I usually use CA hinges, but then got some pinned hinges...and Ca'd them in and now they are really stiff damnit!!

anything i can do to relieve them?

RE: Have you had a CA hinge fail?
 

If you are indicating that your hinge is stiff and you want to free it up some without removing it from the plane, you can get some CA debonder and drip it on the hinged (pinned) area and/or pick it clean. If you are indicating to remove the entire hinge from the plane, you will more than likely have to cut it out using a hobby knife. CA debonder is a good item to have around anyway. It quickly removes CA from your fingers as I always seem to get some on me no matter how cautious I am.

CA Debonder for $2.99, click here.

http://www2.gpmd.com/image/g/gpmr6039.jpg

RE: Have you had a CA hinge fail?
 

I thought about using it, but i hoped it wouldnt undo it from the plane, i dont want to remove it from the plane, just free it up a little!:D

thanks!

RE: Have you had a CA hinge fail?
 

If you put only a drop or two on the pinned area and move it back and forth, it will only soften the pinned area and not the attachment point. The pin will still be secure in the plane as long as you don't go wild and soak the pin with the debonder. Only put it on the pinned area and you will be fine.

RE: Have you had a CA hinge fail?
 

A little trick I use with CA hinges is to draw a thick line with a wax crayon on the hinge line before installing. That way the cyano doesn't wick into the hinge line so it remains nice and flexible so it doesn't crack and fail.

RE: Have you had a CA hinge fail?
 

Looking at the poll, I'm not the only one who has had problems with CA hinges. Seems like a lot of Funtana surfaces are coming off. Maybe it's the H9 CA hinges???

aerobatixkid

You'd think landing without a rudder is no problem but I barely got mine down. Once that rudder comes off there is really no vertical stab left, it was all rudder :D

RE: Have you had a CA hinge fail?
 

I've broken some manufactures CA hinges before, but never a Radio South "Pro Hinges".
I also use the crayon trick.

http://radiosouthrc.com/pro-hinge.htm


HTH

RE: Have you had a CA hinge fail?
 

I have used them all the way up to 47% without problems, but I choose to limit them to 35% and smaller...
To me, they are one of the greatest inventions to come around in this hobby in the past 10 years or so. I will say that the Sonictronic hinges are the choice ones for me, but I will use any of them.
I am using them on an ultrastick that I toy around with (supplied with the kit) and, although very unlike me, the aileron hinge gaps aren't sealed. The wood is getting a bit oil-soaked and I can still pick the plane up by the aileron!

RE: Have you had a CA hinge fail?
 

:)I've had good luck and a little bad luck with CA hinges. I sure like how easy they are to use and most planes I've used them on I've had no problems. On UCD I had two break on aileron, the one closest to the fuse. Also had the upper rudder one break. This happened on two different planes.
I think sometimes if you put too much glue on it makes them brittle. One little trick I learned is to mark the center of the hinge with a crayon on both sides. This marks the center but also helps to not let the glue dry in the center and keeps that area plyable.
I like CA hinges until I hate them

Thanks,
Barry

RE: Have you had a CA hinge fail?
 

funfly, if you use debonder, dont just let it sit, eventually it will just dry up and leave the glue right were it was... wipe it off as best you can after letting it soak into the pin area, and then work the hinge and wipe what is left

RE: Have you had a CA hinge fail?
 

George, I cut all my surfaces off today and going to use gorilla glue and hinge points. Never using CA hinges again. My friend is going this route also.

RE: Have you had a CA hinge fail?
 

Never had a CA hing fail on me. I like the crayon idea. Also, remember to drill a hole in the center of the hing slot to allow the CA to wick back to the rest of the hing, otherwise it will all just collect at the center and maybe that's why some people's hinges get brittle?

Funfly, when I install pin hinges, I first put a small amount of tri-flow oil in the hing joint. That keeps the glue from sticking to the joint. I like to use epoxy because as it starts to get really gummy I can just pick out the excess leaving a nice clean hing joint, works pretty slick.

RE: Have you had a CA hinge fail?
 

CA hinges are great, but........they are solid matter and solid objects, however strong, will only bend so many times before failing. I disagree on flying style. More hinges have been broken since 3D than ever before. War birds and sport planes dominated the field before 3D with small to medium control surfaces and throws accordingly. Now with 3D and super sized control surfaces, the increased angle and frequency of use is doing a number on them. CA hinges are thin and bend freely, now stack 5 of them together and see how much more resistance they offer, like when all five are on an aileron. Pinned hinges swing freely in any number. With pinned, the servos torque is now going into moving and holding a surface instead of using some of its force to bend solid matter. Just another way of looking at it. Joe