update on the plastic living hinge

[oregonguy]

I used the plastic hinge also, working great so far, I plan on making both of my doors gull wing doors and using plastic for the hinges there also.

You may want to reconsider the plastic living hinge - for gull-wing door application. My brother sawyer, also a member here, did exactly that, and had problems with it. What he found was that when you factor in the strong gas spring you inevitably need to use to assist the door lift and keep them open, the hinge doesn't work out well. The problem being that while the hinge is very strong and can hold plenty of weight along its own axis, it doesn't keep it's shape when there is a strong force pushing perpendicular to that axis. When his door was shut and the full strength of the gas spring was acting to push/compress the hinge together, it didn't resist that action well. He ended up with the top edge of the door, where the hinge is located, pushing out from the wall surface, not sealing well, and feeling really"mushy"....not good.

He ended up replacing the living hinge with a big fat SS piano hinge, and adding a rain gutter over top. It has been great ever since.

The plastic hinges work really well for galley lids though, he and I both used it on our personall trailers and have been very happy with it in that function.

Hope this helps. Don't know if I described the problem clearly enough to make any sense...?

[rowerwet]

yes, good discription of the problem, I don't plan on gas struts, I plan on those sliding ones with the cam that lock when opened and then you lift them again to close, gonna have to build them light though so this may change. a SS hinge may be better anyway for the side doors.

[nhstt]

I used a McMaster-Carr living hinge on my teardrop build in 2006, and it's been fine. No cracks, no leaks, and still very flexible. My tear stays in my garage except when camping, so it doesn't see a lot of rain or sunlight, though.
Sam

Sam,
Do you have any pictures of that in place? Did you do the metal on top to prevent puckering?
loved your little touches like the table and magazine rack.
Karen and The Brooks Bunch.

[nhstt]

...been using it for 5yrs orso for all of my hinge needs, door/hatch/etc. and have no complaints and will continue to happily use it in the future..........
madjack

Madjack,
Do you have in pictures with closeups of your installation on these?My boys and I will be finishing up the spars tomorrow while my husband does some work on the wiring.
Karen and The Brooks Bunch

[Irmo Atomics]

[MeelisV]

i have plastic hinge like this



hatch



door

[nhstt]

Thanks for the picture what did you use for the aluminum strip and was it pre-drilled?
what type of adhesive did you use under the living hinge?

Karen at the Ladybug-out build journal viewtopic.php?f=50&t=55602

[nhstt]

...first off, cut it at least 1" longer than the overall width of the trailer to have a bit of overhang, making it a "diverter"...if you screw directly thru it, it will "pucker" between the screw holes...to prevent this, I use a strip of flat aluminum...thin is fine, I have used 1/16th flat stock and even thinner...make this 1/2"-3/4" wide and place one over both leaves of the hinge...to predrill both the hinge and the strips, I drilled the holes in the strips first...then with the first hole drilled in the hinge, I screwed it down to a worktable and used the rest of the holes in the strips to drill the holes in the hinge so, it would all match up when installing...since this is high density poly plastic which doesn't accept adhesives and sealers well, the best thing I found was to use regular RV putty tape to seal it up...........
madjack

p.s. at a weight rating of 100#s per inch for the 2", I can't imagine needing anything wider..........mj

+1 on MJ's comment. I got the aluminum from the box store for cheap, predrilling was a must:

Has anyone tried a floor threshold already drilled, also any other suggestions than RV putty tape under-or where this would come from besides a rv super store which is a good hour away for me
Thinking of using this for a hinge on my door-any ideas
Also how much of a gap between roof hatch and spar- Elsewhere I've seen 1/8" will that work.
Hoping to put on the roof tomorrow after the several thunder storm we're getting. I get a day off and we get weather
Figures

Karen at the Ladybug-out build journal viewtopic.php?f=50&t=55602

[nhstt]

I used the plastic hinge also, working great so far, I plan on making both of my doors gull wing doors and using plastic for the hinges there also.

Rowerwet,
How'd you put yours on what did you use under it. Per chance did you use them on the door hinge also? Did you make your own windows? and how hard where they?
Karen at the Ladybug-out build journal viewtopic.php?f=50&t=55602

[Breezy13]

Mine broke after a year, replaced with the Hurricane hinge.

[KCStudly]

Mine broke after a year, replaced with the Hurricane hinge.

I see that you are from Estes Park, CO. Did you use it much in very cold weather? I would think that this might affect the longevity, but I can't remember OTTOMH if the stuff has a published cold operating temperature spec.

[mikeschn]

I used that living hinge on my Winter Warrior. I'm not happy with it. In the hot sun it bubbles up like crazy.

And it's not very rigid. My hatch moves all over the place.

Next time it's back to the hurricane hinge for me!

Mike...