Advice needed for removing an Aileron servo from my Dynam Tiger Moth

[dkalwishky]

I took a chance and purchased a Dynam Tiger Month from the scratch and dent section, the issue that was listed on the web site was the box was damage, the plane was inspected and said to be in perfect condition. I figured I don't care about the box and I could save $20 on a plane that I'm interested in.

The plane showed up and it was in perfect condition. When I tested the servos I found that the right aileron servo was bad, it was skipping and not working correctly.

I'm waiting for the servos to come back into stock so I can get it ordered and replaced, last I was told it was going to be 5 - 6 weeks.

I was at the airport today (it was 66 degrees today) so I figured I'd get the bad servo out and ready for the new one.

There was so much glue holding it in place that I damaged the wing when it came out as you can see in the pictures. I used pliers to work the servo back and forth until it finally became free.

I'm looking for advice on how to deal with this situation, I can buy a new wing ($20) and the new servo ($5). Going that route instead of saving $20 on the plane I will have paid $5 more for this one than a new one would have cost.

OR

Once the new servo is in I can fill the hole with something and paint the repaired area.

I'd really like ti hear how others would have handled this because I feel like I did it wrong.

Dave

[boomer108]

Hey Dave! I've never had one glued in that bad and you didn't do anything wrong, it seems like a poor design. You could put a thin piece foam in there and paint it but if you have to remove the servo ever again it will happen again. I would personally use a thin piece of balsa glued in and on the top side use beacon filler sold by MRC or light weight sparkle sand and paint. Hope that helps you out. ;)
Roy B.

[doctormike]

I would repair it.:Cool:Doc

[dkalwishky]

Thanks Roy for the advice.

Doc, how you you repair it?

[RRHandy]

Can you take and slice the foam off the servo and than glue it back in with foamtac, or take and put some not so sticky tape on the top side and then use some dap light spackel and fill it in. That is what I have done in the past or you could use some gorilla white and just keep poping the bubbles until it stops expanding than cut flush with the top?. R.

[doctormike]

It really doesn't look all that bad in your photos. Before you glue your new servo in connect it to the aileron so that you can be sure, with it attached, that it is positioned correctly while gluing. I use E6000 contact cement. I cover my servos with matching vinyl tape to hide them. Vinyl tape can, also, be painted to match. If the hole is too big you can tighten up the servo with balsa or EPO foam shims. Before you go to all this trouble, check your new servo. Good luck! Doc

[xviper]

I've done this before and if the foam that's attached to the servo isn't too damaged, I just take a razor blade and slice off the foam and glue it back into the hole, then put a piece of clear tape on the other side to help strengthen it. Glue (lightly) the new servo in.

[Mikec88]

If that would have happened to me I would cut a patch of foam out small square and cut out the damage and put in the small square in glue with e6000 and sand and pant but test the glue to make sure it won't damage the aircraft

[scooter genie]

In the future, if you need to remove a part that has been glued in with Chinese contact cement, pick up a bottle of Ronson or zippo lighter fluid. You can wick the lighter fluid along the glue seams and it will eat the glue, but wont harm the foam. It works on eps, and epo foam. However, it can damage some paints, but not all. Paint is easier to repair than foam. Your small amount of foam damage is easily repairable though.

[OV10]

In the future, if you need to remove a part that has been glued in with Chinese contact cement, pick up a bottle of Ronson or zippo lighter fluid. That's a new one on me, gotta get me some and give it go when I want to yank a servo out of a pocket. ;)You can wick the lighter fluid along the glue seams and it will eat the glue, but wont harm the foam. It works on eps, and epo foam. However, it can damage some paints, but not all. Paint is easier to repair than foam. Your small amount of foam damage is easily repairable though.

Thanx Scooter :Cool:

[Grossman56]

Whoa, good tip, I would have thought that lighter fluid would have eaten the foam, got to remember that one.

Grossman56

[scooter genie]

I've used it on all my freewing planes, LX, and great planes foamies. and my habu. It never hurts the foam. Only slight paint damage if I get sloppy with it. But it always softens the glue enough to allow you to remove the part without damaging the foam. I just looked at my Ronson bottle, and its manufactured by Zippo...ha.

[dkalwishky]

Great tip Scooter, thanks for sharing that!

[scooter genie]

you guys will wonder how you ever got along without it. great for removing the canopies too.

[TraeFliesRc]

has anyone tried using denatured alcohol?? Will that eat the foam? I suppose i could go test this. Absolutely do NOT get gasoline on your foamie.. you will be left with a blob of goo.. (great for starting fires though, kinda works like napalm)

[TraeFliesRc]

Just tested and worked great! I used some 70% isopropyl alcohol and it really soften the glue tremendously! I applied it with a syringe I bought from Walmart. Let it sit for seriously 2 minutes and wiggled it out with some needle nose pliers! Happy flying everyone

Side note: ok so I didnt get the excess alcohol out of the crevice and the paint started turning into a rubbery texture and peeled off around inside of the crevis there so I would absolutely be quick to dry up any excess alcohol fairly quickly