Broken Ikelite baseplate

Hi Everyone,

I just travelled to Taiwan for some research and borrowed a pelican case from a friend for my 40d ikelite housing, arms, strobe, port etc. I packed the thing with foam to the best of my abilities but I didn't really think about padding the baseplate too much cause it was fairly snug in the case without padding. Well how wrong I was. The side of the base plate broke off in a similar spot in the picture I've attached. I've tried getting in contact with an ikelite dealer here in Taiwan but so far have had no luck. I'm thinking of trying to glue it. Any suggestions on glue? I'll be here for 2 months though the shipping isn't worth it to get one sent from the states. Thanks so much.

aaron

Crikey. That must have been some whack to break that - or the casting was faulty in the first place.

If you are using a strobe on that arm then glue isn't really an option but try an epoxy such as Araldite.

Think I would take it down to the local scooter repair shop and see if they can make some sort of mechanical repair such as riveting/bolting a piece of alu either side of the web and along the top. Its very easy to take it off the housing.

Yeah it was. I've travelled with pelican cases quite a few times and this is the first time I've seen a crack in any pelican case. Looks like it was dropped on entirely the right corner where the base was situated. Really happy all the other gear was foamed in place. The original foam that came with the pelican was cut to other equipment so I had to make my own and improvise a little. Anyhow, the side that broke was the side opposite my shutter release which would usually be holding my single ds125. I think until I can get a new one I'm going explore the glueing/bolting options and depending on how secure it is, try and see how awkward it is moving my strobe to the same side as my shutter release. Luckily scooter repair shots are everywhere here in southern taiwan. Thanks for the advice

aaron

.... Luckily scooter repair shots are everywhere here in southern taiwan. Thanks for the advice

Yes, I worked for 6 months in Kaohsuing. Scooter repair shops can be very helpful and are pretty good at cobbling bikes back together so hopefully can do something with your tray.

Good luck with it.

Tim

Yes Baltog is right,

even using epoxy glue it won't hold enough to resist the strain.

Bolting or screwing it togther will be the final and inexpensive fix or you try to

find a welder, able to weld aluminium. Have a look in a shipyard, there you might find one.

I have both of my underwater rig's in Pelicases and was thinking to get some other

brand ones as the are less heavy.

After reading your missfortune i changed mind in a microsecond and will stick with my Pelicases...

Holy cow, there is true brute force needed to break a Pelicase!

Chris

I have a custom stainless steel plate instead, heavy enough to help bouyancy, strong enough to not bend with normal use, or able to be bend back if enough force was apllied.

I have seen a pelican case crack open after being dropped from the airplane cargo hold unto the tarmac. Not my gear, but somebody very unlucky on our plane . I have in the past suggested Pelican owners to put their cases inside a cheap cardboard box. If dropped the cardbox will take the major impact and it lowers the theft profile of such cases.

Bo

Joe at Fun-in Taiwan might be able to help u out as well.

http://www.fun-in.com.tw/catalog/index.php?language=en

Balrog: fotoscubo714 pointed to a good solution with a simple stainless steel flat bar and the holes for the camera and the handles. I built mine for my Patima G11 housing in about 3 hours including grinding it off a bigger sheet, sanding and drilling the holes. Very light and easy to stow everywhere (except carry on luggage).

howeikwok: Thanks for the link!

Chris

Thanks so much for that link howeikwok. I just sent them an email, if I don't get a response I'll get a taiwanese friend to give them a call and translate for me. Luckily I haven't had a chance to take out my housing yet so I didn't have to see all the pictures I would have liked to take. Thanks again everyone for your comments and suggestions. If for some reason I can't get a baseplate through fun-in I'll be headed to the scooter repair shop.

aaron

Using a cardboard box for checked luggage was my "vehicle" for getting a new, but broken, LCD TV home to the states from our place on Bonaire. The airlines were happy to handle it BUT they said their "insurance" would not cover any damage to the contents, if the box was broken in transit.

(Happily, the LCD screen survived the trip, thanks to a sheet of light plywood on top of foam corner brackets/packing material. It looked good enough that the retailer took it back and issued a full refund.)

Laura

This reply is probably coming a few weeks late for you, Aaron, but I'm in Taipei and have an extra Ikelite tray I could sell U. It's an older model with fixed arms. Just send me an email if you're interested. -David