Mesh tape and epoxy repair for cracked pad...

[Spandrel]

I am on my 3rd EL kit, and like the first 2, it has suffered a cracked pad. Unlike the other 2, this one is rock solid and doesn't drop any notes, so I'd rather not RMA it and run the risk of getting a new EL kit that drops notes. I remember seeing a thread with a URL that showed how to repair a cracked head with fiberglass mesh tape and epoxy.

I'm really just hoping to limp through the next couple of months until I get my RB2 kit with this repair. I'm not worried about RMA'ing it or voiding the warranty. I just want to fix the red pad enough to get to RB2. So, has anyone done this repair? Does it work well enough? I mean, will it get me through the next couple of months? Anyone have the link to the photos or the instructions?

[Spandrel]

I found the URL and the pictures, but there is one problem. I took off the red pad, and 1 problem is that the sensor wire is clipped to the bottom side of the pad. That isn't a problem, since it is soft plastic and can probably be pried into breaking. The second problem is the show-stopper. The felt padding does not come up with the rubber, when I try and peel it off. The rubber comes up, but the felt is weakly adhered to the rubber and aggressively adhered to the plastic. I'm not sure I can pull the felt off in one piece.

In the two sites I've seen, they are using an SL and possibly an early model EL kit. I don't think the repair is possible with a new EL kit.

[Project_Mercy]

The sensor lead is just pushed between two plastic nubs, you can just pull it out and push it back in when you go to put it back no (it helps to keep the lead wire from getting sheered off.

If the cracks run over the sensor cage head point, I would probably just leave it alone from that side, and make sure the repair on top of the head was good. If you use something with a denser substrate (like screen wire) it will absorb more of the load than the epoxy.

[Spandrel]

The sensor lead is just pushed between two plastic nubs, you can just pull it out and push it back in when you go to put it back no (it helps to keep the lead wire from getting sheered off.

If the cracks run over the sensor cage head point, I would probably just leave it alone from that side, and make sure the repair on top of the head was good. If you use something with a denser substrate (like screen wire) it will absorb more of the load than the epoxy.

Well, the new EL pads I got in my 3rd kit, now have a layer of felt between the plastic surface and the rubber overlay. They may have always had this, but I never removed the rubber from any of my old kits. The problem is that the colored rubber overlay is weakly adhered to the felt, but the felt is aggressively adhered to the plastic. It is bonded so tightly that removing the felt seems like it would be very difficult and messy. So, repairing the crack on the top surface was not an option.

I did opt to try and repair the crack from underneath. I removed the sensor hardware and the piezo, and used the epoxy and fiberglass mesh repair to the underside of the plastic. I overlayed two pieces of mesh tape in a criss-cross pattern and generously applied the 5-minute epoxy. I feathered out the excess epoxy well beyond the edge of the tape. I only had 100 grit sandpaper to rough the surface up, and I'm not sure it helped anything.

Then I let it cure for 36 hours. Instead of re-attaching the pad back to the red pad location, I swapped it for the green pad. I removed the green pad, swapped the colored rubber skins and re-assembled everything. The pads' responsiveness is un-changed. They still work just as well, so I didn't mess anything up re-attaching the piezo and sensor hardware. When I re-attached the cracked pad into the green slot, I rotated the pad 90 degrees to make sure that the stick wouldn't strike the pad along the weakened crack line. So far, a few songs in, the drums are running smoothly.

That seems to be the best I can do for this "band-aid" fix to the drums to get me though until RB 2 comes out. I'll hope it holds out until I can at least finish up the final tier songs in the main setlist. First, I have to re-do your Black Magic Calibrations to tighten up the capture window. I'm still dropping notes, here and there, that shouldn't be dropped. That is fine for normal drumming, but to beat the Tier 9 songs on Expert, it needs to be dialed in.

[Project_Mercy]

Ah. I haven't pulled head skins off my new ELs yet.

If that doesn't hold, I would probably see about sanding the felt off the top of the head and just doing the repair on the top. Truthfully, you should be able to epoxy over the felt if it's aggressively adhered to the plastic.

[LOLitsCOBY]

Hey guys, sorry to bump this back up, but when I took off my rubber hit part on the pad, there's something weird and hairy like on velcro, how would I take this off?